Tink vs Partimage
Partimage writes partition images from a live disk. That is not a mechanic. Tink installs in one command, watches the Linux host, explains what is wrong, and helps you fix it.
Partimage runs the image. Tink answers “why is this VPS sick?”
Accidental sysadmins land on Partimage because a partition image looks cheaper than a NAS. Then the host volume fills, nginx dies, and partimage -i still looks complete — no image match for host fill. A filling /var is a Tink warning; it is not a Partimage job unless you scraped cron mail and watched it.
Tink is the other job: detect the issue on the machine, say why it happened in plain English, propose the command, and run it only after you approve. Keep using Partimage if you already run partition images. Use Tink if you run Linux servers and want a mechanic.
| Feature | Tink | Partimage |
|---|---|---|
| Setup time | 30 seconds (one curl | sh command) | Hours — live ISO or partimaged, partimage save /dev/sda1, then a host that still has no mechanic after the last image.partimg.gz lands |
| What you get | Working monitoring, diagnosis, and approved fixes | A partition image and a restore path. Disk fill, nginx, Postgres, and certs stay your problem until you SSH past partimage -i |
| Pricing | Free (Scout) / $9 / $29 per machine per month | GPL and free. You still pay the person who owns the VPS after the last partimage save stays quiet |
| Hidden costs | None — fully managed | A quiet overnight image, a healthy .partimg.gz that is not host fill, and a second tool to tell you the box is sick while partimage -i still looks complete |
| Monitoring approach | Agent on the server — CPU, disk, services, logs, certs, ports | Partimage ncurses, partimaged, and a saved partition. Partimage does not watch a quiet cert or host auth.log after the last image finished |
| Configuration | None after install — heuristics and AI | Which /dev to image, gzip vs bzip2, partimaged listen address, and which failed partimage save actually pages you |
| Plain-English diagnosis | Yes — AI explains root cause, impact, and fix | You read partimage -i and the restore log, then SSH into the host to change the Linux box Partimage already sat on |
| Fix execution | Proposes and executes approved commands with an audit trail | partimage save and partimage rest — Partimage cannot free host disk, rotate a cert, or stop SSH brute-force unless you restored that partition |
| Alerting | Built-in across 8 channels | Not a Partimage job — cron mail from a failed partimage save plus a separate monitoring tool have to fire |
| Predictive alerts | Yes — disk fills in ~6 days, memory and CPU trends | Not a Partimage job — an image.partimg.gz does not forecast a quiet host filling up |
| SSH brute-force detection | Built-in — parses auth.log every scan | Never — Partimage does not read host auth.log, journald, or firewall state after the last image landed |
| Machine offline detection | Agent presence monitoring with multi-channel alerts | Silence if the Partimage cron or partimaged dies after the last timer — unless you built a separate uptime check |
| Public status page | Shareable URL with 90-day history | None — Partimage has no customer-facing status page for the Linux host |
| Weekly fleet digest | Automated Monday digest + daily brief when issues are open | None — a partimage -i recap is not a plain-English fleet narrative |
| On-call tracking | Built-in /oncall command + incident acknowledgment | Not included — wire failed partimage save mail into PagerDuty or another incident tool |
| Conversation interface | Telegram, WhatsApp, web dashboard, CLI | partimage -i and SSH. No mechanic you text when /var filled and the last image still showed blocks copied |
| Learning curve | None — works after install | Steep — ext2/ext3-only images, no ext4, partimaged, live-disk restores, and which failure is Partimage vs the running host |
| Best for | Freelancers, small teams, accidental sysadmins (1-50 Linux servers) | Teams that already run Partimage for partition images, not a sick-VPS mechanic |
When Partimage is the right choice
Keep using Partimage when you already want that exact job:
- ext2/ext3 partition images — you need partimage save, partimage rest, and a .partimg.gz, not a mechanic.
- An existing imaging stack — partimaged, live-disk restores, and partimage -i matter more than guest nginx, certs, and SSH on a quiet VPS.
- An existing lab or nested setup — Partimage already runs, the image already exists, and someone owns the restore disk.
- Hosts that only page on image or restore death — you already run failed partimage save mail, not a sick-box SSH loop.
The real cost of “just watch partimage -i”
Partimage runs partition images. A working ops loop for five Linux boxes is not:
- A healthy image still means you SSH into the host and change the box by hand when it gets sick later
- Host fill, nginx, certs, and SSH brute-force never appear unless a separate tool scraped those signals and a rule fired
- A filling /var is a Tink disk warning on every scan — Partimage will stay quiet until the next partimage save fails
- A single VPS with a dead agent still needs a mechanic, not another .partimg.gz
For a 5-server team, Tink Mechanic at $45/month is cheaper than the engineer who keeps failed-image notifications alive after a Partimage restore disk, and every scan includes a diagnosis a quiet partimage -i will not type.
No partimaged homework. No silent host. One command install.
Start MechanicAlso compare: Tink vs Partclone · Tink vs FSArchiver · Tink vs Foxclone