Amanda vs Bareos
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted backup & recovery options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Amanda | Bareos |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 8 · At risk | 83 · Excellent |
| Category | Backup & Recovery | Backup & Recovery |
| License | BSD-3-Clause | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | C | C++ |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 1,024 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 272 | ★ 1,256 |
| First released | 1991 | 2010 |
| Replaces | Veeam, CommVault | Veeam, CommVault |
What are Amanda and Bareos?
Amanda
Amanda is a mature backup solution that allows an administrator to set up a single backup server to back up multiple hosts to tape, disk, or cloud storage. It is widely used in enterprise environments.
- Centralized network backups
- Tape, disk, and cloud targets
- Mature enterprise tooling
Bareos
Bareos is a cross-network open-source backup solution forked from Bacula. It preserves and recovers data from disk, tape, and other media, with a web-based management interface.
- Network-wide backup management
- Web UI for administration
- Tape and disk support
Amanda vs Bareos: key differences
Amanda is written in C, while Bareos is built with C++. Licensing differs — BSD-3-Clause for Amanda versus AGPL-3.0 for Bareos. Amanda is the lighter option, starting around 512 MB of RAM against 1,024 MB for Bareos. Amanda is the more established project (first released 1991), while Bareos arrived in 2010. Bareos has the considerably larger community, at 1,256 GitHub stars versus 272. Bareos lists first-class Docker deployment; Amanda does not.
Why pick each one
Choose Amanda if…
- Released under the BSD-3-Clause license
- Written in C
- Lightweight — runs in 512 MB RAM
Choose Bareos if…
- Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (1.3k GitHub stars)
- Written in C++
Frequently asked questions
Is Amanda or Bareos better?
Neither is universally better. Bareos has the larger community; both share a hard setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Amanda and Bareos free and open-source?
Yes. Amanda is licensed under BSD-3-Clause and Bareos under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Amanda and Bareos with Docker?
Amanda: check the project docs for container support. Bareos: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Amanda or Bareos?
Amanda has the smaller minimum footprint at 512 MB of RAM, compared to about 1,024 MB for Bareos. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.