Backup tool nono Plakar vs Kopia

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?
FeatureBackup tool nono PlakarKopia
Deploy effortUnder-an-hour setupUnder-an-hour setup
Health score86 · Excellent94 · Excellent
CategoryBackup & RecoveryBackup & Recovery
LicenseISCApache-2.0
LanguageGoGo
Setup difficultyMediumEasy
Min. RAM256 MB256 MB
Deploymentdocker, binarybinary, docker
GitHub stars★ 2,068★ 14,188
First released20212019
ReplacesBackblaze, CrashPlanBackblaze, Carbonite

What are Backup tool nono Plakar and Kopia?

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

Kopia

Kopia is a fast and secure backup tool that creates encrypted, deduplicated snapshots and offers both a CLI and a desktop GUI. It targets users who want modern backups with a clean interface. It is deployed as a binary or via Docker.

  • Encrypted deduplicated snapshots
  • Both CLI and desktop GUI
  • Many storage backends
  • Compression and policies

Read the full Kopia guide →

Backup tool nono Plakar vs Kopia: key differences

Both projects are written in Go. Licensing differs — ISC for Backup tool nono Plakar versus Apache-2.0 for Kopia. Kopia is the more established project (first released 2019), while Backup tool nono Plakar arrived in 2021. Kopia has the considerably larger community, at 14,188 GitHub stars versus 2,068.

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 Kopia if…

  • GUI and CLI both available
  • Fast and efficient
  • Modern design

Watch out for

  • Younger than Restic
  • Advanced options can confuse
Kopia details

Frequently asked questions

Is Backup tool nono Plakar or Kopia better?

Kopia is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider Backup tool nono Plakar if its specific feature set fits your needs better.

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

Yes. Backup tool nono Plakar is licensed under ISC and Kopia under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

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

Backup tool nono Plakar: yes. Kopia: yes.

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