btrbk vs Deja Dup
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?
btrbk
Backup tool for Btrfs subvolume snapshots
VS
Deja Dup
Simple backup tool for the GNOME desktop
| Feature | btrbk | Deja Dup |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Backup & Recovery | Backup & Recovery |
| License | GPL-3.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Language | Perl | Vala |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 64 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal, binary | binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 2,125 | ★ 600 |
| First released | 2014 | 2008 |
| Replaces | Time Machine | Time Machine, Backblaze |
Why pick each one
Choose btrbk if…
- Released under the GPL-3.0 license
- Active community (2.1k GitHub stars)
- Written in Perl
- Tiny footprint — runs in 64 MB RAM
Choose Deja Dup if…
- Released under the GPL-3.0 license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- Written in Vala
- Tiny footprint — runs in 256 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is btrbk or Deja Dup better?
Neither is universally better. btrbk has the larger community, while Deja Dup is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are btrbk and Deja Dup free and open-source?
Yes. btrbk is licensed under GPL-3.0 and Deja Dup under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run btrbk and Deja Dup with Docker?
btrbk: check the project docs for container support. Deja Dup: check the project docs for container support.