BorgBackup vs Restic Mailer
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted backup & recovery options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | BorgBackup | Restic Mailer |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 94 · Excellent | 76 · Good |
| Category | Backup & Recovery | Backup & Recovery |
| License | BSD-3-Clause | MIT |
| Language | Python | Shell |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 64 MB |
| Deployment | binary, bare-metal | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 13,762 | ★ 663 |
| First released | 2015 | 2018 |
| Replaces | Carbonite, Backblaze | Backblaze |
What are BorgBackup and Restic Mailer?
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
Restic Mailer
A wrapper around restic that runs backups on schedule and emails detailed success or failure reports. It adds visibility to unattended restic deployments.
- Scheduled restic runs
- Email job reports
- systemd integration
- Unattended backups
BorgBackup vs Restic Mailer: key differences
BorgBackup is written in Python, while Restic Mailer is built with Shell. Licensing differs — BSD-3-Clause for BorgBackup versus MIT for Restic Mailer. Restic Mailer is the lighter option, starting around 64 MB of RAM against 256 MB for BorgBackup. BorgBackup is the more established project (first released 2015), while Restic Mailer arrived in 2018. BorgBackup has the considerably larger community, at 13,762 GitHub stars versus 663. Restic Mailer lists first-class Docker deployment; BorgBackup does not.
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 Restic Mailer if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Written in Shell
Frequently asked questions
Is BorgBackup or Restic Mailer better?
Neither is universally better. BorgBackup has the larger community, while Restic Mailer is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are BorgBackup and Restic Mailer free and open-source?
Yes. BorgBackup is licensed under BSD-3-Clause and Restic Mailer under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run BorgBackup and Restic Mailer with Docker?
BorgBackup: check the project docs for container support. Restic Mailer: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, BorgBackup or Restic Mailer?
Restic Mailer has the smaller minimum footprint at 64 MB of RAM, compared to about 256 MB for BorgBackup. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.