Barman vs SnapRAID
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
SnapRAID
Parity-based backup for disk arrays of large files
| Feature | Barman | SnapRAID |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Backup & Recovery | Backup & Recovery |
| License | GPL-3.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Language | Python | C |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal | binary, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 3,214 | ★ 2,543 |
| First released | 2012 | 2011 |
| Replaces | Veeam | unRAID parity |
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 SnapRAID if…
- Released under the GPL-3.0 license
- Active community (2.5k GitHub stars)
- Written in C
- Tiny footprint — runs in 256 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is Barman or SnapRAID better?
Neither is universally better. Barman has the larger community, while SnapRAID is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Barman and SnapRAID free and open-source?
Yes. Barman is licensed under GPL-3.0 and SnapRAID under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Barman and SnapRAID with Docker?
Barman: check the project docs for container support. SnapRAID: check the project docs for container support.