Bareos vs Bacula: Open Source vs Open Core Backup

If you look for open-source backup software for a whole company network, two names come up again and again: Bareos and Bacula. At first glance, they look almost the same. Bacula is similar to Bareos in its structure, its terms and the way it is configured.
That can make the choice a little tricky, but the good news is that the differences are easy to understand. In this article, we explain them in simple words.

Before we compare features, one point matters: Bacula comes in two editions and only one of them is open source. We explain the difference first, then the risks of closed code and then compare Bareos with Bacula Community.

Where Bareos and Bacula Come From

Bareos and Bacula share a common history. In 2010, the two projects went separate ways. Since then, each has grown with its own ideas, releases and community.

This shared past explains why Bacula is still similar to Bareos today. Both use the same basic building blocks:

• Director that plans and controls all backup jobs
• File Daemon on each computer you want to protect
• Storage Daemon that writes the data to disk, tape or cloud storage
• Catalog that remembers what was saved and where

What Both Do Well

Both are built for one job: backing up many machines from one central place. That is what sets them apart from small backup tools that run on a single computer.

This difference matters more than it might seem. Simple backup apps like Restic, BorgBackup or Duplicati are a good fit for one server or a handful of machines. You install them, point them at your data and they do their job.

A backup platform like Bareos works on a different scale. It is made for companies and enterprise environments. One central system manages many clients, databases, virtual machines and storage targets. It keeps track of every job, every restore point and every tape. Bacula follows the same platform idea.

If you only protect a few machines, a simple app may be all you need. As your environment grows, a platform can save you a lot of scripting and guesswork.

With either one, you can back up Linux, Windows, macOS and FreeBSD systems. You can schedule jobs, keep older versions for as long as you need and copy backups to a second location. Data can be encrypted on its way to the storage and on the storage itself.

Both also support tape libraries, which play a big role in data centers, and both let administrators work from the command line, automate tasks and keep their configuration in simple text files.

The Big Difference: Open Source vs Open Core

Both projects have a company behind them. Bareos GmbH develops Bareos, which exists in one open-source version. Bacula Systems offers a paid Bacula Enterprise edition and free Bacula Community edition.

Bacula follows an open-core model. That means a free open-source core with paid, proprietary parts around it. Many advanced features sit in these paid parts, such as most database plugins, the plugins for virtual machines, built-in deduplication and full system recovery.

Bareos is open source only. There is one Bareos, it is released under the AGPLv3 licence, and its whole source code is on GitHub. Bareos source code will always remain openly available. Many of the features that Bacula keeps in its Enterprise edition are part of the free Bareos packages: you can download them, use them and look into the code. Packages of a few newer plugins are only available in the  Bareos subscription repositories. A Bareos Subscription also gives the option for professional support, and you can test them for free by requesting Bareos trial. The source code of all plugins is available to everyone.

Bacula Community vs Bacula Enterprise

Both editions share the same core. Bacula Community is positioned for evaluation and pre-production use and Enterprise for production use (see its edition comparison). The main difference is what is added on top and under which licence.

What Closed Code Can Mean for You

Bacula Enterprise is proprietary software. Bacula’s own manual states that the Enterprise version and its code are not open source and not licensed under the AGPLv3 (see Bacula Copyright, Trademark, and Licenses). You cannot read it, check it or compare it with the Community code. Bacula Systems says both editions share the same core, but only the vendor can tell you what exactly differs.

Open core is a common model and it is not bad by default. But it comes with risks that are worth knowing. The Austrian IT magazine ITWelt described four of them in 2023, based on warnings from the platform provider Instaclustr:

• Hidden costs: paid add-ons can become expensive and prices may rise after a cheap start or when your setup grows.
• Slower security updates: paid parts are tied to the open core, so updates may need the vendor and closing a security gap can take longer.
• Slower development: only the vendor can add features to the closed parts. You cannot extend them yourself.
• Vendor lock-in: switching later is hard and moving data and settings can mean a lot of manual work.

