BorgBackup vs resticprofile
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted backup & recovery options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | BorgBackup | resticprofile |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Read-the-docs project |
| Health score | 94 · Excellent | 77 · Good |
| Category | Backup & Recovery | Backup & Recovery |
| License | BSD-3-Clause | GPL-3.0 |
| Language | Python | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 64 MB |
| Deployment | binary, bare-metal | binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 13,762 | ★ 1,425 |
| First released | 2015 | 2019 |
| Replaces | Carbonite, Backblaze | Backblaze |
What are BorgBackup and resticprofile?
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
resticprofile
Resticprofile is a configuration profiles manager for Restic that simplifies running scheduled backups. It lets you define complex backup workflows in YAML, TOML, or JSON files.
- Profile-based Restic config
- Scheduling integration
- Multiple config formats
BorgBackup vs resticprofile: key differences
BorgBackup is written in Python, while resticprofile is built with Go. Licensing differs — BSD-3-Clause for BorgBackup versus GPL-3.0 for resticprofile. Resticprofile 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 resticprofile arrived in 2019. BorgBackup has the considerably larger community, at 13,762 GitHub stars versus 1,425.
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 resticprofile if…
- Released under the GPL-3.0 license
- Active community (1.4k GitHub stars)
- Written in Go
- Tiny footprint — runs in 64 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is BorgBackup or resticprofile 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 resticprofile free and open-source?
Yes. BorgBackup is licensed under BSD-3-Clause and resticprofile under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run BorgBackup and resticprofile with Docker?
BorgBackup: check the project docs for container support. resticprofile: check the project docs for container support.
Which is lighter on resources, BorgBackup or resticprofile?
resticprofile 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.