Autorestic vs Minarca 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 | Minarca Backup |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 53 · Fair | 31 · At risk |
| Category | Backup & Recovery | Backup & Recovery |
| License | Apache-2.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | Go | Python |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 64 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 1,868 | ★ 263 |
| First released | 2019 | 2016 |
| Replaces | Backblaze, CrashPlan | CrashPlan, Veeam |
What are Autorestic and Minarca 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
Minarca Backup
Minarca is a centralized backup solution built on rdiff-backup that lets users back up multiple machines and restore their own files through a web interface. It is designed for organizations protecting many endpoints.
- Centralized endpoint backup
- Self-service restore
- rdiff-backup engine
- Web management
Autorestic vs Minarca Backup: key differences
Autorestic is written in Go, while Minarca Backup is built with Python. Licensing differs — Apache-2.0 for Autorestic versus AGPL-3.0 for Minarca Backup. Autorestic is the lighter option, starting around 64 MB of RAM against 512 MB for Minarca Backup. Minarca Backup is the more established project (first released 2016), while Autorestic arrived in 2019. Autorestic has the considerably larger community, at 1,868 GitHub stars versus 263.
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 Minarca Backup if…
- Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Written in Python
- Lightweight — runs in 512 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is Autorestic or Minarca Backup better?
Autorestic is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider Minarca Backup if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are Autorestic and Minarca Backup free and open-source?
Yes. Autorestic is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Minarca Backup under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Autorestic and Minarca Backup with Docker?
Autorestic: yes. Minarca Backup: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Autorestic or Minarca Backup?
Autorestic has the smaller minimum footprint at 64 MB of RAM, compared to about 512 MB for Minarca Backup. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.