BackupPC vs Sanoid
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
Sanoid
Policy-driven ZFS snapshot management and replication
| Feature | BackupPC | Sanoid |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Backup & Recovery | Backup & Recovery |
| License | GPL-3.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Language | Perl | Perl |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal, docker | bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 1,621 | ★ 3,830 |
| First released | 2001 | 2014 |
| Replaces | CrashPlan, Time Machine | Time Machine |
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 Sanoid if…
- Released under the GPL-3.0 license
- Active community (3.8k GitHub stars)
- Written in Perl
- Tiny footprint — runs in 128 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is BackupPC or Sanoid better?
Neither is universally better. Sanoid has the larger community; both share a hard setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are BackupPC and Sanoid free and open-source?
Yes. BackupPC is licensed under GPL-3.0 and Sanoid under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run BackupPC and Sanoid with Docker?
BackupPC: yes. Sanoid: check the project docs for container support.