Barman vs pgBackRest
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?
Barman
Backup and recovery manager for PostgreSQL
VS
pgBackRest
Reliable backup and restore solution for PostgreSQL
| Feature | Barman | pgBackRest |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Backup & Recovery | Backup & Recovery |
| License | GPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Language | Python | C |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal | docker, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 3,214 | ★ 4,296 |
| First released | 2012 | 2013 |
| Replaces | Veeam | Veeam |
Why pick each one
Choose Barman if…
- Released under the GPL-3.0 license
- Active community (3.2k GitHub stars)
- Written in Python
- Tiny footprint — runs in 256 MB RAM
Choose pgBackRest if…
- Released under the MIT license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (4.3k GitHub stars)
- Written in C
Frequently asked questions
Is Barman or pgBackRest better?
Neither is universally better. pgBackRest has the larger community; both share a hard setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Barman and pgBackRest free and open-source?
Yes. Barman is licensed under GPL-3.0 and pgBackRest under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Barman and pgBackRest with Docker?
Barman: check the project docs for container support. pgBackRest: yes.