Storware

What Is Storware?

Storware is a Polish backup platform that protects virtual machines, containers and applications across more than 15 hypervisors from a single console. Teams leaving VMware tend to discover a second problem on the way out: their backup tool must follow them. Veeam remains the default choice for VMware backup, but a migration that lands workloads on Proxmox, Nutanix AHV, OpenStack or XCP-ng means checking whether the incumbent covers each destination equally well.

Storware's pitch is breadth. The published platform list is long. It includes VMware, Microsoft Hyper-V, Proxmox VE, Nutanix AHV, OpenStack distributions from Canonical and Red Hat, and oVirt. Further entries are OpenShift Virtualization, SUSE Virtualization (Harvester), Azure Stack HCI, VergeOS, Virtuozzo, XCP-ng, Scale Computing and Platform9. A single universal licence covers them, so a company running half its estate on VMware and half on Proxmox does not buy two products.

The company behind it is Storware sp. z o.o., registered in Warsaw in the Polish court register (KRS 0000510131) in 2014. Storware dates its own story to 2013. Headcount was reported at nearly 80 in 2023 by the Polish trade outlet ITwiz, which fits the 51-200 band we list. The register lists four Polish individuals with stakes above 10%; the largest appears to be CEO Paweł Mączka. One foreign shareholder deserves disclosure: Catalogic Software Inc., a US company, has held about 5.7% since June 2018, when the two firms signed an exclusive North American distribution deal. It is a small minority stake, and the EULA licensor remains the Polish company under Polish law with Warsaw courts, so we classify Storware as independent.

Key Features

Which hypervisors does Storware back up?

Storware backs up more than 15 hypervisor and container platforms, agentless and policy-driven. Agentless means nothing is installed inside each guest VM; the platform talks to the hypervisor's own snapshot and export interfaces. That keeps rollout simple on large estates, and it explains why support for newer platforms can arrive quickly. The same console handles virtual machines, containers, databases and application workloads, plus file-level backup through an OS agent on Windows and Linux.

For a team evaluating Proxmox as its VMware replacement, this matters. Proxmox ships its own backup tooling, but a company that runs Proxmox next to Hyper-V or a legacy vSphere cluster still wants one policy engine and one restore workflow across all of them.

Backup as a migration tool

Storware sells backup as a way out of VMware, not only as insurance afterwards. The product offers backup-as-migration, where a VM is backed up on one platform and restored onto another, and V2V migration to OpenStack. Restoring a VMware machine onto a different hypervisor is a familiar trick. Having it as a supported, scheduled workflow rather than a manual export is practical when dozens of machines must move on a deadline.

One caveat is concrete. V2V migration is only available in the commercial version, and the 60-day trial excludes it. A buyer who chose Storware for migration cannot test that feature before signing.

Ransomware resilience and storage targets

The platform supports immutable and air-gapped backup destinations, and the vendor markets "no vendor lock-in" because backups go to storage the customer picks. Targets include disk, object storage and Storware's own off-site service, Storware Cloud. An appliance version, pre-integrated with Supermicro hardware, serves buyers who prefer a box to a software install.

How does it differ from SaaS backup?

Keepit is the Danish counterpart in our directory, and the two do not compete. The Danish tool protects Microsoft 365, Salesforce and other cloud applications from its own hosted cloud. Storware protects the infrastructure layer: hypervisors, containers and the databases running on them. One is partner-sold SaaS; the other is self-hosted software. A European organisation with both a Microsoft 365 tenant and a Proxmox cluster could reasonably run both.

Compared with Acronis

Acronis bundles backup with endpoint security, patching and EDR under one agent. Storware does not attempt that. It is a focused infrastructure backup engine without a security suite attached. Teams that want one vendor for backup and endpoint protection will prefer Acronis. Buyers who want the widest hypervisor coverage with the least extra baggage will prefer Storware.

Pricing

Commercial licensing starts with a sales conversation. The licences page does not say whether a licence is metered per VM, per socket or per terabyte, and it directs buyers to sales or partners.

What Storware does publish is a generous on-ramp. The free edition has no expiry and allows up to 5 virtual environments, 5 applications, 1 TB of storage-provider backup and 1 TB of file backup. It excludes tape and offers community support only. A 60-day trial lifts the limits to 20 virtual environments, 20 applications and 2 TB, with all features except V2V migration.

