Conserve Backup vs Duplicati
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted backup & recovery options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Duplicati
Free backup software with a friendly web UI
| Feature | Conserve Backup | Duplicati |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 58 · Fair | 95 · Excellent |
| Category | Backup & Recovery | Backup & Recovery |
| License | GPL-2.0 | MIT |
| Language | Rust | C# |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | binary, bare-metal | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 278 | ★ 15,020 |
| First released | 2015 | 2008 |
| Replaces | Backblaze | Backblaze, Carbonite |
What are Conserve Backup and Duplicati?
Conserve Backup
Conserve is a robust backup program written in Rust that creates deduplicated, versioned archives to local or remote storage. It emphasizes data safety and resumable operations.
- Deduplicated archives
- Versioned backups
- Resumable operations
- Data-safety focus
Duplicati
Duplicati is free backup software that stores encrypted, incremental backups to cloud and local destinations through a web interface. It targets users who want scheduled GUI-driven backups. It is deployed via Docker or installers.
- Web-based backup management
- Encrypted incremental backups
- Many cloud storage targets
- Scheduling built in
Conserve Backup vs Duplicati: key differences
Conserve Backup is written in Rust, while Duplicati is built with C#. Licensing differs — GPL-2.0 for Conserve Backup versus MIT for Duplicati. Conserve Backup is the lighter option, starting around 128 MB of RAM against 256 MB for Duplicati. Duplicati is the more established project (first released 2008), while Conserve Backup arrived in 2015. Duplicati has the considerably larger community, at 15,020 GitHub stars versus 278. Duplicati lists first-class Docker deployment; Conserve Backup does not.
Why pick each one
Choose Conserve Backup if…
- Released under the GPL-2.0 license
- Written in Rust
- Tiny footprint — runs in 128 MB RAM
Choose Duplicati if…
- Friendly GUI
- Broad storage support
- Free
Watch out for
- Restores can be slow
- Long beta history
Frequently asked questions
Is Conserve Backup or Duplicati better?
Duplicati is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider Conserve Backup if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are Conserve Backup and Duplicati free and open-source?
Yes. Conserve Backup is licensed under GPL-2.0 and Duplicati under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Conserve Backup and Duplicati with Docker?
Conserve Backup: check the project docs for container support. Duplicati: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Conserve Backup or Duplicati?
Conserve Backup has the smaller minimum footprint at 128 MB of RAM, compared to about 256 MB for Duplicati. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.