Autorestic vs Duplicity
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted backup & recovery options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Autorestic | Duplicity |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Read-the-docs project |
| Category | Backup & Recovery | Backup & Recovery |
| License | Apache-2.0 | GPL-2.0 |
| Language | Go | Python |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 64 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary | binary, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 1,868 | ★ 300 |
| First released | 2019 | 2002 |
| Replaces | Backblaze, CrashPlan | CrashPlan, Backblaze |
What are Autorestic and Duplicity?
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
Duplicity
Duplicity backs up directories by producing encrypted, signed tar-format volumes and uploading them to a remote or local file server. It uses the rsync algorithm for incremental archives.
- GPG-encrypted archives
- Many remote storage backends
- Incremental rsync deltas
Autorestic vs Duplicity: key differences
Autorestic is written in Go, while Duplicity is built with Python. Licensing differs — Apache-2.0 for Autorestic versus GPL-2.0 for Duplicity. Autorestic is the lighter option, starting around 64 MB of RAM against 128 MB for Duplicity. Duplicity is the more established project (first released 2002), while Autorestic arrived in 2019. Autorestic has the considerably larger community, at 1,868 GitHub stars versus 300. Autorestic lists first-class Docker deployment; Duplicity 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 Duplicity if…
- Released under the GPL-2.0 license
- Written in Python
- Tiny footprint — runs in 128 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is Autorestic or Duplicity better?
Autorestic is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider Duplicity if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are Autorestic and Duplicity free and open-source?
Yes. Autorestic is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Duplicity under GPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Autorestic and Duplicity with Docker?
Autorestic: yes. Duplicity: check the project docs for container support.
Which is lighter on resources, Autorestic or Duplicity?
Autorestic has the smaller minimum footprint at 64 MB of RAM, compared to about 128 MB for Duplicity. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.