Autorestic vs Tarsnap GUI
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted backup & recovery options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Not the right match-up?
Autorestic
Config-driven wrapper for Restic backups
VS
Tarsnap GUI
Cross-platform desktop front end for Tarsnap backups
| Feature | Autorestic | Tarsnap GUI |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Backup & Recovery | Backup & Recovery |
| License | Apache-2.0 | BSD-2-Clause |
| Language | Go | C++ |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 64 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary | binary, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 1,855 | ★ 250 |
| First released | 2019 | 2016 |
| Replaces | Backblaze, CrashPlan | Backblaze |
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 Tarsnap GUI if…
- Released under the BSD-2-Clause license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- Written in C++
- Tiny footprint — runs in 128 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is Autorestic or Tarsnap GUI better?
Neither is universally better. Autorestic has the larger community; both share a easy setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Autorestic and Tarsnap GUI free and open-source?
Yes. Autorestic is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Tarsnap GUI under BSD-2-Clause. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Autorestic and Tarsnap GUI with Docker?
Autorestic: yes. Tarsnap GUI: check the project docs for container support.