BorgBackup vs Time Machine
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
Time Machine
Configure the server as a Time Machine backup target
| Feature | BorgBackup | Time Machine |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Backup & Recovery | Backup & Recovery |
| License | BSD-3-Clause | WTFPL |
| Language | Python | Shell |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 50 MB |
| Deployment | binary, bare-metal | bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 13,588 | ★ 9 |
| First released | 2015 | 2023 |
| Replaces | Carbonite, Backblaze | — |
Why pick each one
Choose Time Machine if…
- Released under the WTFPL license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- Written in Shell
- Tiny footprint — runs in 50 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is BorgBackup or Time Machine better?
Neither is universally better. BorgBackup has the larger community, while Time Machine is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are BorgBackup and Time Machine free and open-source?
Yes. BorgBackup is licensed under BSD-3-Clause and Time Machine under WTFPL. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run BorgBackup and Time Machine with Docker?
BorgBackup: check the project docs for container support. Time Machine: check the project docs for container support.