Autorestic vs Burp
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted backup & recovery options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Autorestic | Burp |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Read-the-docs project |
| Health score | 52 · Fair | 74 · Good |
| Category | Backup & Recovery | Backup & Recovery |
| License | Apache-2.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | Go | C |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 64 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary | bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 1,868 | ★ 502 |
| First released | 2019 | 2011 |
| Replaces | Backblaze, CrashPlan | CrashPlan |
What are Autorestic and Burp?
Autorestic
Autorestic is a higher-level wrapper around Restic that makes it easy to manage multiple backups from a single declarative configuration file. It handles backends, locations, and scheduling.
- Declarative backup config
- Multiple backends and locations
- Cron-based scheduling
Burp
Burp is a backup and restore program that uses librsync to save network and disk usage, while protecting against corruption. It supports client-side encryption and Windows VSS.
- librsync-based deduplication
- Client-side encryption
- Windows VSS support
Autorestic vs Burp: key differences
Autorestic is written in Go, while Burp is built with C. Licensing differs — Apache-2.0 for Autorestic versus AGPL-3.0 for Burp. Autorestic is the lighter option, starting around 64 MB of RAM against 256 MB for Burp. Burp is the more established project (first released 2011), while Autorestic arrived in 2019. Autorestic has the considerably larger community, at 1,868 GitHub stars versus 502. Autorestic lists first-class Docker deployment; Burp does not.
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 Burp if…
- Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
- Written in C
- Tiny footprint — runs in 256 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is Autorestic or Burp better?
Autorestic is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider Burp if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are Autorestic and Burp free and open-source?
Yes. Autorestic is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Burp under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Autorestic and Burp with Docker?
Autorestic: yes. Burp: check the project docs for container support.
Which is lighter on resources, Autorestic or Burp?
Autorestic has the smaller minimum footprint at 64 MB of RAM, compared to about 256 MB for Burp. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.