Back In Time vs bup
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted backup & recovery options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Back In Time | bup |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Read-the-docs project |
| Health score | 83 · Excellent | 89 · Excellent |
| Category | Backup & Recovery | Backup & Recovery |
| License | GPL-2.0 | LGPL-2.1 |
| Language | Python | Python |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | binary | binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 2,669 | ★ 7,355 |
| First released | 2008 | 2010 |
| Replaces | Time Machine | Time Machine |
What are Back In Time and bup?
Back In Time
Back In Time is a simple backup tool for Linux inspired by Time Machine and rsnapshot. It takes snapshots of specified folders using rsync and hard links to save disk space.
- Time Machine-style snapshots
- Hard-link deduplication
- GUI and command-line modes
bup
bup is a backup tool that stores data using the git packfile format with rolling-checksum deduplication. It can back up enormous datasets efficiently and incrementally.
- Git-packfile storage format
- Rolling-checksum deduplication
- Handles very large datasets
Back In Time vs bup: key differences
Both projects are written in Python. Licensing differs — GPL-2.0 for Back In Time versus LGPL-2.1 for bup. Back In Time is the more established project (first released 2008), while bup arrived in 2010. Bup has the considerably larger community, at 7,355 GitHub stars versus 2,669.
Why pick each one
Choose Back In Time if…
- Released under the GPL-2.0 license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- Active community (2.7k GitHub stars)
- Written in Python
Choose bup if…
- Released under the LGPL-2.1 license
- Mature project with 7.4k GitHub stars
- Written in Python
- Tiny footprint — runs in 128 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is Back In Time or bup better?
Neither is universally better. bup has the larger community, while Back In Time is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Back In Time and bup free and open-source?
Yes. Back In Time is licensed under GPL-2.0 and bup under LGPL-2.1. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Back In Time and bup with Docker?
Back In Time: check the project docs for container support. bup: check the project docs for container support.