Bareos 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.
Not the right match-up?
Bareos
Backup Archiving Recovery Open Sourced
VS
Minarca Backup
Centralized rdiff-backup with self-service restore
| Feature | Bareos | Minarca Backup |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Backup & Recovery | Backup & Recovery |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | C++ | Python |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 1,024 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 1,232 | ★ 239 |
| First released | 2010 | 2016 |
| Replaces | Veeam, CommVault | CrashPlan, Veeam |
Why pick each one
Choose Bareos if…
- Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (1.2k GitHub stars)
- Written in C++
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 Bareos or Minarca Backup better?
Neither is universally better. Bareos 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 Bareos and Minarca Backup free and open-source?
Yes. Bareos is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Minarca Backup under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Bareos and Minarca Backup with Docker?
Bareos: yes. Minarca Backup: yes.