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Comparison · DevOps
Exoscale vs pgBackRest
A side-by-side editorial comparison of Exoscale and pgBackRest — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
Exoscale vs pgBackRest: at a glance
What is Exoscale?
Exoscale lets customers keep their own encryption keys outside its cloud.
Exoscale, a European cloud provider, opened a private preview of KMS External Key Store on 3 November: customers connect Exoscale KMS to their own HSM or key manager through a proxy they host, and Exoscale never sees the key material. It implements the AWS KMS XKS proxy API, so existing proxies work unchanged. This follows a free VPC in every zone in October, object-storage lifecycle rules, asymmetric KMS keys and cheaper IPv6 load balancing.
What is pgBackRest?
pgBackRest 2.60 now stops a restore when a page checksum is bad
pgBackRest 2.60.0, released October 18, changes a default: restore now errors and stops if a restored file has an invalid page checksum, leaving the cluster unable to start until the restore is rerun, and expire refuses to proceed if the oldest retained backup would contain checksum errors. Setting checksum-page-error=n returns to warnings. The release also adds GCS Workload Identity Federation and prefetch for object-store reads. Two weeks earlier 2.59.3 fixed a bug that could generate weak encryption subkeys and salts when system random data failed.
Exoscale vs pgBackRest: editorial side-by-side
Exoscale
6.3DEVOPS
Exoscale lets customers keep their own encryption keys outside its cloud.
◆ Current state
Exoscale, a European cloud provider, opened a private preview of KMS External Key Store on 3 November: customers connect Exoscale KMS to their own HSM or key manager through a proxy they host, and Exoscale never sees the key material. It implements the AWS KMS XKS proxy API, so existing proxies work unchanged. This follows a free VPC in every zone in October, object-storage lifecycle rules, asymmetric KMS keys and cheaper IPv6 load balancing.
◆ Where it's heading
KMS has moved fast: asymmetric keys in early October, external keys four weeks later. Together with VPC and lifecycle rules, Exoscale is closing gaps against the hyperscalers, and XKS points its pitch at sovereignty-bound customers who need to prove the provider cannot decrypt their data.
◆ Prediction
XKS will likely widen from private preview to general availability, and the next steps are probably more services encrypting with KMS keys; the entries don't say which services or when.
pgBackRest
5.0DEVOPS
pgBackRest 2.60 now stops a restore when a page checksum is bad
◆ Current state
pgBackRest 2.60.0, released October 18, changes a default: restore now errors and stops if a restored file has an invalid page checksum, leaving the cluster unable to start until the restore is rerun, and expire refuses to proceed if the oldest retained backup would contain checksum errors. Setting checksum-page-error=n returns to warnings. The release also adds GCS Workload Identity Federation and prefetch for object-store reads. Two weeks earlier 2.59.3 fixed a bug that could generate weak encryption subkeys and salts when system random data failed.
◆ Where it's heading
The project is moving from reporting corruption to refusing to continue past it, a stricter stance that fits the root restriction in 2.59.0. Cloud identity continues too, with GCS joining the Azure and S3 work. Underneath, the code generation, documentation tools and test harness have moved from C and Perl to Python, and a documented release schedule and new website show the project formalizing how it runs.
◆ Prediction
Patches tracking PostgreSQL 19 should continue, as 2.59.2 did with 19beta4. Now that restore can fail on checksums, expect follow-up fixes or guidance for clusters where existing backups contain them.
Alternatives to Exoscale and pgBackRest
Other DevOps products tracked by Sparkpulse, ranked by recent ship velocity. Each card links to a full editorial trajectory and lets you pivot into a head-to-head comparison with either Exoscale or pgBackRest.
GitHub
GitHub puts Copilot inside Xcode's own coding assistant, a week after JetBrains Air.
Workato
Workato gives MCP proxies per-user OAuth and opens a UK data center with its agent stack.
ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus
ServiceDesk Plus brings its Zoho-hosted Zia LLM to the Saudi Arabia data center.
Argo CD
Argo CD cuts 3.6.0 on the release branch and ships its first patch within a day
Apache TomEE
TomEE opens a 10.3 line and a second EE11 milestone on the same day, with no notes
See all Exoscale alternatives → · See all pgBackRest alternatives →
Recent activity from Exoscale and pgBackRest
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 2d agoExoscaleKMS External Key Store (XKS) is now in private preview ⚡
- 8d agoExoscaleVirtual Private Cloud (VPC) is now available
- 15d agoExoscaleNew on the Marketplace: MonitOP, powered by Exoscale
- 17d agoExoscaleSOS: Native Bucket Lifecycle Rules
- 18d agopgBackRestv2.60.0: Page Checksum Errors and Object Store Prefetch
- 29d agoExoscaleKMS now supports asymmetric encryption and digital signatures
- 1mo agopgBackRestv2.59.3: Weak Encryption Subkey Bug
- 1mo agopgBackRestv2.59.2: PostgreSQL 19beta4 Support
- 1mo agoExoscaleNetwork Load Balancer now supports IPv6
- 2mo agopgBackRestv2.59.1: PostgreSQL 19beta3 Support
- 3mo agopgBackRestv2.59.0: PostgreSQL 19 Support
- 9mo agopgBackRestv2.58.0: Object Storage Improvements
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between Exoscale and pgBackRest?
They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. Exoscale is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 6.3 vs 5.0), with 1 editorial sparks in the last 30 days against 0. See the at-a-glance table above for a side-by-side breakdown of velocity, recent sparks, and editorial themes.
Is Exoscale better than pgBackRest?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. Exoscale is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 6.3 vs 5.0), with 1 editorial sparks in the last 30 days against 0. For your specific use case, the alternatives sections above list other DevOps products to evaluate alongside.
What are the best alternatives to Exoscale?
Top Exoscale alternatives in DevOps are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "Exoscale alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/exoscale for the full list with editorial commentary on each.
What are the best alternatives to pgBackRest?
Top pgBackRest alternatives in DevOps are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "pgBackRest alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/pgbackrest for the full list with editorial commentary on each.