SnapShooter has been owned by DigitalOcean since January 2023. If your infrastructure runs on DigitalOcean, it's genuinely excellent. If you're on AWS, Hetzner, Fly.io, or bare-metal, this page is for you.
SnapShooter was acquired by DigitalOcean in January 2023. It is now DigitalOcean's native recommended backup solution. For DO-native teams it is tightly integrated, billing-unified, and the obvious default choice. This comparison is aimed at teams who do not run on DigitalOcean and are looking for a provider-neutral alternative.
SnapShooter prices from snapshooter.com/pricing — verified June 2026. Encryption included in Business tier; not available below that.
| SnapShooter | Calm Backup | |
|---|---|---|
| Provider affiliation | DigitalOcean-owned | Provider-neutral |
| Encryption default | Optional add-on (Business+ only) | ✓ AES-256-GCM on every plan |
| Zero-knowledge model | SSH keys stored in SnapShooter DB | ✓ Key never leaves your machine |
| Backup encryption included at $15–$39/mo | — (not available below $79) | ✓ ($15/mo Growth plan) |
| Server access method | SSH login to your server | Agent-based, no open ports |
| AWS / Hetzner / Fly.io support | Supported, weaker native experience | ✓ Provider-neutral |
| Postgres / MySQL / MongoDB | ✓ | ✓ (auto-detected) |
| DigitalOcean snapshots & volumes | ✓ (native) | — |
| Docker / Kubernetes backups | ✓ | — |
| WordPress backups | ✓ | — |
| Automated restore verification | — (not in documentation) | ✓ Daily sandbox-tested |
| CLI tool | — (dashboard only) | ✓ Single binary |
| Weekly digest email | — | ✓ |
| Free trial / free tier | ✓ (1 job, 500 MB) | ✓ 14 days |
Yes — Calm Backup is designed to be provider-neutral. It runs on any Linux/macOS host regardless of cloud provider, backs up Postgres, MySQL, MongoDB, files, and folders, and stores encrypted backups in multi-region redundant storage. No DO account needed. Most AWS and Hetzner teams find setup takes under 10 minutes.
No. According to SnapShooter's own documentation, backup file encryption (using OpenSSL RSA) is an optional add-on available on the Business plan ($79/mo) and above. Their Lite ($14/mo) and Startup ($39/mo) plans do not include backup encryption. Calm Backup encrypts all backups with AES-256-GCM on every plan, including the $5/mo Solo plan, and the key never leaves your machine.
Partially. SnapShooter's documentation states that backup data doesn't flow through their servers — their servers coordinate the backup, but the data goes directly to your configured storage. However, they do log in to your server via SSH using private keys they store (AES-256 encrypted) in their own database. That means they have operational access to your server at the OS level, which is a different kind of trust than Calm Backup asks for.
Calm Backup ships a single static binary for Linux and macOS. You can run backups, check status, and trigger restores from the terminal. It supports YAML config for scripting and works well in CI pipelines and Ansible playbooks. SnapShooter is currently dashboard-only.
Yes. Calm Backup works on any Linux host, including DigitalOcean droplets. You'd use it for database and file backups — it won't do DO-native volume snapshots the way SnapShooter does, but for application data, it's a straightforward fit.
Your existing SnapShooter backups stay in whatever storage you configured (S3, Spaces, etc.) — switching tools doesn't delete old backups. Calm Backup starts a new backup history from the point you configure it. You can run both in parallel for a transition period.
14-day free trial, no credit card required. Works on AWS, Hetzner, Fly.io, bare-metal, or any Linux host.
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