A BorgBase alternative
for people who picked Restic

Where ServerCrate Is a Better Fit

ServerCrate is designed around a single, clear workflow: Restic over SFTP with zero-knowledge encryption and flat pricing. If that matches what you need, the setup is faster and the interface is more focused.

• You use Restic and don't need Borg support.ServerCrate is purpose-built for the Restic over SFTP workflow. No extra complexity from features you won't use.
• You want the simplest possible setup.Create account, get connection string, run restic init, start backing up. The portal is focused on what matters: vault status, snapshots, and storage.
• You want ZFS-backed storage with data integrity guarantees.ServerCrate uses ZFS with checksumming on all vault storage, providing long-term bit rot protection that most providers don't explicitly offer.
• You want US West Coast (Los Angeles) storage.Lower latency for users in the western US and Asia Pacific.

Where BorgBase Is a Better Fit

BorgBase has been running longer and has a more mature feature set for power users managing multiple repositories. There are clear cases where it's the better choice:

• You use BorgBackup as your primary backup tool.BorgBase has native SSH support optimized for Borg's append-only mode and chunking algorithm. ServerCrate doesn't support Borg.
• You need multiple repository management from one dashboard.BorgBase has more sophisticated tooling for users managing many repos across many machines.
• You need EU-based storage.BorgBase offers European data center options. ServerCrate currently has US (LA) only.
• You want built-in monitoring with detailed alerting.BorgBase has more mature built-in monitoring features for backup health alerts.

Pricing Comparison

Both services offer a free tier with 10 GB of storage, forever - no credit card, not a trial. BorgBase uses annual pricing: $16.80/year for 250 GB, $56/year for 1 TB, $105/year for 2 TB - that works out to roughly $1.40-$4.70/month depending on tier. ServerCrate uses monthly pricing: $5/month for 200 GB, $15/month for 1 TB, $29/month for 2 TB.

For very small repositories (under 100 GB) BorgBase is cheaper annually. For 500 GB-1 TB ranges the math is comparable. Beyond 2 TB, BorgBase scales better on cost. Neither service charges egress fees.

Migration from BorgBase to ServerCrate

If you're currently using BorgBase with Restic (not Borg), migrating to ServerCrate is straightforward:

• Create a ServerCrate account and get your vault credentials
• Run restic init to initialize a new repository on ServerCrate
• Run a full backup to the new repository - all data transfers fresh
• Verify the new repository with restic check
• Update your backup scripts to point to the ServerCrate endpoint
• Cancel BorgBase after confirming backups work

Note: Restic repositories are not transferable between providers - you need to run a fresh backup. Restic will deduplicate efficiently after the first run, so ongoing storage costs will normalize quickly.

The Honest Bottom Line

If you use Borg, use BorgBase. If you use Restic and want a simple, privacy-first, US-based offsite vault with flat pricing and ZFS-backed storage - ServerCrate is the better fit. Both are legitimate, privacy-respecting services built for technical users who take backups seriously.

Feature-by-feature deep dive

The quick comparison table above covers the surface. Here's the detailed breakdown on the parts that actually affect daily use.

Storage backend: ZFS vs unspecified

ServerCrate runs every vault on a dedicated ZFS dataset. ZFS checksums every block on read and write, detects silent corruption automatically, and repairs against a mirror when corruption is found. For backup storage, that's not a luxury - it's the difference between "I have backups" and "I have backups I can actually restore from."

BorgBase doesn't publicly document its storage backend in the same way. The company is well-regarded and has been operating since 2019, but if ZFS-level integrity guarantees are something you care about, ServerCrate documents that explicitly.

Repository format and portability

BorgBase supports both Borg and Restic repositories. Borg is the primary focus - BorgBase sponsors the Borg project, maintains Vorta (Borg's main GUI client), and their append-only mode is built around Borg's SSH model. If you pick Borg, your repository is tied to Borg's format. If you pick Restic on BorgBase, the repository format is the same standard Restic format ServerCrate uses, and moving between the two is a straightforward fresh-backup migration.

ServerCrate is Restic-only. If you start here, your repo is in Restic's standard format - portable to any SFTP server, to rsync.net, or to a self-hosted box. The format has been stable since 2017 and documented at github.com/restic/restic. No lock-in.

Portal and monitoring

BorgBase has a richer multi-repository UI. If you manage 5+ separate repositories across different projects, BorgBase's dashboard is built for that. You can see health status, last-backup time, and alerts per repo from one page.

