SHSelfHostIndex

Backup tool nono Plakar vs BorgBackup

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 Backup tool nono Plakar Effortless backup with built-in verification and UI VS BO BorgBackup Deduplicating archiver with compression and encryption
FeatureBackup tool nono PlakarBorgBackup
Deploy effortUnder-an-hour setupRead-the-docs project
Health score86 · Excellent94 · Excellent
CategoryBackup & RecoveryBackup & Recovery
LicenseISCBSD-3-Clause
LanguageGoPython
Setup difficultyMediumMedium
Min. RAM256 MB256 MB
Deploymentdocker, binarybinary, bare-metal
GitHub stars★ 2,068★ 13,762
First released20212015
ReplacesBackblaze, CrashPlanCarbonite, Backblaze

What are Backup tool nono Plakar and BorgBackup?

Backup tool nono Plakar

Plakar is a modern open-source backup solution that creates encrypted, deduplicated snapshots with built-in integrity verification. It includes a web UI for browsing and restoring data.

  • Encrypted deduplicated snapshots
  • Integrity verification
  • Web UI for restores

BorgBackup

BorgBackup is a deduplicating backup program with compression and authenticated encryption for efficient, secure archives. It targets technical users backing up to local or remote storage. It is deployed as a binary or package.

  • Deduplication and compression
  • Authenticated encryption
  • Append-only repos for ransomware safety
  • Efficient remote backups over SSH

Read the full BorgBackup guide →

Backup tool nono Plakar vs BorgBackup: key differences

Backup tool nono Plakar is written in Go, while BorgBackup is built with Python. Licensing differs — ISC for Backup tool nono Plakar versus BSD-3-Clause for BorgBackup. BorgBackup is the more established project (first released 2015), while Backup tool nono Plakar arrived in 2021. BorgBackup has the considerably larger community, at 13,762 GitHub stars versus 2,068. Backup tool nono Plakar lists first-class Docker deployment; BorgBackup does not.

Why pick each one

Choose Backup tool nono Plakar if…

  • Released under the ISC license
  • First-class Docker support for quick deployment
  • Active community (2.1k GitHub stars)
  • Written in Go
Backup tool nono Plakar details

Choose BorgBackup if…

  • Excellent space efficiency
  • Strong security
  • Battle-tested

Watch out for

  • Command-line oriented
  • Repo not directly mountable everywhere
BorgBackup details

Frequently asked questions

Is Backup tool nono Plakar or BorgBackup better?

Neither is universally better. BorgBackup has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.

Are Backup tool nono Plakar and BorgBackup free and open-source?

Yes. Backup tool nono Plakar is licensed under ISC and BorgBackup under BSD-3-Clause. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Backup tool nono Plakar and BorgBackup with Docker?

Backup tool nono Plakar: yes. BorgBackup: check the project docs for container support.

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