balenaEtcher vs Unraid USB Creator
balenaEtcher
etcher.balena.ioUnraid USB Creator
unraid.netSide by side
| Figure | balenaEtcher | Unraid USB Creator |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $143.33/mo | — |
| Free plan | Yes | — |
| Free trial | — | Yes |
| Open source | — | — |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 9 | 3 |
| Spec score · Bootable USB Software | 8.7 (#1) | 7.9 (#12) |
| Founded | 2011 | 2005 |
| Purpose | Etcher flashes OS images to SD cards and USB drives. | The USB Creator prepares an Unraid USB flash drive from a Windows, macOS, or Linux computer so it can boot a server and continue setup in the onboarding wizard. |
| Support | The documentation directs users with problems to raise an issue on GitHub, where the balena.io team can help. | Unraid offers product documentation, community forums, support tickets, and paid one-on-one support sessions. |
Plans
balenaEtcher
- balenaCloud FreeFree
- balenaEtcherFree
- balenaCloud Prototype$159 a month
- balenaCloud Pilot$329 a month
- balenaCloud Production$1,439 a month
- balenaCloud Prototype$1,720 a year
- balenaCloud Pilot$3,588 a year
- balenaCloud Production$15,588 a year
- balenaCloud EnterprisePriced on request
Unraid USB Creator
- Starter$49, paid once
- Unleashed$109, paid once
- Lifetime$249, paid once
In their own words
balenaEtcher
balenaEtcher flashes operating system images to SD cards and USB drives, and can create USB installation media from bootable ISOs. Its three-step interface requires no command line. After flashing, it confirms completion to help users check that a card can boot and is not corrupted. To reduce the risk of choosing the wrong target, it warns users and hides system drives by default. Flashing erases the entire target drive and replaces its data. Etcher runs on Linux, macOS, and Windows: listed support covers most Linux distributions on Intel 64-bit systems, Windows 10 and later on Intel 64-bit systems, and macOS 10.13 and later on Intel and Apple Silicon. It can directly flash Raspberry Pi devices that support USB device boot mode. Etcher is free and open source. It does not configure persistent storage for live USB drives, and Windows images may need special boot preparation that Etcher is not designed to perform.
Unraid USB Creator
Unraid USB Creator has no write-up on Specifiction yet; its figures are above.