Autorestic vs Obnam2
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted backup & recovery options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Autorestic | Obnam2 |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Read-the-docs project |
| Category | Backup & Recovery | Backup & Recovery |
| License | Apache-2.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | Go | Rust |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 64 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary | binary, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 1,868 | ★ 200 |
| First released | 2019 | 2020 |
| Replaces | Backblaze, CrashPlan | Backblaze |
What are Autorestic and Obnam2?
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
Obnam2
Obnam2 is a backup program that splits files into chunks for deduplicated, encrypted storage to a backup server. It is built with a focus on simplicity and verifiable correctness.
- Chunk-based deduplication
- Encrypted storage
- Backup server model
- Simplicity focused
Autorestic vs Obnam2: key differences
Autorestic is written in Go, while Obnam2 is built with Rust. Licensing differs — Apache-2.0 for Autorestic versus AGPL-3.0 for Obnam2. Autorestic is the lighter option, starting around 64 MB of RAM against 128 MB for Obnam2. Autorestic has the considerably larger community, at 1,868 GitHub stars versus 200. Autorestic lists first-class Docker deployment; Obnam2 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 Obnam2 if…
- Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
- Written in Rust
- Tiny footprint — runs in 128 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is Autorestic or Obnam2 better?
Autorestic is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider Obnam2 if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are Autorestic and Obnam2 free and open-source?
Yes. Autorestic is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Obnam2 under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Autorestic and Obnam2 with Docker?
Autorestic: yes. Obnam2: check the project docs for container support.
Which is lighter on resources, Autorestic or Obnam2?
Autorestic has the smaller minimum footprint at 64 MB of RAM, compared to about 128 MB for Obnam2. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.