BorgBackup vs Obnam2
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted backup & recovery options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | BorgBackup | Obnam2 |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Read-the-docs project |
| Category | Backup & Recovery | Backup & Recovery |
| License | BSD-3-Clause | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | Python | Rust |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | binary, bare-metal | binary, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 13,762 | ★ 200 |
| First released | 2015 | 2020 |
| Replaces | Carbonite, Backblaze | Backblaze |
What are BorgBackup and Obnam2?
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
Obnam2
Obnam2 is a backup program that splits files into chunks for deduplicated, encrypted storage to a backup server. It is built with a focus on simplicity and verifiable correctness.
- Chunk-based deduplication
- Encrypted storage
- Backup server model
- Simplicity focused
BorgBackup vs Obnam2: key differences
BorgBackup is written in Python, while Obnam2 is built with Rust. Licensing differs — BSD-3-Clause for BorgBackup versus AGPL-3.0 for Obnam2. Obnam2 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 Obnam2 arrived in 2020. BorgBackup has the considerably larger community, at 13,762 GitHub stars versus 200.
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 Obnam2 if…
- Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
- Written in Rust
- Tiny footprint — runs in 128 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is BorgBackup or Obnam2 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 Obnam2 free and open-source?
Yes. BorgBackup is licensed under BSD-3-Clause and Obnam2 under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run BorgBackup and Obnam2 with Docker?
BorgBackup: check the project docs for container support. Obnam2: check the project docs for container support.
Which is lighter on resources, BorgBackup or Obnam2?
Obnam2 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.