Macrium Reflect Alternatives 2026: 6 Free Options
Macrium Reflect alternatives: Clonezilla, Rescuezilla, Veeam Agent for Microsoft Windows Free and 3 more. Prices and licenses checked October 23, 2026.
•3 min read•Cloud Storage & Backup
Verdict:Leave Macrium Reflect if you relied on the free edition and want a replacement that is still maintained. Macrium retired Reflect Free, with security patches ending on 1 January 2024, so the old install keeps working but gets no new features. For a full-disk image on one PC, Veeam Agent Free and AOMEI Backupper Standard are the closest in spirit, both with scheduling and bootable recovery media on Windows. Clonezilla and Rescuezilla are the open-source route: they boot from USB and clone or image whole disks, but they work offline from outside Windows and do not run scheduled incremental jobs. UrBackup fits a small office where one server backs up several machines. Duplicati is a different job, encrypted file backups to cloud storage, and should sit next to an image tool rather than replace it. The trade-off is convenience: Reflect's paid editions give you incremental images, rapid restore and a single vendor, and you should check their current price on the vendor page. Pick Veeam or AOMEI if you want Reflect Free's workflow back, Clonezilla if you only clone drives when upgrading, and keep a second copy off the machine whichever you choose.
Quick comparison
| Tool | Price | Platforms | Best for | Tested |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clonezilla | Free (Free and open source disk imaging and cloning) | Bootable live media (x86/x86-64) | Free full-disk cloning and imaging | Docs only |
| Rescuezilla | Free (Free and open source) | Bootable live USB (PC and Mac) | Clonezilla with a friendlier interface | Docs only |
| Veeam Agent for Microsoft Windows Free | Free (Free standalone agent for desktops, laptops and tablets; not meant for servers or multi-user business setups) | Windows | Scheduled Windows image backups | Docs only |
| AOMEI Backupper | Free (Standard edition: OS, disk, file backup, sync, clone and bootable media) | Windows | A free Windows backup app with a GUI | Docs only |
| UrBackup | Free (free and open source) | Windows, Linux, FreeBSD, macOS (client) | Backing up several machines to one server | Docs only |
| Duplicati | Free (free client; proprietary folder under separate license) | Windows, macOS, Linux | Encrypted file backups to the cloud | Docs only |
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Good fit if
- You want scheduled image backups on one Windows PC (Veeam Agent for Microsoft Windows Free is the pick)
- You only clone a drive when upgrading it (Clonezilla is the pick)
- You back up several office machines to a server (UrBackup is the pick)
- You want encrypted copies of documents in cloud storage (Duplicati is the pick)
Not ideal if
- You rely on Macrium Reflect features or integrations that these tools do not replicate
Macrium Reflect today: See pricing page (Macrium Reflect pricing, checked 2026-10-23).
What changed at Macrium Reflect
Macrium retired Reflect Free: v8.0 was the last free release with feature updates, and security patches ran until 1 January 2024. Existing installs keep working. (Macrium Reflect: what changed)
Clonezilla
Compared with Macrium Reflect: GPL v2 and free, so no licence to renew, but it boots into a text interface and does not support incremental backups, mounted-partition imaging or single-file restore, which Reflect's paid editions handle.
Price: Free (Free and open source disk imaging and cloning) (Clonezilla pricing, checked 2026-10-23).
Platforms and license: Bootable live media (x86/x86-64). GPL-2.0 (open source).
Best for: Free full-disk cloning and imaging.
Worth knowing: Site names GNU General Public License version 2. Boots from USB, CD/DVD or PXE; images disks and partitions rather than running scheduled file backups.
Rescuezilla
Compared with Macrium Reflect: GPL-3.0 graphical front end on Clonezilla's tooling, so you get point-and-click imaging from a live USB at no cost. It is image-only, with none of Reflect's scheduling inside Windows.
Price: Free (Free and open source) (Rescuezilla pricing, checked 2026-10-23).
Platforms and license: Bootable live USB (PC and Mac). GPL-3.0 (open source).
Project activity: 2.8k GitHub stars · latest release 2.6.2 (May 16, 2026) · last commit May 16, 2026
Best for: Clonezilla with a friendlier interface.
Veeam Agent for Microsoft Windows Free
Compared with Macrium Reflect: Free standalone agent for Windows desktops and laptops with image, volume and file backups and bootable recovery media. It needs a form and email verification to download and is not for servers.
Price: Free (Free standalone agent for desktops, laptops and tablets; not meant for servers or multi-user business setups) (Veeam Agent for Microsoft Windows Free pricing, checked 2026-10-23).
Platforms and license: Windows. Proprietary (free edition).
Best for: Scheduled Windows image backups.
AOMEI Backupper
Compared with Macrium Reflect: The Standard edition is free for OS, disk and file backup, sync, clone and bootable media on Windows. Paid editions exist, and the page shows no prices, so compare them with Reflect before upgrading.
Price: Free (Standard edition: OS, disk, file backup, sync, clone and bootable media) (AOMEI Backupper pricing, checked 2026-10-23).
Platforms and license: Windows. Proprietary.
Best for: A free Windows backup app with a GUI.
UrBackup
Compared with Macrium Reflect: AGPL open source client and server with a web interface, file and image backups and a bootable restore stick. It suits several machines on one network; setting up the server is more work than installing Reflect.
Price: Free (free and open source) (UrBackup pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: Windows, Linux, FreeBSD, macOS (client). AGPL-3.0+ (open source).
Best for: Backing up several machines to one server.
Worth knowing: File and image backups with a web interface; bare-metal restore from a USB stick.
Duplicati
Compared with Macrium Reflect: MIT-licensed core that sends encrypted, incremental file backups to cloud storage or remote servers. It is file-level only, so it will not replace Reflect for full system images.
Price: Free (free client; proprietary folder under separate license) (Duplicati pricing, checked 2026-10-22).
Platforms and license: Windows, macOS, Linux. MIT (core) (open source).
Project activity: 15.2k GitHub stars · latest release v2.4.0.1_stable_2026-10-07 (Oct 7, 2026) · last commit Oct 27, 2026
Best for: Encrypted file backups to the cloud.
Worth knowing: Encrypted incremental backups to cloud and file servers.
Which one to pick
- You want scheduled image backups on one Windows PC: Veeam Agent for Microsoft Windows Free
- You only clone a drive when upgrading it: Clonezilla
- You back up several office machines to a server: UrBackup
- You want encrypted copies of documents in cloud storage: Duplicati
Limits of this review
Docs-only for Clonezilla, Rescuezilla, Veeam Agent for Microsoft Windows Free, AOMEI Backupper, UrBackup, Duplicati: we did not install or run them, so feature claims come from vendor pages and we did not test import from Macrium Reflect. Vendor prices and free limits change; confirm on the linked pricing page before you buy or migrate.
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Kevin Fan
Kevin Fan is a SaaS founder. He runs Free Instead Of, which tracks free and open-source alternatives to paid software and checks each price and free-plan limit against the vendor's own pages.
Methodology
Based on official pricing and product pages checked between 2026-10-22 and 2026-10-23: Macrium Reflect, Clonezilla, Rescuezilla, Veeam Agent for Microsoft Windows Free, AOMEI Backupper, UrBackup, Duplicati. Prices, free limits and licenses are the figures shown on those pages on those dates. No tool on this page was installed or run. No accounts were created.