Autorestic vs Conserve Backup
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted backup & recovery options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Autorestic | Conserve Backup |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Read-the-docs project |
| Health score | 52 · Fair | 58 · Fair |
| Category | Backup & Recovery | Backup & Recovery |
| License | Apache-2.0 | GPL-2.0 |
| Language | Go | Rust |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 64 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary | binary, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 1,868 | ★ 278 |
| First released | 2019 | 2015 |
| Replaces | Backblaze, CrashPlan | Backblaze |
What are Autorestic and Conserve Backup?
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
Conserve Backup
Conserve is a robust backup program written in Rust that creates deduplicated, versioned archives to local or remote storage. It emphasizes data safety and resumable operations.
- Deduplicated archives
- Versioned backups
- Resumable operations
- Data-safety focus
Autorestic vs Conserve Backup: key differences
Autorestic is written in Go, while Conserve Backup is built with Rust. Licensing differs — Apache-2.0 for Autorestic versus GPL-2.0 for Conserve Backup. Autorestic is the lighter option, starting around 64 MB of RAM against 128 MB for Conserve Backup. Conserve Backup is the more established project (first released 2015), while Autorestic arrived in 2019. Autorestic has the considerably larger community, at 1,868 GitHub stars versus 278. Autorestic lists first-class Docker deployment; Conserve Backup 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 Conserve Backup if…
- Released under the GPL-2.0 license
- Written in Rust
- Tiny footprint — runs in 128 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is Autorestic or Conserve Backup better?
Autorestic is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider Conserve Backup if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are Autorestic and Conserve Backup free and open-source?
Yes. Autorestic is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Conserve Backup under GPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Autorestic and Conserve Backup with Docker?
Autorestic: yes. Conserve Backup: check the project docs for container support.
Which is lighter on resources, Autorestic or Conserve Backup?
Autorestic has the smaller minimum footprint at 64 MB of RAM, compared to about 128 MB for Conserve Backup. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.