Backrest vs Collective Access - Providence
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?
Backrest
Web UI and orchestrator for Restic backups
VS
Collective Access - Providence
Highly configurable Web-based framework for management, description,
| Feature | Backrest | Collective Access - Providence |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Backup & Recovery | Backup & Recovery |
| License | GPL-3.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Language | TypeScript | PHP |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary | bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 7,071 | ★ 382 |
| First released | 2024 | 2026 |
| Replaces | Backblaze | — |
Why pick each one
Choose Collective Access - Providence if…
- Released under the GPL-3.0 license
- Written in PHP
- Lightweight — runs in 512 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is Backrest or Collective Access - Providence better?
Backrest is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider Collective Access - Providence if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are Backrest and Collective Access - Providence free and open-source?
Yes. Backrest is licensed under GPL-3.0 and Collective Access - Providence under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Backrest and Collective Access - Providence with Docker?
Backrest: yes. Collective Access - Providence: check the project docs for container support.