BorgBackup vs Custom 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?
BorgBackup
Deduplicating archiver with compression and encryption
VS
Custom Backup
Backup extra paths not already managed by YunoHost backup feature
| Feature | BorgBackup | Custom Backup |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Backup & Recovery | Backup & Recovery |
| License | BSD-3-Clause | AGPL-3.0-only |
| Language | Python | Shell |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | binary, bare-metal | bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 13,588 | ★ 4 |
| First released | 2015 | 2024 |
| Replaces | Carbonite, Backblaze | — |
Why pick each one
Choose Custom Backup if…
- Released under the AGPL-3.0-only license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- Written in Shell
- Lightweight — runs in 512 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is BorgBackup or Custom Backup better?
Neither is universally better. BorgBackup has the larger community, while Custom Backup is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are BorgBackup and Custom Backup free and open-source?
Yes. BorgBackup is licensed under BSD-3-Clause and Custom Backup under AGPL-3.0-only. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run BorgBackup and Custom Backup with Docker?
BorgBackup: check the project docs for container support. Custom Backup: check the project docs for container support.