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| XPNTL Solo | XPNTL Solo Pro | XPNTL Library | |
|---|---|---|---|
| XPNTL price | $279 | $489 | $1,140 |
| Canister (Hedge) | |||
| Edition | Canister Standard | Canister Pro | Canister Pro, with Library Manager |
| Price | $399 | $699 | $699 |
| YoYotta v4 | |||
| Edition | Base + 1 or 2 LTO Drives* | Base + 2 LTO Drives | Base + LTO Library + 2 drives |
| Price | $190/$270/yr* | $270/yr | $380/yr |
| Archiware P5 | |||
| Edition | Desktop LTO Edition | Archive Edition + Archive DLM add-on | Archive Edition |
| Price | $2,030 | $8,090 | $5,640 |
| Why this tier | Smallest tier that writes LTFS from one computer. YoYotta Base alone has no LTO support. P5 has no "Base" tier, so Desktop LTO is its entry bundle. *XPNTL Solo includes up to two drives. YoYotta charges per drive: $190/yr with one, $270/yr with two. | Each vendor's route to tape-to-tape migration | Smallest tier that drives a library robot |
About the competitor editions
- Canister Standard ($399, one time): writes and verifies LTFS tapes on one Mac or Windows computer, with the Connect web dashboard. Perpetual, with a year of updates.
- Canister Pro ($699, one time): Standard plus Library Manager (Mac only, single-drive libraries), Migration (Windows only), the Automation API, Connect Pro and priority support.
- YoYotta v4 Base ($110 a year): index, offload, ingest, transcode and archive on a Mac. No LTO drive or library support on its own.
- YoYotta LTO Drive ($80 a year per drive, up to 8): needed for any tape use; adds LTFS archive and restore and spanning.
- YoYotta LTO Library ($110 a year): one library, up to 180 slots, no drives included. Multi LTO Library ($330 a year): up to four libraries, 500 slots each.
- P5 Desktop LTO Edition ($2,030, one time): P5 Backup and P5 Archive for one computer with up to two LTO drives, with a year of maintenance. It can't be extended with other P5 licenses, only upgraded by trade-in.
- P5 Archive DLM ($2,450 add-on, formerly called Data Mover): migration plans that move or copy data from one pool of tapes to another, verify plans that re-read old tapes on a schedule, and storage use per project. Archiware lists it as needing P5 Archive.
- P5 Archive Edition ($5,640, one time): P5 Backup and P5 Archive for one server with 2 drives, plus media management for 25 slots or 300 TB.
- P5 Professional Edition ($8,680, one time): all P5 modules for 5 servers and 10 workstations, 2 drives, and media management for 50 slots or 600 TB.
XPNTL Library Pro: coming soon.
YoYotta prices are per year and renew. Canister, P5 and XPNTL licenses are perpetual.
XPNTL Solo
Solo is the lowest-priced perpetual license here, and like P5 it runs on Windows, macOS and Linux, at about one-seventh of P5's price.
