Conserve Backup vs Kopia
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted backup & recovery options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Kopia
Fast, encrypted backup with a clean interface
| Feature | Conserve Backup | Kopia |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 58 · Fair | 94 · Excellent |
| Category | Backup & Recovery | Backup & Recovery |
| License | GPL-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | Rust | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | binary, bare-metal | binary, docker |
| GitHub stars | ★ 278 | ★ 14,188 |
| First released | 2015 | 2019 |
| Replaces | Backblaze | Backblaze, Carbonite |
What are Conserve Backup and Kopia?
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
Kopia
Kopia is a fast and secure backup tool that creates encrypted, deduplicated snapshots and offers both a CLI and a desktop GUI. It targets users who want modern backups with a clean interface. It is deployed as a binary or via Docker.
- Encrypted deduplicated snapshots
- Both CLI and desktop GUI
- Many storage backends
- Compression and policies
Conserve Backup vs Kopia: key differences
Conserve Backup is written in Rust, while Kopia is built with Go. Licensing differs — GPL-2.0 for Conserve Backup versus Apache-2.0 for Kopia. Conserve Backup is the lighter option, starting around 128 MB of RAM against 256 MB for Kopia. Conserve Backup is the more established project (first released 2015), while Kopia arrived in 2019. Kopia has the considerably larger community, at 14,188 GitHub stars versus 278. Kopia 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 Kopia if…
- GUI and CLI both available
- Fast and efficient
- Modern design
Watch out for
- Younger than Restic
- Advanced options can confuse
Frequently asked questions
Is Conserve Backup or Kopia better?
Kopia 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 Kopia free and open-source?
Yes. Conserve Backup is licensed under GPL-2.0 and Kopia under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Conserve Backup and Kopia with Docker?
Conserve Backup: check the project docs for container support. Kopia: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Conserve Backup or Kopia?
Conserve Backup has the smaller minimum footprint at 128 MB of RAM, compared to about 256 MB for Kopia. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.