SHSelfHostIndex

Bupstash vs Obnam2

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?
BU Bupstash Easy and efficient encrypted backups VS OB Obnam2 Simple, secure chunk-based backup program
FeatureBupstashObnam2
Deploy effortRead-the-docs projectRead-the-docs project
CategoryBackup & RecoveryBackup & Recovery
LicenseMITAGPL-3.0
LanguageRustRust
Setup difficultyMediumMedium
Min. RAM128 MB128 MB
Deploymentbinarybinary, bare-metal
GitHub stars★ 924★ 200
First released20202020
ReplacesBackblaze, CrashPlanBackblaze

What are Bupstash and Obnam2?

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

Obnam2

Obnam2 is a backup program that splits files into chunks for deduplicated, encrypted storage to a backup server. It is built with a focus on simplicity and verifiable correctness.

  • Chunk-based deduplication
  • Encrypted storage
  • Backup server model
  • Simplicity focused

Bupstash vs Obnam2: key differences

Both projects are written in Rust. Licensing differs — MIT for Bupstash versus AGPL-3.0 for Obnam2. Bupstash has the considerably larger community, at 924 GitHub stars versus 200.

Why pick each one

Choose Bupstash if…

  • Released under the MIT license
  • Written in Rust
  • Tiny footprint — runs in 128 MB RAM
Bupstash details

Choose Obnam2 if…

  • Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
  • Written in Rust
  • Tiny footprint — runs in 128 MB RAM
Obnam2 details

Frequently asked questions

Is Bupstash or Obnam2 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 Obnam2 free and open-source?

Yes. Bupstash is licensed under MIT and Obnam2 under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Bupstash and Obnam2 with Docker?

Bupstash: check the project docs for container support. Obnam2: check the project docs for container support.

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