borgmatic vs Duplicity
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?
borgmatic
Simple configuration-driven frontend for BorgBackup
VS
Duplicity
Encrypted bandwidth-efficient backup using rsync
| Feature | borgmatic | Duplicity |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Backup & Recovery | Backup & Recovery |
| License | GPL-3.0 | GPL-2.0 |
| Language | Python | Python |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary | binary, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 2,000 | ★ 300 |
| First released | 2013 | 2002 |
| Replaces | CrashPlan, Backblaze | CrashPlan, Backblaze |
Why pick each one
Choose borgmatic if…
- Released under the GPL-3.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (2k GitHub stars)
- Written in Python
Choose Duplicity if…
- Released under the GPL-2.0 license
- Written in Python
- Tiny footprint — runs in 128 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is borgmatic or Duplicity better?
Neither is universally better. borgmatic has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are borgmatic and Duplicity free and open-source?
Yes. borgmatic is licensed under GPL-3.0 and Duplicity under GPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run borgmatic and Duplicity with Docker?
borgmatic: yes. Duplicity: check the project docs for container support.