Burp vs Duplicity
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?
Burp
Network backup and restore program for Unix and Windows
VS
Duplicity
Encrypted bandwidth-efficient backup using rsync
| Feature | Burp | Duplicity |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Backup & Recovery | Backup & Recovery |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | GPL-2.0 |
| Language | C | Python |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal | binary, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 504 | ★ 300 |
| First released | 2011 | 2002 |
| Replaces | CrashPlan | CrashPlan, Backblaze |
Why pick each one
Choose Burp if…
- Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
- Written in C
- Tiny footprint — runs in 256 MB RAM
Choose Duplicity if…
- Released under the GPL-2.0 license
- Written in Python
- Tiny footprint — runs in 128 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is Burp or Duplicity better?
Neither is universally better. Burp has the larger community, while Duplicity is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Burp and Duplicity free and open-source?
Yes. Burp is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Duplicity under GPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Burp and Duplicity with Docker?
Burp: check the project docs for container support. Duplicity: check the project docs for container support.