BackupPC vs Duplicity
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?
BackupPC
High-performance backup system for PCs and servers
VS
Duplicity
Encrypted bandwidth-efficient backup using rsync
| Feature | BackupPC | Duplicity |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Backup & Recovery | Backup & Recovery |
| License | GPL-3.0 | GPL-2.0 |
| Language | Perl | Python |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal, docker | binary, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 1,621 | ★ 300 |
| First released | 2001 | 2002 |
| Replaces | CrashPlan, Time Machine | CrashPlan, Backblaze |
Why pick each one
Choose BackupPC if…
- Released under the GPL-3.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (1.6k GitHub stars)
- Written in Perl
Choose Duplicity if…
- Released under the GPL-2.0 license
- Written in Python
- Tiny footprint — runs in 128 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is BackupPC or Duplicity better?
Neither is universally better. BackupPC has the larger community, while Duplicity is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are BackupPC and Duplicity free and open-source?
Yes. BackupPC is licensed under GPL-3.0 and Duplicity under GPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run BackupPC and Duplicity with Docker?
BackupPC: yes. Duplicity: check the project docs for container support.