Macrium Reflect

Name: Macrium Reflect
Brand: Macrium Reflect

Backup and Disaster Recovery

Commercial Vendor

Paid Plans

Free Tier

OpenMSP Score

Reddit Impact Score

Alternative Vendors

Bareos GmbH & Co. KG

UrBackup

Clonezilla

Amanda Network Backup

Commercial Alternatives

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Macrium Reflect is a Windows backup and disk imaging tool made by Paramount Software UK Ltd, based in Manchester. It's been around since 2006 and is one of the more trusted names in the imaging space – a lot of MSPs and IT pros have used it for years to handle full system images, differential and incremental backups, disk cloning, and bare-metal restores. The product line includes Reflect Home (personal use), Reflect Workstation (business endpoints), Reflect Server and Server Plus (for server environments), and SiteBackup (centralized management for larger deployments). There's also a Technician's License that runs off a USB stick – handy for field techs who need imaging tools on the go. Macrium recently launched Reflect X, a new engine with faster backup speeds, ARM architecture support, and expanded device compatibility. The free version of Reflect was discontinued in January 2024, which pushed some users toward alternatives like AOMEI Backupper, Clonezilla, and Veeam. Paid plans are subscription-based (1, 3, or 5-year terms), with an LTSC perpetual option available for regulated or mission-critical environments. Pricing starts at around $50/year for Home and $78/year per device for Workstation. Server versions run above $200/year. For MSPs managing multiple endpoints, per-device costs add up – SiteBackup with centralized management is the enterprise play, but it's a separate product with its own pricing. Macrium doesn't offer cloud backup natively. All backups go to local, network, or USB drives. If you need cloud destinations, you'll need to pair it with something else. The software is Windows-only – no macOS or Linux agents.

Key Features

Full, Differential, and Incremental Imaging

Create complete disk images or run differential and incremental backups to save storage and time. Backups are compressed and mountable – you can browse files inside an image without doing a full restore.

Bare-Metal Restore with ReDeploy

Restore a full system image to the same or dissimilar hardware using Macrium ReDeploy. Useful for hardware failures, migrations, or swapping out machines without reinstalling everything from scratch.

Disk Cloning

Clone entire disks or individual partitions for hardware upgrades, SSD migrations, or creating identical machine setups. Works with both MBR and GPT partition styles.

Scheduled and Automated Backups

Set up automated backup schedules with retention policies that manage full, differential, and incremental sets. Macrium handles cleanup automatically so you don't run out of disk space.

SiteBackup Centralized Management

For larger deployments, SiteBackup provides a centralized console to manage backup agents across multiple machines. Designed for MSPs and IT teams managing fleets of endpoints and servers.

Ransomware Protection

Macrium Image Guardian restricts backup file access so only Macrium processes can write to backup destinations. Prevents ransomware from encrypting or deleting your backup images.

Pros and Cons

Pros

Fast and Reliable Imaging

Consistently one of the fastest backup tools in testing. Users report backing up and verifying a 100GB drive in under 5 minutes on USB4. Restores are equally fast – the reliability over years of use is the main reason people stick with it.

Proven Track Record

In production since 2006 with a large user base. Many MSPs and IT pros have used Macrium for 5–10+ years. Restore reliability is the standout – failed restores are extremely rare compared to competitors like Acronis.

Ransomware Protection Built In

Image Guardian locks down backup destinations at the file system level. Only Macrium processes can modify backup files, which prevents ransomware from encrypting or deleting your images.

Flexible Licensing Options

Subscription plans at 1, 3, and 5-year terms plus an LTSC perpetual option for regulated environments. Technician's License runs from USB for field work. Home users get a 4-pack deal at the price of 2 licenses.

Hyper-V Boot for DR Testing

Boot any backup image as a Hyper-V VM to verify restores or provide emergency system access while hardware is down. A real time-saver for disaster recovery testing.

Cons

No Cloud Backup Option

All backups go to local, network, or USB drives. No native cloud destinations. If you need offsite cloud backup, you'll need to pair Macrium with a separate tool like Backblaze B2 or a cloud sync utility.

Windows Only

No macOS or Linux agents. If you manage mixed-OS environments, Macrium only covers the Windows side of your fleet. You'll need a second tool for everything else.

Free Version Discontinued

Macrium ended the free edition in January 2024. The 30-day trial is now the only free option. This pushed a lot of users toward AOMEI Backupper and Clonezilla, and created frustration among long-time free-tier users.

Per-Device Pricing Adds Up for MSPs

At $78/year per workstation and $200+/year per server, costs scale linearly with endpoint count. MSPs managing hundreds of devices face significant licensing spend compared to per-tenant or unlimited-device alternatives.

SiteBackup Is a Separate Product

Centralized management isn't included in standard Reflect licenses. SiteBackup is a separate purchase with its own pricing, which means smaller MSPs may end up managing agents individually.