IDrive vs BorgBackup
A detailed comparison to help you choose between IDrive and BorgBackup.
Quick Verdict
3.6/5
IDrive
0 reviews
4.3/5
BorgBackup
0 reviews
BorgBackup is rated higher (4.3 vs 3.6). IDrive is one of the longest-running online backup services. Supports PCs, Macs, iOS, Android, and servers. 5TB plans affordable. Snapshot retention and NAS backup support. BorgBackup is a free, open source, deduplicating backup program for Linux/macOS with compression, encryption, and deduplication. Pairs with BorgBase for managed repository hosting. Our long-standing pick for self-hosters.
IDrive Online backup for computers, servers, and NAS | BorgBackup Open source deduplicating backup — free self-hosted | |
|---|---|---|
| Overview | ||
| Rating | 3.6 (0 reviews) | 4.3 (0 reviews)✓ |
| Pricing model | freemium | free |
| Starting price | Free tier available | Free |
| Best for | Households and small businesses with multi-terabyte data across several devices, servers, or NAS boxes who want one pooled, affordable backup subscription | Technical users and self-hosters who want deduplicated, encrypted, versioned backups to storage they control, without per-gigabyte vendor fees |
| Features | ||
| IPv6 | ||
| DDoS protection | ||
| Automated backups | ||
| Snapshots | ||
| Managed option | ||
| Bare metal | ||
| GPU available | ||
| S3-compatible | ||
| Hourly billing | ||
| Free tier | ||
| Tags | ||
| Tags | free tiermobile app | free tieropen sourceself hostable |
| Visit IDrive → | Visit BorgBackup → | |
IDrive
Pros
- + Free 10 GB tier, no credit card required
- + NAS, server (SQL/Exchange/Oracle/VMware/Hyper-V), and SaaS backup under one pooled plan
- + Very competitive per-terabyte pricing on Personal and Team plans
- + SOC 2 Type 2 certified with AES-256 encryption and optional private-key encryption
- + Archiving, snapshots, and IDrive Express cover ransomware recovery and slow-link seeding
Cons
- - Interface feels dated and takes learning before it is comfortable
- - Initial upload speeds trail faster rivals; Express is the workaround
- - No published uptime SLA or data-center locations for the core product
- - Promotional annual pricing renews at higher list rates
- - No data-residency region choice for compliance-sensitive storage
BorgBackup
Pros
- + Deduplication plus per-repo compression makes repeated backups far cheaper in storage than full-image schemes
- + Authenticated encryption with a documented untrusted-server model; append-only mode defends backup history against compromise
- + Free BSD-licensed software with a decade-long public track record and detailed on-disk format documentation
- + Runs against any filesystem or SSH target — no lock-in, no required vendor
- + Mature companion ecosystem: Borgmatic for config-driven runs, Vorta for desktop GUI, BorgBase for hosted repos
Cons
- - Command-line only with no official GUI; keyfile and retention semantics take real learning
- - No native S3/object-storage repository mode in 1.4.x — cloud-object workflows need rclone-style workarounds
- - File-level tool: consistent database or VM backups need hooks or snapshots; no bare-metal restore agents
- - Support is community-based unless you pay for consulting or a hosting provider's SLA
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