ServerCrate's portal is purpose-built around a single vault model - one encrypted vault per account, with multiple devices writing to it. That's simpler if you have one homelab or one small team, and the page shows everything relevant at a glance: vault status, storage, snapshots, devices, subscription.

Operator model

BorgBase is a small team with years of experience in the backup space. They sponsor Borg development, they're active in community forums, and they know the niche deeply.

ServerCrate is independently operated, self-funded, and focused on sustainability over growth-at-all-costs. The stack is documented openly, infrastructure is spelled out on the About page, and there's no venture pressure to pivot away from the core product. That's a different kind of stability - neither better nor worse, just different.

When ServerCrate is clearly the right answer

• You're already running Restic on your stack.ServerCrate was designed around Restic over SFTP from day one. Setup is 5 minutes because the portal gives you the exact connection strings and env vars to paste. No SSH key provisioning workflow to navigate.
• You want a backup service that won't change pricing on you.Five flat tiers: Free (10 GB), Starter ($5/mo, 200 GB), Standard ($15/mo, 1 TB), Pro ($29/mo, 2 TB). No overage fees, no egress fees, no surprise charges when you restore during an incident.
• You specifically want ZFS-backed storage with documented integrity guarantees.This matters more for long-tenure archival backups than for hot data - silent bit rot on a 3-year-old snapshot is a real failure mode that ZFS's checksumming catches.
• You're on the US West Coast or in Asia Pacific.Our Los Angeles location is low-latency for West Coast US, Mexico, and a reasonable fit for Asia Pacific. Backing up from the East Coast works fine too - you're upload-bound, not latency-bound.

When BorgBase is clearly the right answer

• You use BorgBackup as your primary tool.ServerCrate doesn't support Borg's SSH-based protocol. If rewriting your backup pipeline to Restic isn't on the table, BorgBase is the right choice.
• You need EU data residency.BorgBase has EU data centers. ServerCrate is US-only right now.
• You manage 5+ distinct repositories across different projects or clients.BorgBase's multi-repo UI is genuinely better for that workload. ServerCrate's one-vault-per-account model is simpler but less flexible for consultants or teams with many separate backup contexts.
• You want a provider with longer operating history.BorgBase has been running since 2019. ServerCrate is newer. Both are real, but "longer track record" is a legitimate risk factor to weigh.

Practical migration guide: BorgBase Restic to ServerCrate

If you're on BorgBase using Restic (not Borg) and want to move, here's the exact workflow:

1. Sign up for ServerCrate. Use the free 10 GB tier if you're just testing the water, or go straight to a paid tier matching your current data size.
2. Note your new vault credentials. The portal gives you RESTIC_REPOSITORY and RESTIC_PASSWORD to copy.
3. Run restic init against the new endpoint. This creates the encrypted repository. Takes under a second.
4. Run a full backup. restic backup /path/to/data. For the first run, time this for a period when your upload bandwidth can be saturated (overnight is common).
5. Verify with restic check. This reads every blob and confirms integrity end-to-end.
6. Point your automation (cron, systemd timer) at the new endpoint. Keep BorgBase running for a week or two in parallel as insurance.
7. After two weeks of clean runs on ServerCrate, cancel BorgBase. Restic repositories don't transfer between providers - you do a fresh backup. That's unavoidable and universal across Restic hosts.

Expected cost during overlap: You'll pay both providers for a few weeks. Budget ~$20-30 for a clean cutover to avoid any risk.

Common questions from BorgBase users evaluating ServerCrate

"Will my existing Restic scripts just work?"

Yes. Restic doesn't care which server hosts the SFTP endpoint. If your current pipeline exports RESTIC_REPOSITORY and RESTIC_PASSWORD and runs restic backup, you change two environment variables and everything else stays identical. Your cron jobs, systemd timers, and retention policies are portable.

"Can I keep my encryption key the same?"

Your Restic repository password is your key. When you restic init on the new ServerCrate vault, you can use any password you want - including the same one you used on BorgBase. That's a cosmetic choice; the repositories are independent either way. What matters is that you keep the password safe.

"How do I know the data actually moved safely?"

Run restic snapshots on the new repo to see all your snapshots. Run restic check --read-data to verify every blob integrity-wise - this reads every chunk, so it's slow, but it's the ultimate confidence check. Many people run it on the old and new repo side-by-side as their cutover test.

"What if I need to leave ServerCrate later?"

Restic repos are plain files. If you ever want to migrate off, you run rsync -av from our SFTP to any other SFTP destination - rsync.net, a self-hosted box, a new provider - and point Restic at the new location. No export tool, no proprietary format. Same portability argument applies in reverse: you're not locked in.