# Snapshots and backups compared

> How a snapshot differs from a server backup, where each is kept and which one to use.

Source: https://www.coritan.com/docs/snapshots/snapshots-and-backups/

A snapshot and a backup both hold a copy of a server's files. A backup belongs to the server it came from, and it goes when that server goes. A snapshot belongs to your account, so it stays after you delete the server, and you can restore it onto any of your servers. Snapshots have replaced backups: you can take new snapshots, and you can only use the backups a server already has.

## How they differ

| Detail | Snapshot | Backup |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Belongs to | Your account | The server it came from |
| When you delete the server | Stays on your account | Deleted with the server |
| Restores onto | Any of your servers that runs the same game | Only the server it came from |
| Before a restore | Deletes the server's files, unless you clear **Wipe the server first** | Always deletes the server's files |
| Start a new server from it | Yes, [through the API](/docs/snapshots/new-server-from-a-snapshot/) | No |
| New copies | Taken by you, by a schedule, or by us before we remove a server | No longer possible |
| Where you find it | The **Snapshots** page and each server's **Snapshots** tab | The server's **Backups** tab |
| Counts against | Your account's [snapshot allowance](/docs/snapshots/storage-allowance/) | Nothing |
| Download link | Works for 6 hours by default | Works for 10 minutes |
| On a free server | Room for one snapshot, and no download | None |
| A lock | Stops deletion, apart from the storage cleanup | Stops deletion |

Neither one holds the server's [databases](/docs/managed-containers/databases/).

On both, a lock stops anyone deleting the copy until someone unlocks it. On a snapshot, it also stops a schedule deleting the snapshot to make room. A lock does not keep a snapshot past the storage cleanup, which deletes locked snapshots after the unlocked ones when the account stays over its allowance ([How snapshot storage works](/docs/snapshots/storage-allowance/#when-the-account-is-over)).

## Which one to use

Take a snapshot whenever you want to save a server, such as before an update or before you delete the server ([Take a server snapshot](/docs/managed-containers/snapshots/)).

You cannot take a new backup. The backups a server already has stay on its **Backups** tab until you delete them or the server is deleted. Restore a backup only to go back to a point that no snapshot covers ([Manage server backups](/docs/managed-containers/backups/)). Before you delete a server, download the backups you want to keep, because they are deleted with it ([Download a backup](/docs/managed-containers/backups/#download-a-backup)).

## Snapshots we take for you

When we are about to remove a server, we take a snapshot of it first, so that you can get the server back. The **Snapshots** page marks these snapshots **By the platform**. The name says why we took the snapshot and ends with the date in UTC, such as `Saved before cancellation · 2026-09-16`.

`Saved before cancellation`
: You cancelled the server and left **Take a snapshot first** ticked, which is the default. We take the snapshot at the moment you cancel. After a cancellation at the end of the term, it holds the server as it was on the day you cancelled ([Cancel a service](/docs/billing/cancel-a-service/)).

`Saved before removal for non-payment`
: An invoice for the server is unpaid, and we have set a date to delete the server. By default, we set that date 3 days after we suspend the server ([Failed payments and suspended services](/docs/billing/failed-payments/#an-email-says-the-service-will-be-deleted)).

`Saved before inactivity cleanup`
: Nobody has joined or started a free server for 14 days, by default, and we are about to suspend it ([How free servers work](/docs/managed-containers/free-servers/#free-servers-nobody-uses)).

We skip the snapshot when the server already has one from the last 24 hours that is complete or still being taken, whoever took it. When the snapshot cannot start, the cancellation, suspension or removal goes ahead without it.

These snapshots skip the allowance check, so we take them even when your account has no room left. Once they complete, they count against the allowance like any other snapshot. When we delete a server, we first wait up to 2 hours, by default, for any of its snapshots that is still being taken.

### When a suspension ends

When we lift a suspension, for example after you pay the overdue invoice, the server is back. We then delete every snapshot we took of it, including one saved when you cancelled it. We keep a snapshot that you locked, or that we put on hold. To keep one of these snapshots, lock it before the suspension ends ([Lock or unlock a snapshot](/docs/snapshots/manage-snapshots/#lock-or-unlock-a-snapshot)).

### When the server is gone

A snapshot we took stays on your account after we delete the server. You can restore it onto another server ([Restore a snapshot onto a server](/docs/snapshots/restore-a-snapshot/)), or [start a new server from it](/docs/snapshots/new-server-from-a-snapshot/).

When the server's service ends, the snapshot allowance its plan included ends too. If your snapshots then take more than the allowance, we keep them until the cleanup date, and then delete the oldest until the rest fit. The cleanup date is 30 days after the account goes over, by default, or 14 days for an account that has no allowance left and has never paid us ([When the account is over](/docs/snapshots/storage-allowance/#when-the-account-is-over)). To keep a snapshot past that date, download it, or add room by ordering [snapshot storage](/docs/snapshots/add-snapshot-storage/) or a server.