Bupstash vs HashBackup
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted backup & recovery options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Bupstash | HashBackup |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Read-the-docs project |
| Health score | 13 · At risk | 0 · At risk |
| Category | Backup & Recovery | Backup & Recovery |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Language | Rust | Python |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | binary | binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 924 | ★ 1 |
| First released | 2020 | 2009 |
| Replaces | Backblaze, CrashPlan | CrashPlan |
What are Bupstash and HashBackup?
Bupstash
Bupstash is a tool for encrypted, deduplicated, and compressed backups. It is designed to be simple, secure, and efficient, storing backups locally or over SSH.
- Encrypted deduplicated backups
- Works over SSH
- Simple command-line interface
HashBackup
HashBackup is a command-line backup program for Unix-like systems that performs deduplicated, compressed, and encrypted backups to local or remote destinations. It supports retention policies, selective restore, and many storage targets.
- Deduplication and compression
- Encrypted backups
- Many remote destinations
- Flexible retention
Bupstash vs HashBackup: key differences
Bupstash is written in Rust, while HashBackup is built with Python. Bupstash is the lighter option, starting around 128 MB of RAM against 256 MB for HashBackup. HashBackup is the more established project (first released 2009), while Bupstash arrived in 2020. Bupstash has the considerably larger community, at 924 GitHub stars versus 1.
Why pick each one
Choose Bupstash if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Written in Rust
- Tiny footprint — runs in 128 MB RAM
Choose HashBackup if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Written in Python
- Tiny footprint — runs in 256 MB RAM
Watch out for
- Command-line only
- Smaller community
Frequently asked questions
Is Bupstash or HashBackup better?
Neither is universally better. Bupstash has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Bupstash and HashBackup free and open-source?
Yes. Bupstash is licensed under MIT and HashBackup under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Bupstash and HashBackup with Docker?
Bupstash: check the project docs for container support. HashBackup: check the project docs for container support.
Which is lighter on resources, Bupstash or HashBackup?
Bupstash has the smaller minimum footprint at 128 MB of RAM, compared to about 256 MB for HashBackup. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.