Plakar
plakar.io
What it is
Plakar is a computer backup product for Linux, macOS, and Windows. It supports mixed backup scope, file-level restores, and ransomware protection. The listed supported environments also include self-hosted use and an API. Plakar's Free plan costs nothing, has no time limit, and covers up to 500 GB of managed data. It includes deploying the Plakar Control Plane on infrastructure you own. The Enterprise plan is consumption-based and includes premium support, with pricing available by contacting sales. The maker, Plakar, was founded in 2024 and is headquartered in Paris, France. The Free plan's stated storage ceiling and self-managed deployment are central details for buyers weighing whether its backup scope fits their needs. Its file restore mode allows recovery at the individual-file level rather than requiring restoration of an entire backup.
Spec sheet
- What it does
- Plakar is an open-source backup and restore platform producing encrypted, deduplicated snapshots for filesystems, object stores, cloud systems and Kubernetes.Read 21 Oct 2026 · alternativeto.net
- Supported platforms
- windows,macos,linux,self_hosted,apiRead 19 Sep 2026 · plakar.io
- Free plan
- YesRead 19 Sep 2026 · plakar.io
- Integrations
- Documented connectors include S3, SFTP/SSH, HTTP, Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive, Proton Drive, Proxmox, Kubernetes, PostgreSQL, MySQL/MariaDB, MongoDB, Azure Blob, WebDAV, FTP, IMAP, SMB/CIFS and NFS.Read 21 Oct 2026 · plakar.io
- Compliance
- Control Plane provides SLA retention policies, country-based data residency enforcement and legal holds for restore points or resources.Read 21 Oct 2026 · docs.plakar.io
- Headquarters
- Paris, FranceRead 28 Sep 2026 · plakar.io
- Founded
- 2024Read 28 Sep 2026 · plakar.io
- API and automation
- The product exposes actions through a CLI, SDK and API, and its documentation includes API automation accounts, webhooks and infrastructure-as-code references.Read 21 Oct 2026 · docs.plakar.io
- Backup scope
- mixedRead 19 Sep 2026 · plakar.io
- Company facts
- LinkedIn lists Plakar as a privately held Paris technology company founded in 2024 with 2–10 employees.Read 21 Oct 2026 · linkedin.com
- Computer backup
- YesRead 19 Sep 2026 · plakar.io
- Control Plane
- Control Plane is a self-hosted virtual appliance with a web interface for centralized inventory, scheduling, backup and restore management.Read 21 Oct 2026 · plakar.io
- Crunchbase investors
- Crunchbase lists Plakar as founded in 2024 in Paris and backed by Seedcamp, HelloWorld, Kima Ventures, Motier Ventures and other investors.Read 21 Oct 2026 · crunchbase.com
- Deduplication
- The software content-addresses data, deduplicates chunks, compresses them and stores them in immutable packfiles.Read 21 Oct 2026 · github.com
- Documentation depth
- Community documentation covers installation, quickstarts, scheduling, stores, integrations, command syntax, Go SDK references and operational explanations; separate Control Plane docs cover administration and deployment.Read 21 Oct 2026 · plakar.io
- Encryption
- Backups are encrypted on the source before reaching storage, including snapshot metadata and indexes.Read 21 Oct 2026 · docs.plakar.io
- Funding
- A 2025 legal-firm announcement says Plakar raised a $3 million seed round led by Seedcamp with other venture and angel investors.Read 21 Oct 2026 · parallel.law
- Go SDK
- The Go Kloset SDK lets developers implement importer, exporter and custom storage plugins communicating with Plakar over gRPC on stdin and stdout.Read 21 Oct 2026 · docs.plakar.io
- Independent review coverage
- AlternativeTo reports no comments or user reviews for Plakar and lists it as free, open source and ISC-licensed.Read 21 Oct 2026 · alternativeto.net
- Independent snapshots
- Each snapshot is self-contained, so deleting one snapshot does not break restoration of another.Read 21 Oct 2026 · docs.plakar.io
- Install methods
- Installation is documented through APT, DNF, Homebrew, Windows archives, Go install, Arch AUR and source builds.Read 21 Oct 2026 · plakar.io
- Latest version