| Buyer question | XPNTL Solo | Adds | Canister | YoYotta (base + 1 drive) | P5 Desktop LTO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | $279 | $399 | $190/yr | $2,030 | |
| SKU | SOLO | ||||
| Platforms | Windows 10/11, macOS 11+, Ubuntu 24.04 | macOS 12+, Windows 10/11 | macOS only | macOS, Windows, Linux, NAS | |
| Availability | Available now | ||||
| Getting data onto tape | |||||
| Writes LTFS | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ◐ | |
| Drag and drop a folder | ✓ | ✓ | ◐ | ◐ | |
| Checksum on write | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Two copies at once on two drives | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ◐ | |
| Spans a job across cartridges | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Staging disk that frees the source before the tape write | ✓ | ✗ | ◐ | ✗ | |
| Finding and restoring | |||||
| Offline catalog (search ejected cartridges) | ✓ | ◐ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Restore selected files | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Browse and restore without an active license | ✓ | ✗ | ◐ | ✗ | |
| Verification and health | |||||
| Read back after writing | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Drive and cartridge health at every start and during jobs | ✓ | ◐ | ✓ | ◐ | |
| Support and updates | |||||
| Updates included | 12 months | 12 months | For the 12-month term | First year | |
| Help | Support assistant, available 24/7 while our service is online; technician time with Sentry, business hours | In-app and email | Web and email, CET hours | ||
| Licensing and price | |||||
| License | Perpetual, 1 computer | Perpetual, 1 computer | 12-month term, 1 Mac | Perpetual, 1 host | |
| Drives | Up to 2 standalone | Several per computer | 1 per $80/yr add-on, up to 8 | Up to 2, not expandable | |
| Free trial | 10 days, one per drive | 10 days | 12 days | 30 days | |
| Options | |||||
| Sentry add-on (updates after year one, guided drive tests, technician time, iPhone app coming soon) | $149 first year, then $99/yr | +$149 | Updates only: $279 for each extra year | Yearly renewal, $190 (needed to keep archiving) | Updates and support, 15% of the license price: about $305/yr |
| Upgrade to Solo Pro (Migration Mode, scripting and API) | Same license key | +$210 | Move to the $699 tier: upgrade price not published | Not applicable | Trade in for P5 Archive, then add Archive DLM ($2,450) |
| Typical configurations | |||||
| Solo, first year | $279 | $399 | $190 | $2,030 | |
| Solo with Sentry, three years of updates | $626 ($279 + $149 + $99 + $99) | $957 ($399 + two $279 extensions) | $570 (three years at $190) | $2,639 ($2,030 + two years at 15%) | |
| Solo now, Solo Pro later | $489 in total ($279 + $210) | ||||
XPNTL Solo Pro
Solo Pro adds Migration Mode on all three platforms. Canister's migration runs on Windows only, and P5 sells migration as a separate add-on.
| Buyer question | XPNTL Solo Pro | Adds | Canister | YoYotta (base + 2 drives) | P5 Archive Edition + Archive DLM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | $489, perpetual | $699, perpetual | $270/yr ($110 base + 2 × $80 drive) | $8,090 ($5,640 + $2,450 DLM) | |
| SKU | SOLO-PRO | ||||
| Platforms | Windows, macOS, Linux | macOS and Windows; migration Windows only | macOS only | macOS, Windows, Linux, NAS | |
| Availability | Available now | ||||
| Migration | |||||
| Migrate older LTO generations to newer ones | ✓ | ◐ | ◐ | ✓ | |
| Stack several older cartridges onto one new cartridge, each in its own folder, fully indexed and searchable | ✓ | ✗ | ◐ | ◐ | |
| Plan before it starts | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | |
| Every file checksummed and read back on the new cartridge | ✓ | ✗ | ◐ | ✗ | |
| Old cartridges left untouched | ✓ | ◐ | ◐ | ◐ | |
| Automation | |||||
| Scripting or API | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✓ | |
| Stop and resume a job | ✓ | ◐ | ✓ | ◐ | |
| Verification and health | |||||
| Disk tests and RAID member-disk health | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | |
| Licensing and price | |||||
| Updates included | 12 months | 12 months | For the 12-month term | First year | |
| Options | |||||
| Sentry add-on (updates after year one, guided drive tests, technician time, iPhone app coming soon) | $149 first year, then $99/yr | +$149 | Updates only; price for the $699 tier not published | Yearly renewal, $270 (needed to keep archiving) | Updates and support, 15% of the license price: about $1,214/yr |
| XPNTL Object Access (S3-compatible access for asset managers, rclone, scripts) | One time, planned November 1, 2026 | +$699 | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ |
| XPNTL Connector for iconik | Needs Object Access (planned) | +$0 | ✗ | ✗ | ◐ |
| Typical configurations | |||||
| Migrating old tapes, first year | $489 | $699 | $270 | $8,090 | |
| Migration with Sentry, first year | $638 ($489 + $149) | ||||
| iconik media workflow: Object Access, Connector for iconik and Sentry | $1,337 ($489 + $699 + $0 + $149) | Not available | Not available | Through P5's S3 interface | |
Sentry add-on for XPNTL Solo
The Sentry add-on puts your drives on your phone (iPhone app coming soon): alerts, drive and cartridge health, and controls, included in the price. Your files and cartridge contents never leave your computer. For a Solo owner, a year of updates plus drive diagnostics costs $99 from the second year. Canister's 12-month extension costs $279. None of the competitor pages we opened list drive diagnostics or technician time in a renewal.
