Side by side

Endstate vs MigrationMerlin

Both stand on pc migration software. Which one you can start free with, which one lets you read the code, and what each costs once you pay.

Endstate

Free plan Open source LinuxMacSelf-hosted+1

Endstate focuses on moving Windows applications and supported settings, with local operation and selective restoration. Check whether the applications you rely on are detected; Cloud backup is not yet generally available.

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MigrationMerlin

Free plan Windows

MigrationMerlin provides a guided network migration workflow with profile selection, optional extras, and progress details. Its setup depends on administrator access and an available SMB connection between both PCs.

Visit MigrationMerlin

The facts

	Endstate	MigrationMerlin
Free plan	Yes	Yes
Open source	Yes	Not published
Runs on	Linux, Mac, Self-hosted, Windows	Windows
Lowest paid plan	See the plans	Free or on request
Plans published	5	1
Maker	Not published	Not published
Website	substratesystems.io	github.com
On pc migration software	#1 of 26	#5 of 26

Endstate: what it does well

Scanning and restoration can work offline.
Profiles are portable files in Documents.
Choose which applications and settings to restore.
Settings restores can be undone with a backup.
Free plan has no account or machine limit.

What to know first

Unregistered portable applications are not detected.
Cloud is in early access, not generally available.
Cloud backup does not include personal files.
No user profile migration.

MigrationMerlin: what it does well

Free and MIT-licensed.
Supports selective profile migration.
Can configure an SMB share on the destination PC.
Shows progress, file counts, and throughput.
Logs mask credentials.

What to know first

Both PCs must run Windows 10 or 11.
Administrator privileges are required on both PCs.
SMB port 445 must be open between the PCs.
A lost encryption key cannot be recovered.

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