JetBackup vs R1Soft: Which cPanel Backup Solution Wins in 2026?

Backups are the one server component you hope to never actually need, which is exactly why it pays to compare backup solutions before an incident rather than during one. JetBackup and R1Soft (now CloudLinux Backup) are the two most common third-party backup tools for cPanel servers, alongside cPanel's own built-in backup manager. Here is how they actually compare.

Three ways to back up a cPanel server

Solution	Backup type	Restore granularity	Typical cost
cPanel's built-in backups	Full account tar archives	Whole account or single file via disk restore	Included with cPanel
JetBackup 5	Incremental, file and database level	Single file, single database, or full account	Licensed per server, scales with account count
R1Soft / CloudLinux Backup	Block-level incremental (disk snapshot)	Bare-metal or file-level restore from a snapshot	Licensed per server, priced by protected disk space

JetBackup: strengths and trade-offs

JetBackup integrates directly into WHM and cPanel, so both administrators and individual account owners can browse and restore their own backups without a support ticket. Its incremental engine only stores changed files after the first full backup, which keeps storage costs down, and it supports pushing backups to remote destinations including Amazon S3, Google Cloud Storage, FTP/SFTP, and other cPanel servers.

• Strength: self-service restores for end users through the cPanel interface, which reduces support load significantly.
• Strength: granular restores down to a single email account, database, or file, not just the whole account.
• Trade-off: being file-level rather than block-level, very large accounts with millions of small files can back up more slowly than a block-level snapshot tool.

R1Soft / CloudLinux Backup: strengths and trade-offs

R1Soft (now sold as CloudLinux Backup after CloudLinux's acquisition of the product) works at the disk block level rather than the file level, which means it can back up and restore an entire server extremely quickly regardless of how many individual files exist, and it supports true bare-metal disaster recovery, restoring a whole server to new hardware.

• Strength: very fast backup and restore on servers with huge numbers of small files, since it works on disk blocks rather than walking the filesystem.
• Strength: full bare-metal recovery, useful for disaster-recovery planning beyond individual account restores.
• Trade-off: restoring a single file or database typically means mounting a full disk snapshot first, which is less convenient than JetBackup's direct single-item restore for end users.

Which one fits your server

• Choose JetBackup if you run a shared or reseller hosting server where clients expect to restore their own files or a deleted email account without waiting on support.
• Choose R1Soft / CloudLinux Backup if your priority is fast disaster recovery for the whole server, or you are running a smaller number of very large accounts with millions of files where file-level scanning is the bottleneck.
• Use cPanel's built-in backups as a baseline regardless, since they are already included, cost nothing extra, and provide a simple fallback even if you also run a dedicated tool.

Many hosting companies run both: cPanel's native backups or JetBackup for day-to-day, self-service account restores, and a block-level tool for full-server disaster recovery in a worst-case scenario. Whichever you choose, the 3-2-1 rule still applies: keep at least three copies of your data, on two different types of storage, with one copy off-site.

Frequently asked questions

Can JetBackup restore a single email account?

Yes, JetBackup's granular restore supports individual databases, email accounts, and files, not only full-account restores.

Is R1Soft the same product as CloudLinux Backup?

CloudLinux acquired R1Soft's backup technology and now sells and develops it as CloudLinux Backup, so they refer to the same underlying block-level backup engine.

Do I still need off-site backups if I use JetBackup or R1Soft?

Yes. Both tools support pushing backups to remote storage such as S3 or a second server, and you should always keep at least one backup copy physically separate from the server it protects.

Conclusion

JetBackup wins on convenience and self-service restores for hosting businesses with many client accounts, while R1Soft/CloudLinux Backup wins on raw speed and full bare-metal disaster recovery. Neither replaces the basic discipline of keeping an off-site copy — pick the tool that matches how your team actually restores data, then make sure at least one copy always lives somewhere other than the server itself.