Table of Contents
Who this is for
Anyone running cPanel or DirectAdmin servers for paying customers. cPanel’s built-in backup system works, but it is full or nothing, it is slow on large servers, and a customer restoring one file means a support ticket. JetBackup replaces it with incremental backups and a restore button in the customer’s control panel.
Setup and daily use
Installation is one command from the JetBackup site and a license. The first job takes about fifteen minutes to set up: a destination (Backblaze B2 via the S3 endpoint, Wasabi and Hetzner Storage Box all work), a daily incremental with 14 retention points, and a weekly full to a second destination. After that it runs itself. Because only changed blocks move, the daily upload depends on how much data changed, not on the size of the server: as an illustration (not a measured srvScripts benchmark), a 400 GB server where 6 GB changed uploads roughly 6 GB, not 400 GB.
Restores are where it earns the money. A customer who deleted their wp-content/uploads folder opens JetBackup in cPanel, picks yesterday’s date, ticks the folder, and it is back in two minutes with no ticket. Database restores are per database, mailboxes per account, and there is a “download as archive” for customers moving away.
What could be better
The version 5 interface reorganised everything into panels and it is harder to find things than in version 4; the “Backup Jobs → Destinations → Schedules → Retention” model is correct but takes some clicks. Local incremental storage needs watching: the dedup store on the server’s own disk can grow past what you expected if retention is long and customers churn files. And support is fine but not fast; for a tool this central, phone or chat support on the higher tiers would be welcome.
Alternatives
cPanel’s native backups (free, full-only, no self-service), Acronis Cyber Protect (image-based, more expensive, better for whole-server disaster recovery), and rolling your own with rsync --link-dest plus the backup-verify script, which covers plain Linux servers without a panel.
JetBackup 5 plans and prices
Prices last checked: 30 September 2026. USD, per server licence, before tax. Vendors change prices; confirm at checkout.
| Plan | Price | Effective per month | Accounts | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly licence | $8.95 / month | $8.95 | Unlimited | Free trial licence available |
| Yearly licence | $89.95 / year | ≈ $7.50 | Unlimited | About 15% less than paying monthly |
The per-server price rose from $5.95 to $8.95 a month in December 2023, so older reviews that quote $5.95 are out of date. Compared with the alternatives above, JetBackup 5 costs less per server than image-based tools such as Acronis, while an rsync setup costs nothing in licences but takes your own time to build and test restores. For most cPanel or DirectAdmin servers, the yearly licence is the cheaper choice once you know you will keep the server.
Verdict
If you charge for hosting, JetBackup is the safest money you will spend per server. Pair it with an off-site destination and a separate verification job, because a backup you have not restored is a hope, not a backup.
JetBackup 5 review at a glance
Official documentation: DirectAdmin documentation, cPanel & WHM documentation, Linux man pages.
Related guides: Warm up a new mail server IP or sending domain without landing in spam · KernelCare on cPanel and DirectAdmin servers: setup, verification and rollback · What changed in DirectAdmin system backups after sysbk was replaced (1.709) — and what you must add.
Frequently asked questions
Is JetBackup 5 worth it over cPanel’s built-in backups?
For servers with paying customers, usually yes: incremental backups, several destinations and self-service restores save time and tickets.
Does JetBackup 5 work with DirectAdmin?
Yes. JetBackup 5 supports cPanel and DirectAdmin, with the same core features.
Where can I buy JetBackup?
JetBackup is licensed through the vendor and authorised partners, often bundled with the server licence by your provider.