bup vs snapper
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted backup & recovery options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | bup | snapper |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Read-the-docs project |
| Health score | 89 · Excellent | 83 · Excellent |
| Category | Backup & Recovery | Backup & Recovery |
| License | LGPL-2.1 | GPL-2.0 |
| Language | Python | C++ |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 64 MB |
| Deployment | binary | bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 7,355 | ★ 1,171 |
| First released | 2010 | 2011 |
| Replaces | Time Machine | Time Machine |
What are bup and snapper?
bup
bup is a backup tool that stores data using the git packfile format with rolling-checksum deduplication. It can back up enormous datasets efficiently and incrementally.
- Git-packfile storage format
- Rolling-checksum deduplication
- Handles very large datasets
snapper
Snapper is a tool for managing filesystem snapshots on Btrfs and LVM thin volumes. It can create automatic timeline snapshots and roll back the system to a previous state.
- Automatic timeline snapshots
- Btrfs and LVM support
- System rollback
bup vs snapper: key differences
Bup is written in Python, while snapper is built with C++. Licensing differs — LGPL-2.1 for bup versus GPL-2.0 for snapper. Snapper is the lighter option, starting around 64 MB of RAM against 128 MB for bup. Bup has the considerably larger community, at 7,355 GitHub stars versus 1,171.
Why pick each one
Choose bup if…
- Released under the LGPL-2.1 license
- Mature project with 7.4k GitHub stars
- Written in Python
- Tiny footprint — runs in 128 MB RAM
Choose snapper if…
- Released under the GPL-2.0 license
- Active community (1.2k GitHub stars)
- Written in C++
- Tiny footprint — runs in 64 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is bup or snapper better?
Neither is universally better. bup has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are bup and snapper free and open-source?
Yes. bup is licensed under LGPL-2.1 and snapper under GPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run bup and snapper with Docker?
bup: check the project docs for container support. snapper: check the project docs for container support.
Which is lighter on resources, bup or snapper?
snapper has the smaller minimum footprint at 64 MB of RAM, compared to about 128 MB for bup. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.