An Open Source personal backup solution which is released under the General Public License (GPL) v2.

• Be as simple as possible to set up : No complex configuration files to edit - Your backup configuration (which is stored as an XML file) can be edited with Areca' s graphical user interface.
• Be as versatile as possible : Areca can use advanced backup modes (like "delta backup") or simply produce a "basic" copy of your source files as a standard directory or zip archive (readable by WinZip or other archivers).
• Allow you to interact with your archives and the files they contain : Track different versions of a specific file, browse your archives, recover or view specific files, merge a set of archives, ...

• Archives compression (Zip & Zip64 format)
• Archives encryption (AES128 & AES256 encryption algorithms)
• Storage on local hard drive, network drive, USB key, FTP / FTPs server (with implicit and explicit SSL / TLS)
• Source file filters (by extension, subdirectory, regular expression, size, date, status, with AND/OR/NOT logical operators)
• Incremental, differential and full backup support
• Support for delta backup (store only modified parts of your files)
• Archives merges : You can merge contiguous archives into one single archive to save storage space.
• As of date recovery : Areca allows you to recover your archives (or single files) as of a specific date.
• Transaction mechanism : All critical processes (such as backups or merges) are transactional. This guarantees your backups' integrity.
• Backup reports : Areca generates backup reports that can be stored on your disk or sent by email.
• Post backup scripts : Areca can launch shell scripts after backup.
• Files permissions, symbolic links and named pipes can be stored and recovered. (Linux only)

• Archives content explorer. (including a ' find file in archives' feature)
• Archive description : A manifest is associated to each archive, which contains various informations such as title, date, description, and additional technical data.
• File version tracking : Areca keeps track of your files' history (creation / modifications / deletion). Each version can be selectively viewed and recovered.
• Backup simulation (check whether a backup is necessary)
• User' s actions history : Areca keeps an history of all user' s actions (archives deletion, merges, backups, recoveries).

• Areca comes with a command-line interface which can be used for backup automation.