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.
| Feature | btrbk | Deja Dup |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Read-the-docs project |
| 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 | ★ 2,155 | ★ 600 |
| First released | 2014 | 2008 |
| Replaces | Time Machine | Time Machine, Backblaze |
What are btrbk and Deja Dup?
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
Deja Dup
Deja Dup is a simple backup tool that hides the complexity of doing backups properly. It supports local, network, and cloud storage with encryption and incremental backups powered by Restic.
- Beginner-friendly GUI
- Encrypted incremental backups
- Local and cloud targets
btrbk vs Deja Dup: key differences
Btrbk is written in Perl, while Deja Dup is built with Vala. Btrbk is the lighter option, starting around 64 MB of RAM against 256 MB for Deja Dup. Deja Dup is the more established project (first released 2008), while btrbk arrived in 2014. Btrbk has the considerably larger community, at 2,155 GitHub stars versus 600.
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 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.
Which is lighter on resources, btrbk or Deja Dup?
btrbk has the smaller minimum footprint at 64 MB of RAM, compared to about 256 MB for Deja Dup. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.