Amanda vs ZFS Autobackup
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted backup & recovery options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Amanda | ZFS Autobackup |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Read-the-docs project |
| Health score | 8 · At risk | 65 · Good |
| Category | Backup & Recovery | Backup & Recovery |
| License | BSD-3-Clause | GPL-2.0 |
| Language | C | Python |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal | bare-metal, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 272 | ★ 794 |
| First released | 1991 | 2012 |
| Replaces | Veeam, CommVault | Veeam |
What are Amanda and ZFS Autobackup?
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
ZFS Autobackup
zfs-autobackup is a tool for automatically creating and replicating ZFS snapshots between hosts and pools. It handles retention thinning and supports encrypted transfers.
- Automated ZFS snapshots
- Cross-host replication
- Retention thinning
- Encrypted sends
Amanda vs ZFS Autobackup: key differences
Amanda is written in C, while ZFS Autobackup is built with Python. Licensing differs — BSD-3-Clause for Amanda versus GPL-2.0 for ZFS Autobackup. ZFS Autobackup is the lighter option, starting around 128 MB of RAM against 512 MB for Amanda. Amanda is the more established project (first released 1991), while ZFS Autobackup arrived in 2012. ZFS Autobackup has the considerably larger community, at 794 GitHub stars versus 272.
Why pick each one
Choose Amanda if…
- Released under the BSD-3-Clause license
- Written in C
- Lightweight — runs in 512 MB RAM
Choose ZFS Autobackup if…
- Released under the GPL-2.0 license
- Written in Python
- Tiny footprint — runs in 128 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is Amanda or ZFS Autobackup better?
ZFS Autobackup is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler medium setup. Consider Amanda if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are Amanda and ZFS Autobackup free and open-source?
Yes. Amanda is licensed under BSD-3-Clause and ZFS Autobackup under GPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Amanda and ZFS Autobackup with Docker?
Amanda: check the project docs for container support. ZFS Autobackup: check the project docs for container support.
Which is lighter on resources, Amanda or ZFS Autobackup?
ZFS Autobackup has the smaller minimum footprint at 128 MB of RAM, compared to about 512 MB for Amanda. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.