SimpleBackups charges $49/mo for 5 backup jobs and $99/mo for 20. Calm Backup's Growth plan is $15/mo for up to 50 sources — with daily verified restores and turnkey zero-knowledge encryption included on every plan.
Prices from simplebackups.com/pricing — verified June 2026
| SimpleBackups | Calm Backup | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | $49/mo (5 jobs) | $5/mo (1 source) |
| Mid-tier price | $99/mo (20 jobs) | $15/mo (50 sources) |
| Backup sources at $15–$49/mo | 5 jobs max at $49 | Up to 50 sources at $15 |
| Postgres / MySQL / MongoDB | ✓ | ✓ (auto-detected) |
| Redis support | ✓ | — |
| SaaS sources (Notion, GitHub) | ✓ | — |
| Zero-knowledge encryption | User-managed RSA keys | Turnkey AES-256-GCM (default) |
| Automated restore verification | — (manual pg_restore etc.) | ✓ Daily sandbox-tested |
| ISO 27001 certification | ✓ (since 2023) | — (audit-ready ledger + SOC 2 evidence pack) |
| CLI tool | Dashboard + API/webhooks (no CLI-based job configuration) | ✓ Single binary, YAML config |
| Weekly digest email | — | ✓ |
| Free trial / free tier | ✓ (1 job, 1 GB) | ✓ 14 days |
pg_restore or equivalent yourself. Every Calm Backup plan checksums your backups and periodically restores them into a scratch sandbox. You find out from the daily report, not from a real emergency. Both SimpleBackups and Calm Backup offer free tiers. SimpleBackups' free plan includes 1 backup job and 1 GB of storage. Calm Backup offers a 14-day free trial on all plans with no credit card required, so you can run real backups before committing. Neither is "free forever" for production use — and any tool that is should raise questions about infrastructure costs and longevity.
SimpleBackups prices by backup jobs rather than by data volume, which works well if you have a small number of sources. The jump from $49 (5 jobs) to $99 (20 jobs) is steep for indie teams adding new microservices, staging databases, or volume mounts over time. Reviewers on Capterra have noted the same friction. Calm Backup's Growth plan at $15/mo covers up to 50 sources, which means you can add sources freely without watching a job counter.
No — according to SimpleBackups' own documentation, database restores are manual. You run pg_restore, mysql, or the equivalent yourself. Calm Backup checksums every backup on arrival and runs periodic sandbox restores automatically. You get a notification if a restore fails; you don't have to orchestrate the test yourself.
SimpleBackups uses client-side RSA key encryption, where your data is encrypted with a key you generate before it leaves your machine and before it reaches their infrastructure. That's a meaningful security property. The practical difference from Calm Backup is ergonomics: you generate and manage the RSA keys yourself. Calm Backup's zero-knowledge encryption is turnkey — AES-256-GCM, key generated locally, never leaves your machine — with no key management on your end.
No, not currently. Calm Backup focuses on server-side sources: Postgres, MySQL, MongoDB, files, and folders. If backing up SaaS data (Notion workspaces, GitHub repositories) is a core requirement, SimpleBackups is the stronger fit today.
Yes. The setup takes a few minutes — install the CLI (or connect via the web dashboard), point it at your databases and folders, and your first backup runs immediately. You can run both in parallel during a trial period to verify everything before cutting over. Your existing SimpleBackups backups stay in your storage bucket regardless.
14-day free trial, no credit card required. Postgres, MySQL, MongoDB, files, and folders — all auto-detected.
Start backing up free →