Casper vs FOG Project
Casper
fssdev.com
FOG Project
fogproject.orgSide by side
| Figure | Casper | FOG Project |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $62.50/mo | Free |
| Free plan | — | Yes |
| Free trial | Yes | — |
| Open source | — | Yes |
| Web | — | Yes |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | — | Yes |
| Linux | — | Yes |
| API | — | Yes |
| Self-hosted | — | Yes |
| Plans published | 6 | 2 |
| Spec score · Disk Cloning Software | 8.0 (#8) | 8.7 (#2) |
| Purpose | Casper creates rapid-recovery system backups for PCs and can make a backup drive bootable. | FOG Project is a free, open-source network computer cloning and management solution. |
| Security | The maker says Casper is designed to create and maintain backups without requiring unnecessary administrator privileges. | The FOG Client documentation says client-server communications use public-key infrastructure and AES-256 encryption after an RSA-4096 key exchange. |
| Support | The maker provides a Support Center, Knowledge Base, and Contact Support entry points. | Support is provided through a public forum, documentation, Discord and community resources. |
Plans
Casper
- Casper 11 Home Edition license upgrade from Casper 10$29.95, paid once
- Casper 11 Home Edition license upgrade from earlier versions$39.95, paid once
- Casper 11 Home Edition$59.95, paid once
- 5-PC Casper 11 Family Value Pack$89.95, paid once
- Casper Tech Edition Designated Technician License$750 a year
- Casper Tech Edition Commercial Technician License$900 a year
In their own words
Casper
Casper creates system backups for Windows PCs, including bootable point-in-time disk images. Those images can restore selected files or folders, or an entire system drive. Backups run from within Windows, while SmartClone differential block imaging creates incremental images and updates bootable backups. SmartSight checks before imaging, and automatic copy verification checks data during imaging. Users can schedule backups daily, weekly, monthly, or at a chosen frequency, and use automatic retention management. Casper also lists enterprise scripting and automation support and Group Policy administration. Its Secure Tech Edition is designed for disks encrypted with Windows BitLocker or Symantec (PGP) Drive Encryption. Restore-point and image-file backups require Windows 7 or later; SmartResume works only on NTFS volumes. Casper has a free plan and offers a fully functional 30-day trial; after that trial, it automatically reverts to Casper Free Edition. The platform is Windows. Home licenses include a one-computer license for 59.95 USD once and a five-PC pack for 89.95 USD once; technician licenses are also listed.
FOG Project
FOG Project is a free, open-source system for cloning and managing networked computers. It captures and deploys Windows, Mac OSX and Linux distributions, including hardware-independent images that can be used across different computer models. The project also lists multi-site installations and remote management, provided the FOG server is publicly reachable. That server must run on Linux; recommended options include server-oriented LTS distributions such as Ubuntu, Debian, Rocky Linux or AlmaLinux. FOG recommends configuring client machines to PXE boot first so imaging tasks can be sent without visiting each computer. The FOG Client supports host registration, hostname changes, scheduled power management, snapin installation and user tracking, with client installation described for Windows, Linux and OSX. Client-server communications use public-key infrastructure and AES-256 encryption after an RSA-4096 key exchange. The security guide recommends firewall rules and protecting the MySQL database and captured image directory. Community support is available through forums, a wiki and IRC. The Linux client lacks the FOG Tray, Active Directory joining and PrinterManager. FOG Project is free for commercial use; community support is free.