IDrive Compute vs BorgBackup
A detailed comparison to help you choose between IDrive Compute and BorgBackup.
Quick Verdict
2.0/5
IDrive Compute
0 reviews
4.3/5
BorgBackup
0 reviews
BorgBackup is rated higher (4.3 vs 2.0). IDrive Compute was a VPS offering from IDrive with NVMe-backed Linux instances across 9 US and EU data centers, entry plans from $5/month. DISCONTINUED since 15 August 2023. 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 Compute Simple VPS from trusted backup company | BorgBackup Open source deduplicating backup — free self-hosted | |
|---|---|---|
| Overview | ||
| Rating | 2.0 (0 reviews) | 4.3 (0 reviews)✓ |
| Pricing model | paid | free |
| Starting price | From $2/mo | Free✓ |
| Best for | Nobody today — the service is discontinued; former customers should look at active providers in our VPS comparison or IDrive e2 for object storage | 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 | nvme storageipv6backups includedus datacenter | free tieropen sourceself hostable |
| Visit IDrive Compute → | Visit BorgBackup → | |
IDrive Compute
Pros
- + Straightforward published price list with hourly postpaid and prepaid discounts
- + Nine US and EU locations with NVMe storage and bare metal at most sites
- + Native IPv6 included at no extra charge
- + Live snapshots, cloning, and expandable block storage volumes in the base feature set
- + Unused balances refunded at shutdown — the right way to close a service
Cons
- - DISCONTINUED since 15 August 2023 — not purchasable
- - No independent long-term performance or reliability record
- - Backups were a paid add-on despite IDrive's backup heritage
- - No Kubernetes, load balancing, Windows images, or deeper cloud ecosystem
- - Homepage and data-center directory disagreed on the location list
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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