These are general risks of open core, not statements about Bacula in particular. These risks are essentially the disadvantages of closed-source software that only real open-source software can solve. Still, backup software protects your most important data, so it’s worth asking a few questions before you decide. Can I see the code? What happens if the price changes? How hard would it be to leave? 

With Bareos, the full source code is available on GitHub and stays under the AGPLv3 and there is no closed Enterprise tier to move to later. Some plugins, such as Proxmox, Hyper-V and Barri, are available with a subscription. That does not put your backups at risk. You can restore them regardless of your subscription status.

Bareos vs Bacula Community: Feature by Feature

From here on, we compare Bareos with Bacula Community because it is the open-source edition of Bacula. If a feature exists only in Bacula Enterprise, we say so.

Databases and Virtual Machines

Databases are a good example. A running database cannot simply be copied like a folder. You need a backup that understands how the database works.

Bareos includes plugins for PostgreSQL, MySQL, MariaDB and Microsoft SQL Server in its community repository. They create consistent backups while the database keeps running. With PostgreSQL, you can even restore the database to an exact point in time.

Bacula Community does not include plugins for these databases. Bacula offers them in paid Bacula Enterprise, along with an Oracle plugin. Bareos has no dedicated Oracle plugin. If Oracle is central to your setup, Bacula Enterprise is the only one of the two with a plugin for it.

Virtual machines have a similar approach. Bareos backs up complete VMware machines with its free VMware plugin. In Bacula, the VMware plugin is part of the paid Enterprise edition.

For Proxmox VE and Microsoft Hyper-V, Bareos offers plugins as part of its subscription. Bacula offers plugins for these systems in Bacula Enterprise. The Bareos Proxmox plugin currently creates full backups. Incremental Proxmox backups are already in work and could be included in Bareos 26 release in the end of 2026.

Containers is one area where Bacula Community is ahead. Its free Kubernetes plugin can back up Kubernetes resources together with their storage volumes.

Storage and Recovery

Both can store backups on disks, in S3-compatible cloud storage and on tape. The difference lies in deduplication, which means saving identical data only once.

Bareos works together with the storage system underneath. It prepares the backup data so that a deduplicating filesystem can save space efficiently. That gives you freedom to choose the storage that fits your setup and to make use of deduplication you may already have in place. Bacula can do deduplication on its own, but only in their paid Enterprise version.

In the end, a backup is only worth something if you can restore from it. Both projects bring back single files in a few steps, but for complete systems they take different routes.

On Linux, Bareos works with the open-source tool Relax-and-Recover (ReaR). On Windows, Bareos recovery imager Barri restores entire systems and comes with the subscription. Bacula offers similar tools for both systems only in its paid Enterprise edition.

Both also have a plan for the worst case: losing the backup server itself. It is not the most exciting topic. But on a bad day, you will be glad it is covered.

Which One Should You Choose?

Both are mature and well documented and both are backed by companies that offer support. The better fit depends on what matters to you.

Bareos is often the easier choice if you want VMware and database backup without an enterprise licence. It also fits teams that care about open source, digital sovereignty and backup software made in Germany: one edition, the full source code and no closed enterprise tier.

Bacula Community may suit you if the Kubernetes plugin is all you need. If you need a dedicated Oracle plugin, Bacula Enterprise is the one that offers it. 

If budget matters, you can compare costs quickly. Bareos offers a transparent pricing calculator, so you can see what a subscription would cost for your setup. For Bacula Enterprise you will probably need to contact their sales team to get a quote.

Thinking about a switch from Bacula? Bacula is similar to Bareos in its concepts and terms, so your team does not start from zero. The Director, the File Daemon, the Storage Daemon and the catalog work the same way. What you gain on top: VMware and database plugins in the free packages, subscription plugins for Proxmox VE, Hyper-V and Windows recovery and, most importantly, digital sovereignty with an open-source product.