Back In Time vs Restic
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?
Back In Time
Simple backup tool inspired by Apple Time Machine
VS
Restic
Fast, secure, efficient backup program
| Feature | Back In Time | Restic |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Backup & Recovery | Backup & Recovery |
| License | GPL-2.0 | BSD-2-Clause |
| Language | Python | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | binary | binary, docker |
| GitHub stars | ★ 2,641 | ★ 35,412 |
| First released | 2008 | 2015 |
| Replaces | Time Machine | Backblaze, Carbonite |
Why pick each one
Choose Back In Time if…
- Released under the GPL-2.0 license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- Active community (2.6k GitHub stars)
- Written in Python
Frequently asked questions
Is Back In Time or Restic better?
Neither is universally better. Restic 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 Restic free and open-source?
Yes. Back In Time is licensed under GPL-2.0 and Restic under BSD-2-Clause. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Back In Time and Restic with Docker?
Back In Time: check the project docs for container support. Restic: yes.