BorgBackup vs Deja Dup
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted backup & recovery options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | BorgBackup | Deja Dup |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Read-the-docs project |
| Category | Backup & Recovery | Backup & Recovery |
| License | BSD-3-Clause | GPL-3.0 |
| Language | Python | Vala |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | binary, bare-metal | binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 13,762 | ★ 600 |
| First released | 2015 | 2008 |
| Replaces | Carbonite, Backblaze | Time Machine, Backblaze |
What are BorgBackup and Deja Dup?
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
Deja Dup
Deja Dup is a simple backup tool that hides the complexity of doing backups properly. It supports local, network, and cloud storage with encryption and incremental backups powered by Restic.
- Beginner-friendly GUI
- Encrypted incremental backups
- Local and cloud targets
BorgBackup vs Deja Dup: key differences
BorgBackup is written in Python, while Deja Dup is built with Vala. Licensing differs — BSD-3-Clause for BorgBackup versus GPL-3.0 for Deja Dup. Deja Dup is the more established project (first released 2008), while BorgBackup arrived in 2015. BorgBackup has the considerably larger community, at 13,762 GitHub stars versus 600.
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 Deja Dup if…
- Released under the GPL-3.0 license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- Written in Vala
- Tiny footprint — runs in 256 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is BorgBackup or Deja Dup better?
Neither is universally better. BorgBackup has the larger community, while Deja Dup is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are BorgBackup and Deja Dup free and open-source?
Yes. BorgBackup is licensed under BSD-3-Clause and Deja Dup under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run BorgBackup and Deja Dup with Docker?
BorgBackup: check the project docs for container support. Deja Dup: check the project docs for container support.