Active@ Partition Manager vs Parted Magic
Active@ Partition Manager
pcdisk.com
Parted Magic
partedmagic.comSide by side
| Figure | Active@ Partition Manager | Parted Magic |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | $4.92/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | — |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Windows | Yes | — |
| Linux | — | Yes |
| Plans published | 1 | 6 |
| Spec score · Hard Drive Partitioning Software | 8.0 (#5) | 7.1 (#13) |
| Spec score · Disk Partition Software | 8.0 (#8) | 7.2 (#18) |
| Founded | 1999 | 2004 |
| Headquarters | The maker lists its address in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. | Waupaca, Wisconsin, United States |
| Support | The maker offers a Customer Communication Center, a knowledge base and ticket system, email, and phone support. | For purchase support, the maker asks customers to reply to their order confirmation email and says to allow one to two business days for a reply. |
Plans
Parted Magic
- Enterprise Compliance LicensePriced on request
- Quarterly Subscription$19 a month
- Single Version$19, paid once
- One Year Subscription$59 a year
- Parted Magic Forever$349, paid once
- Parted Magic Enterprise Compliance License$1,750, paid once
In their own words
Active@ Partition Manager
Active@ Partition Manager is free Windows software for managing storage devices and logical partitions. It can create, delete, format, name, and resize partitions, with most changes taking effect immediately. The utility recognizes FAT, NTFS, exFAT, ReFS, HFS+, Ext2/Ext3/Ext4, BtrFS, UFS, XFS, and JFS volumes, while listed formatting operations cover FAT, exFAT, and NTFS. It converts between MBR and GPT partition styles and can roll back layout changes such as partition creation, deletion, formatting, or disk initialization. FAT32 partitions larger than 32 GB, up to 1 TB, are supported. USB tools can format flash memory as NTFS and create multiple partitions. Listed compatibility includes Windows 11 through XP, Windows Server 2003 through 2022, and WinPE. The freeware license permits partition management without charge. It cannot restore a deleted partition; the maker directs that task to Active@ UNDELETE.
Parted Magic
Parted Magic is paid, bootable Linux software for managing storage from USB, optical disc, or PXE. It requires a 64-bit x86 processor and at least 2 GB of RAM, and supports UEFI Secure Boot, legacy BIOS, and Intel-based Mac hardware. Its tools securely erase ATA, NVMe, SAS/SCSI, and eMMC/SD drives, choosing methods according to drive capabilities. Successful erases produce signed PDF destruction certificates, with exportable cryptographically signed evidence packs. The maker says sanitization follows NIST SP 800-88 Revision 2 and technology-specific methods conform to IEEE 2883. VisParted handles MBR and GPT layouts, filesystem operations, partition moves, and conversion between MBR and GPT. Parted Magic Clone copies disks, partitions, and images while keeping the source read-only and creating verification certificates. Workflows can use local, USB, SSH, Samba, and NFS targets, plus multicast deployment with udpcast. PM Report Server receives status and evidence over a local network and can send email, webhook, or ntfy alerts. It is not an installable Windows application.