btrbk vs Kup
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted backup & recovery options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | btrbk | Kup |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Read-the-docs project |
| Category | Backup & Recovery | Backup & Recovery |
| License | GPL-3.0 | GPL-2.0 |
| Language | Perl | C++ |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 64 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal, binary | binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 2,155 | ★ 100 |
| First released | 2014 | 2012 |
| Replaces | Time Machine | Time Machine |
What are btrbk and Kup?
btrbk
btrbk is a backup tool for creating and managing snapshots of Btrfs subvolumes and replicating them to local or remote targets. It is designed for incremental, atomic backups driven by a simple configuration file.
- Incremental Btrfs backups
- Remote replication over SSH
- Configurable retention
- Atomic snapshots
Kup
Kup is a backup scheduler for the KDE desktop that helps users keep their personal files backed up. It supports synchronized folders and incremental backups using the bup format.
- Integrated with KDE Plasma
- bup-based incremental backups
- Automatic scheduling
btrbk vs Kup: key differences
Btrbk is written in Perl, while Kup is built with C++. Licensing differs — GPL-3.0 for btrbk versus GPL-2.0 for Kup. Btrbk is the lighter option, starting around 64 MB of RAM against 128 MB for Kup. Kup is the more established project (first released 2012), while btrbk arrived in 2014. Btrbk has the considerably larger community, at 2,155 GitHub stars versus 100.
Why pick each one
Choose btrbk if…
- Released under the GPL-3.0 license
- Active community (2.2k GitHub stars)
- Written in Perl
- Tiny footprint — runs in 64 MB RAM
Watch out for
- Btrfs only
- No graphical interface
Choose Kup if…
- Released under the GPL-2.0 license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- Written in C++
- Tiny footprint — runs in 128 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is btrbk or Kup better?
Neither is universally better. btrbk has the larger community, while Kup is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are btrbk and Kup free and open-source?
Yes. btrbk is licensed under GPL-3.0 and Kup under GPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run btrbk and Kup with Docker?
btrbk: check the project docs for container support. Kup: check the project docs for container support.
Which is lighter on resources, btrbk or Kup?
btrbk has the smaller minimum footprint at 64 MB of RAM, compared to about 128 MB for Kup. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.