BackupPC vs Minarca Backup
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted backup & recovery options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
BackupPC
High-performance backup system for PCs and servers
VS
Minarca Backup
Centralized rdiff-backup with self-service restore
| Feature | BackupPC | Minarca Backup |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 57 · Fair | 31 · At risk |
| Category | Backup & Recovery | Backup & Recovery |
| License | GPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | Perl | Python |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal, docker | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 1,626 | ★ 263 |
| First released | 2001 | 2016 |
| Replaces | CrashPlan, Time Machine | CrashPlan, Veeam |
What are BackupPC and Minarca Backup?
BackupPC
BackupPC is a high-performance system for backing up Linux, Windows, and macOS PCs to a server's disk. It uses pooling and compression to minimize disk usage, with a full web interface.
- File pooling deduplication
- Web management interface
- No client software required
Minarca Backup
Minarca is a centralized backup solution built on rdiff-backup that lets users back up multiple machines and restore their own files through a web interface. It is designed for organizations protecting many endpoints.
- Centralized endpoint backup
- Self-service restore
- rdiff-backup engine
- Web management
BackupPC vs Minarca Backup: key differences
BackupPC is written in Perl, while Minarca Backup is built with Python. Licensing differs — GPL-3.0 for BackupPC versus AGPL-3.0 for Minarca Backup. BackupPC is the more established project (first released 2001), while Minarca Backup arrived in 2016. BackupPC has the considerably larger community, at 1,626 GitHub stars versus 263.
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 Minarca Backup if…
- Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Written in Python
- Lightweight — runs in 512 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is BackupPC or Minarca Backup better?
Neither is universally better. BackupPC has the larger community, while Minarca Backup is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are BackupPC and Minarca Backup free and open-source?
Yes. BackupPC is licensed under GPL-3.0 and Minarca Backup under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run BackupPC and Minarca Backup with Docker?
BackupPC: yes. Minarca Backup: yes.