BorgBackup vs Bupstash
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted backup & recovery options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | BorgBackup | Bupstash |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Read-the-docs project |
| Health score | 94 · Excellent | 13 · At risk |
| Category | Backup & Recovery | Backup & Recovery |
| License | BSD-3-Clause | MIT |
| Language | Python | Rust |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | binary, bare-metal | binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 13,762 | ★ 924 |
| First released | 2015 | 2020 |
| Replaces | Carbonite, Backblaze | Backblaze, CrashPlan |
What are BorgBackup and Bupstash?
BorgBackup
BorgBackup is a deduplicating backup program with compression and authenticated encryption for efficient, secure archives. It targets technical users backing up to local or remote storage. It is deployed as a binary or package.
- Deduplication and compression
- Authenticated encryption
- Append-only repos for ransomware safety
- Efficient remote backups over SSH
Bupstash
Bupstash is a tool for encrypted, deduplicated, and compressed backups. It is designed to be simple, secure, and efficient, storing backups locally or over SSH.
- Encrypted deduplicated backups
- Works over SSH
- Simple command-line interface
BorgBackup vs Bupstash: key differences
BorgBackup is written in Python, while Bupstash is built with Rust. Licensing differs — BSD-3-Clause for BorgBackup versus MIT for Bupstash. Bupstash is the lighter option, starting around 128 MB of RAM against 256 MB for BorgBackup. BorgBackup is the more established project (first released 2015), while Bupstash arrived in 2020. BorgBackup has the considerably larger community, at 13,762 GitHub stars versus 924.
Why pick each one
Choose BorgBackup if…
- Excellent space efficiency
- Strong security
- Battle-tested
Watch out for
- Command-line oriented
- Repo not directly mountable everywhere
Choose Bupstash if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Written in Rust
- Tiny footprint — runs in 128 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is BorgBackup or Bupstash better?
Neither is universally better. BorgBackup has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are BorgBackup and Bupstash free and open-source?
Yes. BorgBackup is licensed under BSD-3-Clause and Bupstash under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run BorgBackup and Bupstash with Docker?
BorgBackup: check the project docs for container support. Bupstash: check the project docs for container support.
Which is lighter on resources, BorgBackup or Bupstash?
Bupstash has the smaller minimum footprint at 128 MB of RAM, compared to about 256 MB for BorgBackup. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.