Backrest vs DAR
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
DAR
Disk Archive tool for full and incremental backups
| Feature | Backrest | DAR |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Backup & Recovery | Backup & Recovery |
| License | GPL-3.0 | GPL-2.0 |
| Language | TypeScript | C++ |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 64 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary | binary, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 7,071 | ★ 201 |
| First released | 2024 | 2002 |
| Replaces | Backblaze | tar |
Why pick each one
Choose DAR if…
- Released under the GPL-2.0 license
- Written in C++
- Tiny footprint — runs in 64 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is Backrest or DAR better?
Backrest is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider DAR if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are Backrest and DAR free and open-source?
Yes. Backrest is licensed under GPL-3.0 and DAR under GPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Backrest and DAR with Docker?
Backrest: yes. DAR: check the project docs for container support.