BorgBackup vs Restic REST Server
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
Restic REST Server
High-performance HTTP backend for Restic backups
| Feature | BorgBackup | Restic REST Server |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Backup & Recovery | Backup & Recovery |
| License | BSD-3-Clause | BSD-2-Clause |
| Language | Python | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 64 MB |
| Deployment | binary, bare-metal | docker, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 13,588 | ★ 1,470 |
| First released | 2015 | 2016 |
| Replaces | Carbonite, Backblaze | Backblaze B2 |
Why pick each one
Choose Restic REST Server if…
- Released under the BSD-2-Clause license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (1.5k GitHub stars)
Frequently asked questions
Is BorgBackup or Restic REST Server better?
Neither is universally better. BorgBackup has the larger community, while Restic REST Server is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are BorgBackup and Restic REST Server free and open-source?
Yes. BorgBackup is licensed under BSD-3-Clause and Restic REST Server under BSD-2-Clause. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run BorgBackup and Restic REST Server with Docker?
BorgBackup: check the project docs for container support. Restic REST Server: yes.