| Buyer question | Sentry add-on | Canister | YoYotta | Archiware P5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price of updates after year one | Solo and Solo Pro owners: $149 the first year, then $99/yr | $279 per 12 months; extension price for the $699 tier not published | Renew the license: $190/yr for base + 1 drive | 15% of the license price a year |
| Check drives and jobs from anywhere: iPhone app (coming soon) | ✓ | ◐ | ? | ◐ |
| What happens if you stop | Software keeps working, you keep your versions, restoring always works | Minor updates continue on a passive license | App browses and exports reports only | ? |
| Guided drive tests tracked per drive | ✓ | ? | ? | ? |
| Media calibration and swap test | ✓ | ? | ? | ? |
| Diagnostic bundles for support | ✓ | ◐ | ◐ | ? |
| Technician time | Up to 2 hours a year per computer, business hours, by arrangement | ? | ? | Phone support in US/Canada at 30% of the license price |
XPNTL Library (planned Q4 2026)
Library costs $1,140 once. YoYotta's comparable setup costs $380 every year, and Canister's library support is macOS-only and single-drive.
| Buyer question | XPNTL Library | Adds | Canister Library Manager | YoYotta (base + LTO Library + 2 drives) | P5 Archive Edition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | $1,140 | $699 | $380/yr | $5,640 | |
| SKU | LIB | ||||
| Platforms | Windows, macOS, Linux | Library Manager on macOS only | macOS only | macOS, Windows, Linux, NAS | |
| Availability | Planned Q4 2026 | ||||
| Libraries | |||||
| Drives the library robot | ✓ | ◐ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Drives | 2, plus $240 drive packs | 1 per library | $80/yr per drive, up to 8 | 2; more by license | |
| Slots | Up to 40; packs above that | Not published | Up to 180 | 25 slots or 300 TB | |
| Connections: SAS, Fibre Channel, Thunderbolt | ✓ | ◐ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Getting data onto tape | |||||
| Two copies at once | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ◐ | |
| Scheduled backups and watch folders | ✓ | ✗ | ◐ | ✓ | |
| Stop and resume | ✓ | ◐ | ✓ | ◐ | |
| Staging disk | ✓ | ✗ | ◐ | ✗ | |
| Finding and restoring | |||||
| Offline catalog | ✓ | ◐ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Verification and health | |||||
| Read back after writing | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | |
| Drive health (Sentry Basic) | ✓ | ◐ | ✓ | ◐ | |
| Licensing and price | |||||
| License | Perpetual, per library, 12 months of updates | Perpetual, 12 months | 12-month term | Perpetual, first year of maintenance | |
| Options | |||||
| Extra drive | Each | +$240 | Not available: one drive per library | $80/yr each, up to 8 | More by license; price not published |
| Typical configurations | |||||
| Library with 2 drives, first year | $1,140 | Not available | $380 | $5,640 | |
| Library with 2 drives, three years | $1,140 | Not available | $1,140 | $7,332 | |
| Library with 4 drives, first year | $1,620 | Not available | $540 | Not published | |
| Library with 4 drives, three years | $1,620 | Not available | $1,620 | Not published | |
Competitor prices and features are from each vendor's public pages, checked October 2026. YoYotta prices renew yearly; Canister, Archiware P5 and XPNTL licenses are perpetual.
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