Bupstash vs Restic
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted backup & recovery options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Bupstash | Restic |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 13 · At risk | 99 · Excellent |
| Category | Backup & Recovery | Backup & Recovery |
| License | MIT | BSD-2-Clause |
| Language | Rust | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | binary | binary, docker |
| GitHub stars | ★ 924 | ★ 36,213 |
| First released | 2020 | 2015 |
| Replaces | Backblaze, CrashPlan | Backblaze, Carbonite |
What are Bupstash and Restic?
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
Restic
Restic is a fast and secure backup program that creates encrypted, deduplicated snapshots to many storage backends. It targets users and admins who want reliable command-line backups. It is deployed as a single binary.
- Encrypted deduplicated snapshots
- Many storage backends
- Fast incremental backups
- Single self-contained binary
Bupstash vs Restic: key differences
Bupstash is written in Rust, while Restic is built with Go. Licensing differs — MIT for Bupstash versus BSD-2-Clause for Restic. Bupstash is the lighter option, starting around 128 MB of RAM against 256 MB for Restic. Restic is the more established project (first released 2015), while Bupstash arrived in 2020. Restic has the considerably larger community, at 36,213 GitHub stars versus 924. Restic lists first-class Docker deployment; Bupstash does not.
Why pick each one
Choose Bupstash if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Written in Rust
- Tiny footprint — runs in 128 MB RAM
Choose Restic if…
- Strong encryption
- Efficient deduplication
- Wide backend support
Watch out for
- Command-line only
- No built-in scheduler
Frequently asked questions
Is Bupstash or Restic better?
Neither is universally better. Restic has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Bupstash and Restic free and open-source?
Yes. Bupstash is licensed under MIT and Restic under BSD-2-Clause. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Bupstash and Restic with Docker?
Bupstash: check the project docs for container support. Restic: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Bupstash or Restic?
Bupstash has the smaller minimum footprint at 128 MB of RAM, compared to about 256 MB for Restic. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.