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bup

Efficient backup system based on the git packfile format

Backup & Recovery ★ 7.4k stars Medium setup LGPL-2.1

bup is a backup tool that stores data using the git packfile format with rolling-checksum deduplication. It can back up enormous datasets efficiently and incrementally.

Official siteSource code

Key features

  • Git-packfile storage format
  • Rolling-checksum deduplication
  • Handles very large datasets

Strengths

  • Released under the LGPL-2.1 license
  • Mature project with 7.4k GitHub stars
  • Written in Python
  • Tiny footprint — runs in 128 MB RAM

Is bup secure?

OSV.dev has no published security advisories for bup's repository. No known vulnerabilities is not proof of security: it means none have been publicly catalogued.

Source: OSV.dev, checked 2026-10-14. How this is measured.

bup replaces

Self-hosted Time Machine alternatives

Health badge

Maintain bup? Add its health score to your README. The badge links back to this page.

SelfHostIndex: 89 · excellent

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   :alt: SelfHostIndex health score for bup
   :target: https://selfhostindex.com/app/bup-backup/

The score is recomputed on every nightly rebuild from public repository data — see how it is calculated.

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