bup vs File Browser

A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted apps from related categories — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.

Not the right match-up?
FeaturebupFile Browser
CategoryBackup & RecoveryFile Sync & Storage
LicenseLGPL-2.1Apache-2.0
LanguagePythonGo
Setup difficultyMediumEasy
Min. RAM128 MB64 MB
Deploymentbinarydocker, binary
GitHub stars★ 7,337★ 35,800
First released20102017
ReplacesTime MachineDropbox

Why pick each one

Choose bup if…

  • Released under the LGPL-2.1 license
  • Mature project with 7.3k GitHub stars
  • Written in Python
  • Tiny footprint — runs in 128 MB RAM
bup details

Choose File Browser if…

  • Extremely lightweight
  • Trivial to deploy
  • Good for quick file access
File Browser details

Frequently asked questions

Is bup or File Browser better?

File Browser is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider bup if its specific feature set fits your needs better.

Are bup and File Browser free and open-source?

Yes. bup is licensed under LGPL-2.1 and File Browser under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run bup and File Browser with Docker?

bup: check the project docs for container support. File Browser: yes.

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