#10 of 16 open-source backup tools · Updated October 2026
Borg review 2026
BorgBackup (with borgmatic) · Community tool, single lead
Borg ranks #10 of 16 open-source backup tools in the Open-Source Backup Ledger 2026, with a Ledger Index of 54.4 out of 100. Borg is a trusted, audited deduplicating backup tool with append-only repositories, widely packaged and used.
Scores
Source: Open-Source Backup Ledger 2026, edition 2026-10-02. How each score works: methodology.
Pros
No domain scores 4 or higher out of 5.
Cons
- New-platform support (VMware exit)1/5
- Virtual and physical servers2/5
- Databases and applications2/5
What the Ledger says
Borg is a trusted, audited deduplicating backup tool with append-only repositories, widely packaged and used. It needs borgmatic or scripts to act like a backup system, has no object-storage target in 1.x and no Windows client, and its next major version has been in beta since 2022.
No AI features.
Capability by area
Buying, lock-in and release record
Buying and licence (sustainability risk)(lower is better)
- Maintainer concentration3.5
- Lead maintainer writes 41 to 77% of commits
- Backer health3
- No company; hosting ecosystem only
- Licence-change risk1
- Permissive, distributed copyright
- Abandonment signs1
- Active
- Security response1
- Audited, active fixes
Technical lock-in(lower is better)
- Formats2.5
- Own repository format
- Export path1.5
- Extract or FUSE mount
- Stack coupling0.5
- Standalone CLI
- Hardware / cloud coupling0
- Any storage reachable by SSH or locally
- Skills and tooling coupling1
- Common Linux skills
Release credibility
- Cadence3.5
- Regular 1.x releases, but 2.0 in beta since 2022
- Roadmap transparency4.5
- Public milestones and issues
- Say-do3
- 5 of 6 shipped; Borg 2.0 GA pending after 4.5 years of betas
- Velocity3.5
- Steady
- Lifecycle stability4
- 1.x maintained alongside 2.0 development
Partners and services
- Paid support2
- Hosting providers, no vendor support
- Consultants and partners2.5
- Widely used by consultancies
- Documentation4
- Thorough versioned docs
- Community and packaging4.5
- In every distribution; borgmatic, Vorta and web tools around it
Alternatives to Borg
Questions about Borg
Is Borg any good?
Borg ranks #10 of 16 open-source backup tools in the Open-Source Backup Ledger 2026, with a Ledger Index of 54.4 out of 100. Its weakest are new-platform support (vmware exit), virtual and physical servers, databases and applications.
What are the best alternatives to Borg?
The closest by Ledger Index are ReaR (54.2), Bacula (51.8), restic (58.1), Kopia (58.3).
How is Borg licensed and sold?
Lead maintainer writes 41 to 77% of commits.
How much lock-in does Borg bring?
Borg scores 5.5 out of 25 on technical lock-in (lower is better). Export path: Extract or FUSE mount.
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