The free edition suits a homelab, a small branch office or a proof of concept. It will not run a production estate for most companies, and Storware makes no pretence that it should. The honest budgeting step is to run the trial against two or three representative workloads, then request a quote with those numbers in hand. Because the pricing basis is unpublished, ask whether the quote is per VM, per socket or per host, and how it changes if you add a second hypervisor type.

Pricing is the most common frustration with quote-only vendors, and Storware fits the pattern. Comparing it with a published Veeam bundle takes a sales call rather than a spreadsheet.

EU Compliance & Privacy

Storware is a Polish company, subject to GDPR and EU law, and its EULA names Polish law and the Warsaw courts. Because the product is self-hosted software, the vendor holds no backup data by default. Backups live where the customer puts them, which sidesteps most of the processor and transfer questions that cloud-hosted backup raises.

That architecture also helps with sovereignty. There is no vendor-controlled cloud in the data path unless a customer opts into Storware Cloud. Immutable targets support the recovery expectations of NIS2 and DORA, which now push many European organisations to prove they can restore after a ransomware attack. Storware's pages, as we reviewed them, show no ISO 27001 or SOC 2 certificate, a gap that regulated buyers will need to raise in procurement.

The US shareholder is the only non-European element. A 5.7% stake does not confer control, and there is no US parent, but a risk team compiling an ownership register should record it.

Who Is Storware Best For?

If you are leaving VMware for Proxmox, Nutanix AHV, OpenStack or XCP-ng, Storware deserves a place on the shortlist. Its platform list is among the widest we have seen for a single licence, and the free tier lets you test before committing.

If you run a mixed estate with several hypervisors, choose Storware over a single-platform tool, because one console and one policy model reduce operational overhead. Companies that remain mostly on VMware with Hyper-V on the side will find Veeam offers a larger ecosystem, more third-party training and more public pricing.

Endpoint security is out of scope here, which is the opening for Acronis. For Microsoft 365 as the main exposure, pair an infrastructure tool like Storware with Keepit rather than expecting one product to do both.

Buyers who need a published 24/7 support commitment should ask for it in writing. The vendor's contact page lists an email address and a phone number, and we found no public SLA.

The Verdict

Storware is a capable, platform-agnostic backup engine from a Polish company with no US parent. Its strongest argument is timing. Broadcom announced the end of VMware perpetual licences in December 2023, and that shake-up has pushed European IT teams toward a patchwork of alternative hypervisors. Storware protects that patchwork from one place.

The cost of that breadth shows up in four places: opaque pricing, a small free edition, V2V migration that cannot be trialled, and an ecosystem far smaller than Veeam's. For teams that value hypervisor breadth and European ownership over market-leader comfort, it is a strong candidate. Teams that want the safest, most documented, most widely supported choice should still price Veeam first. See our cybersecurity category for the other backup and protection tools we cover.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Storware a good alternative to Veeam for VMware exits?

It is a credible one if the destination is not VMware. Storware backs up 15+ hypervisors agentlessly, including Proxmox VE, Nutanix AHV, OpenStack, oVirt and XCP-ng, and offers V2V migration to OpenStack. Veeam has a larger ecosystem and more published pricing, but Storware covers a wider spread of smaller platforms from one licence.

Does Storware back up Proxmox VE?

Yes. Proxmox VE is on Storware's published list of supported virtualisation platforms, alongside VMware, Hyper-V, Nutanix AHV, OpenStack, oVirt, XCP-ng, Citrix Hypervisor and several others. Backup is agentless and policy-driven from the central console.

Is Storware free?

There is a free-forever edition limited to 5 virtual environments, 5 applications, 1 TB of storage-provider backup and 1 TB of file backup, with no tape support and community support only. A 60-day trial raises the limits to 20 virtual environments and 2 TB. Production licences are quote-based and not published.

Where is Storware backup data stored?

Wherever the customer sends it. Storware is self-hosted software, so backups go to storage providers the customer chooses, such as on-premises disk, object storage or the vendor's optional Storware Cloud. The vendor does not hold backup data by default.

Who owns Storware?

Storware sp. z o.o. is a Warsaw company registered in the Polish KRS under number 0000510131. Four Polish individuals each hold more than 10% of the shares, and Catalogic Software Inc. of the US holds about 5.7% since a 2018 distribution agreement. No outside venture round has been found.