Autorestic vs bup
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?
Autorestic
Config-driven wrapper for Restic backups
VS
bup
Efficient backup system based on the git packfile format
| Feature | Autorestic | bup |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Backup & Recovery | Backup & Recovery |
| License | Apache-2.0 | LGPL-2.1 |
| Language | Go | Python |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 64 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary | binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 1,855 | ★ 7,337 |
| First released | 2019 | 2010 |
| Replaces | Backblaze, CrashPlan | Time Machine |
Why pick each one
Choose Autorestic if…
- Released under the Apache-2.0 license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (1.9k GitHub stars)
Choose bup if…
- Released under the LGPL-2.1 license
- Mature project with 7.3k GitHub stars
- Written in Python
- Tiny footprint — runs in 128 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is Autorestic or bup better?
Neither is universally better. bup has the larger community, while Autorestic is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Autorestic and bup free and open-source?
Yes. Autorestic is licensed under Apache-2.0 and bup under LGPL-2.1. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Autorestic and bup with Docker?
Autorestic: yes. bup: check the project docs for container support.