- The official download page identifies v1.1.7 as the current stable Plakar release.Read 21 Oct 2026 · plakar.io
- Licence
- The Plakar repository and Kloset engine are released under the permissive ISC licence.Read 21 Oct 2026 · github.com
- Limit: cache exhaustion bug
- A public GitHub issue describes backups failing when Plakar's cache drive is full and reports that automatic cleanup did not occur before successful completion.Read 21 Oct 2026 · github.com
- Limit: slow-disk performance
- An independent 2023 benchmark reported heavy memory use, swapping and intensive disk I/O on inexpensive mechanical disks, while SSD performance was much better.Read 21 Oct 2026 · poolp.org
- Notable news: v1.1.3
- The June 16, 2026 release article describes a new terminal UI, multi-directory backups, rewritten FUSE and HTTP mounts, package management, lower memory use and roughly 95% faster restores in company tests.Read 21 Oct 2026 · plugins.plakar.io
- Plugin packaging
- Integrations are packaged as signed .ptar archives containing a manifest and connector executables, then installed with the Plakar package manager.Read 21 Oct 2026 · github.com
- Praise: portability
- AlternativeTo highlights encrypted deduplicated snapshots, cross-platform operation, offline use, plugin extensibility, on-premises deployment and disaster-recovery features.Read 21 Oct 2026 · alternativeto.net
- Ransomware protection
- YesRead 19 Sep 2026 · plakar.io
- Rating on Capterra
- 0.0 out of 5 from 0 reviewsRead 21 Oct 2026 · capterra.com
- Rating on GetApp
- 0 out of 5 from 0 reviewsRead 21 Oct 2026 · getapp.com
- Resilience as code
- Backup policies can be represented as Kubernetes custom resources, Terraform resources or Ansible playbooks and versioned in Git.Read 21 Oct 2026 · docs.plakar.io
- Restore modes
- fileRead 19 Sep 2026 · plakar.io
- Restore workflow
- Users can browse or verify snapshots, mount them, restore selected files or restore across storage types.Read 21 Oct 2026 · alternativeto.net
- Security limitation
- The threat model says a repository has one master key, key revocation requires re-encryption, retention poisoning is possible and storage-layer immutability must come from controls such as object lock or filesystem permissions.Read 21 Oct 2026 · docs.plakar.io
- Security model
- The threat model guarantees encrypted content and metadata, tamper detection, rejection of unauthenticated data, append-only format, independent snapshots and offline verification under stated assumptions.Read 21 Oct 2026 · docs.plakar.io
- Storage backends
- Plakar supports local filesystems and S3-compatible storage, with Control Plane documentation covering AWS, Google Cloud, Azure, OVHcloud, Scaleway, MinIO and other providers.Read 21 Oct 2026 · docs.plakar.io
- Supported binaries
- Official downloads include Windows, macOS, Linux, FreeBSD, OpenBSD and Alpine packages for x86_64 and arm64.Read 21 Oct 2026 · plakar.io
- System requirements
- Building Plakar from source requires Go 1.23.3 or newer, while the Kloset library requires Go 1.25 or newer.Read 21 Oct 2026 · github.com
Plans and prices
Strong points and limits
Strong points
- Runs on Linux, macOS, and Windows
- Supports file-level restore
- Lists ransomware protection
- Free plan has no time limit
- Free plan supports up to 500 GB
Limits
- Free plan is capped at 500 GB
- Free plan requires infrastructure you own
- Community eligibility is limited to qualifying organizations
- Enterprise pricing requires contacting sales
Who it suits
Plakar may suit individuals or organizations seeking computer backup across Linux, macOS, and Windows, including those wanting to run the control plane on infrastructure they own. The Community plan is for qualifying organizations.
Verdict
Plakar combines cross-platform backup with file-level restores and ransomware protection. Its free option has a clear 500 GB limit and places the control plane on infrastructure you own.
Where Specifiction places it
- Container Backup Software#4 of 288.5
- Kubernetes Backup Software#5 of 318.5
- Backup software#29 of 1518.7
- Data Backup Software#9 of 258.5