#KopiaLens vs Arq

Arq is a mature commercial backup app for Mac and Windows, sold as a one-time app licence, with an optional Arq Premium subscription that includes storage. KopiaLens is a backup app on the Kopia engine, free at the core, with a view inside the backups and a cleanup layer in Pro. Both are set-and-forget backup apps; they differ in platform, polish and what they show you after the backup runs.

	KopiaLens	Arq
What it is	A backup app that shows what is inside your backups	A commercial desktop backup app with optional storage
Backups with	Kopia repositories	Arq backup sets, its own format
Platforms	Windows, macOS, Linux, Docker and NAS, Home Assistant, browser	macOS and Windows
Scheduled backups	Yes	Yes, hourly or daily
Browse and restore	Yes	Yes
Destinations	Kopia's list, including S3, B2, Azure, Google Cloud, Wasabi, WebDAV, SFTP and rclone	AWS, B2, Google Drive and Cloud, Dropbox, OneDrive, SharePoint, Wasabi, SFTP, Minio, S3-compatible, NAS and external drives, plus Arq Premium storage
Per-folder size after dedup	Yes	No
Reclaimable space and removal previews	Yes	No
Remove files from old backups	Pro, guided with previews	Retention and whole-backup deletion
Full-disk imaging	No	No; file and folder backup
Price (November 2026)	Free; Pro $20/year or $50 lifetime at launch pricing	Arq 7 $59.99/computer, 12 months of updates included, then $25/year; Arq Premium $69.99/year for 5 computers and 1 TB

#What KopiaLens adds

• The core app is free. Backups, schedules, restore, verify and notifications do not need a licence. Pro adds the cleanup layer and smart features as they arrive.
• Linux. Arq does not run on Linux; KopiaLens does, and it also runs in Docker, on a NAS and as a Home Assistant add-on.
• Where the space goes. Per-folder physical size after deduplication, reclaimable space, churn, search across snapshots, and retention simulation.
• Guided removal (Pro). Take a folder out of every snapshot with a preview before anything is deleted.
• One licence, up to 10 installations. Arq is licensed per computer, with an update subscription per computer after the first year.
• Standard Kopia backups. KopiaUI and the kopia command line can open the same repository.

#What Arq does well

• Maturity and polish. Arq has been sold since 2009, and it feels like a finished Mac app. Setup is a few screens, Arq Agent runs in the background, and support is included.
• Many destinations. Back up to your own cloud account, a NAS, SFTP, an external drive, or several at once.
• A turnkey option. Arq Premium bundles storage, so there is no bucket to create and no provider to choose.
• Open, documented data. Arq documents its storage format and publishes an open-source restore tool, so the backups are not a black box.
• A 30-day trial. Enough time to test a real restore.

For a Mac user who wants a commercial app and vendor support, Arq is a sensible choice.

#Who should pick which

Pick Arq on a Mac or Windows when you want a finished commercial app, a vendor to call, and an optional bundled storage plan. On macOS it is the more polished app of the two.

Pick KopiaLens when your main problem is that the backups have grown and nobody knows why, on Windows or Linux, or when you want to see inside the backups and clean them up. One licence also covers up to 10 installations, where Arq is licensed per computer.

#Switching

KopiaLens cannot open an Arq backup set, and Arq cannot open a Kopia repository. Moving means a new Kopia repository and keeping Arq installed for the old backups until they expire. There is no conversion tool. Do not delete the Arq backups until the new backup has been tested with a restore.

The backup app is free. Pro, for cleanup, costs $20 a year or $50 lifetime at launch pricing. Download KopiaLens or see the plans.

Prices and product facts checked November 2026. Spotted something out of date? Email support@kopialens.com and we'll fix it.