#KopiaLens vs UrBackup

UrBackup is a free, open-source client/server backup system: one server holds everyone's backups, and agents on each machine follow schedules set in a web interface. KopiaLens is a backup app on the Kopia engine that lives on each machine it protects and shows what is inside every backup. Both do scheduled, deduplicated file backup; they differ in who runs the show.

	KopiaLens	UrBackup
What it is	A backup app that shows what is inside your backups	A client/server backup system with a web interface
Works with	Kopia repositories	UrBackup's own server-side backup storage
Platforms	Windows, macOS, Linux, Docker and NAS, Home Assistant, browser	Server on Windows, Linux, FreeBSD; agents on Windows, Linux, FreeBSD
Scheduled backups	Yes, built in, per policy	Yes, from the server: incremental every 5 hours and full every 30 days by default
Whole-drive image backups	No	Yes, with bare-metal restore from a bootable USB drive; natively on Windows, on Linux via LVM or dattobd
Deduplication	Yes, Kopia content-based	Yes, file-level; a file shared by two clients is stored once
Encryption	Yes, end-to-end; the password never leaves the machine	Transfers encrypted by default; stored data is protected only if the server's storage is encrypted
Browse and restore	Yes, in the app	Yes, in the web interface, per file or as a ZIP
Per-folder size after dedup	Yes	No
Reclaimable space and removal previews	Yes	No
Remove files from old snapshots	Pro, guided with previews	No; keep or delete whole backups
Price (November 2026)	Free; Pro $20/year or $50 lifetime at launch pricing	Free, open source (AGPL)

#What KopiaLens adds

• One app on each machine. No server to run or agents to roll out. KopiaLens carries its own schedule, retention, restore and verify on the computers it protects.
• Where the space goes. Real folder sizes after deduplication, reclaimable space, churn, search across snapshots and retention simulation, in the app.
• Guided removal (Pro). Take a folder out of every snapshot with a preview before anything is deleted, instead of deleting whole backups.
• Encryption you hold. Kopia encrypts end-to-end and your password never leaves the machine. UrBackup's transfers are encrypted, but its stored backups are only as private as the server's own storage.
• Any storage. Kopia's list of destinations, including S3, B2, Azure, Google Cloud, WebDAV, SFTP and rclone. UrBackup's backups live on the server's disks.
• What isn't backed up. Folders on your disks that no backup covers.

#What UrBackup does well

• Client/server design. One server backs up many machines, from home labs to deployments with hundreds of clients; more than 21,000 servers run with auto-update enabled, by its own count.
• File and image backups together. File backups by default, plus whole-volume images for bare-metal restores, on separate schedules.
• Efficient storage. Cross-client deduplication, hard-linked incrementals, and a btrfs snapshot mode that makes incrementals and deletions cheap.
• Consistent and unobtrusive. Backs up machines while they are in use; the client watches file changes, so incrementals start fast.
• Free without caps. AGPL-licensed, no licence per client, active since 2010, with 2.5.38 released August 2026.

#Who should pick which

Pick UrBackup when you manage several machines from one place - a small office, a homelab, family PCs - or when you want whole-drive images and bare-metal restore.

Pick KopiaLens for a desktop or a NAS you back up as its own machine, when you want to know what is inside the backups, find any version of any file, and clean junk out of old snapshots. It is not a fleet server.

#Switching

UrBackup keeps its file backups in its own server-side format, and KopiaLens cannot read them. Moving means starting a new Kopia repository in KopiaLens and keeping the UrBackup server running for the old backups until they expire. There is no conversion tool, so pick a time when a fresh full backup is fine.

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.