bup vs pgBackWeb
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?
bup
Efficient backup system based on the git packfile format
VS
pgBackWeb
Web interface for scheduling PostgreSQL backups
| Feature | bup | pgBackWeb |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Backup & Recovery | Backup & Recovery |
| License | LGPL-2.1 | MIT |
| Language | Python | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | binary | docker |
| GitHub stars | ★ 7,337 | ★ 2,615 |
| First released | 2010 | 2024 |
| Replaces | Time Machine | AWS RDS Backups |
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
Choose pgBackWeb if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (2.6k GitHub stars)
Frequently asked questions
Is bup or pgBackWeb better?
Neither is universally better. bup has the larger community, while pgBackWeb is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are bup and pgBackWeb free and open-source?
Yes. bup is licensed under LGPL-2.1 and pgBackWeb under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run bup and pgBackWeb with Docker?
bup: check the project docs for container support. pgBackWeb: yes.