BackupPC vs snapper
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
snapper
Btrfs snapshot management tool with rollback
| Feature | BackupPC | snapper |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Read-the-docs project |
| Health score | 57 · Fair | 83 · Excellent |
| Category | Backup & Recovery | Backup & Recovery |
| License | GPL-3.0 | GPL-2.0 |
| Language | Perl | C++ |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 64 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal, docker | bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 1,626 | ★ 1,171 |
| First released | 2001 | 2011 |
| Replaces | CrashPlan, Time Machine | Time Machine |
What are BackupPC and snapper?
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
snapper
Snapper is a tool for managing filesystem snapshots on Btrfs and LVM thin volumes. It can create automatic timeline snapshots and roll back the system to a previous state.
- Automatic timeline snapshots
- Btrfs and LVM support
- System rollback
BackupPC vs snapper: key differences
BackupPC is written in Perl, while snapper is built with C++. Licensing differs — GPL-3.0 for BackupPC versus GPL-2.0 for snapper. Snapper is the lighter option, starting around 64 MB of RAM against 512 MB for BackupPC. BackupPC is the more established project (first released 2001), while snapper arrived in 2011. BackupPC lists first-class Docker deployment; snapper does not.
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 snapper if…
- Released under the GPL-2.0 license
- Active community (1.2k GitHub stars)
- Written in C++
- Tiny footprint — runs in 64 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is BackupPC or snapper better?
Neither is universally better. BackupPC has the larger community, while snapper is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are BackupPC and snapper free and open-source?
Yes. BackupPC is licensed under GPL-3.0 and snapper under GPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run BackupPC and snapper with Docker?
BackupPC: yes. snapper: check the project docs for container support.
Which is lighter on resources, BackupPC or snapper?
snapper has the smaller minimum footprint at 64 MB of RAM, compared to about 512 MB for BackupPC. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.