ArchivesSpace vs Velero
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted backup & recovery options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Not the right match-up?
ArchivesSpace
Archives information management application for managing and providing
VS
Velero
Backup and migrate Kubernetes cluster resources
| Feature | ArchivesSpace | Velero |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Backup & Recovery | Backup & Recovery |
| License | ECL-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | Ruby | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal | kubernetes, helm |
| GitHub stars | ★ 435 | ★ 10,187 |
| First released | 2026 | 2017 |
| Replaces | — | Kasten K10 |
Why pick each one
Choose ArchivesSpace if…
- Released under the ECL-2.0 license
- Written in Ruby
- Lightweight — runs in 512 MB RAM
Choose Velero if…
- Released under the Apache-2.0 license
- Kubernetes-ready with Helm charts available
- Mature project with 10.2k GitHub stars
- Written in Go
Frequently asked questions
Is ArchivesSpace or Velero better?
Neither is universally better. Velero has the larger community, while ArchivesSpace is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are ArchivesSpace and Velero free and open-source?
Yes. ArchivesSpace is licensed under ECL-2.0 and Velero under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run ArchivesSpace and Velero with Docker?
ArchivesSpace: check the project docs for container support. Velero: check the project docs for container support.