Backrest vs Nextcloud

A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted apps from related categories — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.

Not the right match-up?
FeatureBackrestNextcloud
CategoryBackup & RecoveryFile Sync & Storage
LicenseGPL-3.0AGPL-3.0
LanguageTypeScriptPHP
Setup difficultyEasyMedium
Min. RAM256 MB512 MB
Deploymentdocker, binarydocker, bare-metal, snap
GitHub stars★ 7,071★ 36,362
First released20242016
ReplacesBackblazeDropbox, Google Drive, Microsoft 365

Why pick each one

Choose Backrest if…

  • Makes Restic approachable
  • Good scheduling
  • Lightweight
Backrest details

Choose Nextcloud if…

  • Feature-rich and extensible
  • Active development and large community
  • Integrates calendar, contacts and office
Nextcloud details

Frequently asked questions

Is Backrest or Nextcloud better?

Neither is universally better. Nextcloud has the larger community, while Backrest is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.

Are Backrest and Nextcloud free and open-source?

Yes. Backrest is licensed under GPL-3.0 and Nextcloud under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Backrest and Nextcloud with Docker?

Backrest: yes. Nextcloud: yes.

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