SHSelfHostIndex

Backrest vs MySQL backup XtraBackup

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?
BA Backrest Web UI and orchestrator for Restic backups VS MY MySQL backup XtraBackup Hot online backup for MySQL and MariaDB
FeatureBackrestMySQL backup XtraBackup
CategoryBackup & RecoveryBackup & Recovery
LicenseGPL-3.0GPL-2.0
LanguageTypeScriptC++
Setup difficultyEasyHard
Min. RAM256 MB256 MB
Deploymentdocker, binarybare-metal, binary
GitHub stars★ 7,071★ 1,545
First released20242009
ReplacesBackblazeMySQL Enterprise Backup

Why pick each one

Choose Backrest if…

  • Makes Restic approachable
  • Good scheduling
  • Lightweight
Backrest details

Choose MySQL backup XtraBackup if…

  • Released under the GPL-2.0 license
  • Active community (1.5k GitHub stars)
  • Written in C++
  • Tiny footprint — runs in 256 MB RAM
MySQL backup XtraBackup details

Frequently asked questions

Is Backrest or MySQL backup XtraBackup better?

Backrest is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider MySQL backup XtraBackup if its specific feature set fits your needs better.

Are Backrest and MySQL backup XtraBackup free and open-source?

Yes. Backrest is licensed under GPL-3.0 and MySQL backup XtraBackup under GPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Backrest and MySQL backup XtraBackup with Docker?

Backrest: yes. MySQL backup XtraBackup: check the project docs for container support.

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