BorgBase vs Wasabi
BorgBase is a European alternative to Wasabi: same cloud & hosting use case, headquartered in Malta and governed by EU GDPR, while Wasabi (Wasabi Technologies) is based in the United States.
By the EU Alternatives team Last updated
Host Borg and Restic backup repositories with append-only protection, monitoring, and alerts. Starts at 10 GB free, with EU or US datacenter choice.
- Jurisdiction
- EU / EEA
- Primary privacy law
- EU GDPR
- US CLOUD Act exposure
- No
- Open source
- No
- Free tier
- Yes
S3-compatible object storage sold at one flat rate with no egress or API request charges, which is why backup and archive workloads land here: a full restore does not produce a surprise bill. Pay as you go runs 7.99 dollars per TB per month, though you are billed for at least 1 TB and deleted objects still count for 90 days. The company operates out of Boston, Massachusetts in the US.
- Jurisdiction
- United States
- GDPR by default
- Requires DPA + TIA
- US CLOUD Act exposure
- Yes
BorgBase vs Wasabi at a glance
| BorgBase | Wasabi | |
|---|---|---|
| Headquarters | Malta | United States |
| Data jurisdiction | EU / EEA | United States |
| Primary privacy law | EU GDPR | Requires DPA + transfer assessment |
| US CLOUD Act exposure | No | Yes |
| Best for | Teams that need cloud & hosting built for European data-protection requirements | Teams already invested in the Wasabi Technologies ecosystem |
Choose BorgBase if…
- You want a provider governed by a European privacy regime
- GDPR or public-sector data-protection requirements apply to you
- You want to start free and scale up later
- You'd rather back the European tech ecosystem
Stick with Wasabi if…
- You depend on integrations only available in the Wasabi Technologies ecosystem
- Your organisation has no EU data-residency constraints
- Migration costs outweigh the jurisdiction benefits for now
About BorgBase
BorgBase is a Maltese-registered backup hosting service built specifically for Borg and Restic, the two most widely used deduplicated, encrypted backup tools for Linux and macOS. Backups are encrypted client-side before any data leaves your machine, and append-only mode prevents any process (including ransomware) from modifying or deleting existing archives.
Each repository gets continuous monitoring: if a backup hasn't run within the configured window, BorgBase triggers alerts via email, Pushover, or webhook. A clean REST API automates repository provisioning for infrastructure-as-code workflows. Native support for Borgmatic, Vorta, and Pika Backup integrates the broader ecosystem without glue code.
Key benefits:
- Borg and Restic hosting for the two leading open-source deduplicated backup tools
- Client-side encryption so the server never has access to backup data
- Append-only mode to protect archives from ransomware or accidental deletion
- Backup monitoring with configurable alerts via email, Pushover, or webhooks
- Deduplication and compression to reduce storage footprint and transfer time
- REST API for automating repository creation and SSH key management
- 10 GB permanently free with no credit card required
- Choice of EU or US datacenter for latency and data residency requirements
BorgBase is operated by Peakford Ltd, headquartered in Naxxar, Malta, an EU member state. The service is fully GDPR-compliant, and customers using EU datacenter options keep all backup data within European jurisdiction. Technical support comes directly from active maintainers of the Borg ecosystem.
Ideal for system administrators, self-hosters, and developers who need reliable encrypted offsite backups with transparent pricing and no proprietary lock-in.
Why choose BorgBase over Wasabi?
The decisive argument is data jurisdiction. Wasabi is headquartered in the United States, which means personal data processed through it can be subject to non-EU legal regimes: the US CLOUD Act, FISA 702, or similar laws depending on the provider. After the 2020 Schrems II ruling, EU organisations must carry out a transfer impact assessment for every such data flow.
BorgBase removes that overhead. As a Malta-based provider, it operates under EU GDPR, and data stays inside the EU/EEA by default. For regulated sectors such as health, public administration, and finance, that's not a nice-to-have but a requirement. For everyone else, it's concentration-risk insurance: you avoid depending on a single jurisdiction that can change the rules without warning.