Conserve Backup vs Obnam2
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted backup & recovery options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Conserve Backup | Obnam2 |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Read-the-docs project |
| Category | Backup & Recovery | Backup & Recovery |
| License | GPL-2.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | Rust | Rust |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | binary, bare-metal | binary, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 278 | ★ 200 |
| First released | 2015 | 2020 |
| Replaces | Backblaze | Backblaze |
What are Conserve Backup and Obnam2?
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
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
Conserve Backup vs Obnam2: key differences
Both projects are written in Rust. Licensing differs — GPL-2.0 for Conserve Backup versus AGPL-3.0 for Obnam2. Conserve Backup is the more established project (first released 2015), while Obnam2 arrived in 2020.
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 Obnam2 if…
- Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
- Written in Rust
- Tiny footprint — runs in 128 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is Conserve Backup or Obnam2 better?
Neither is universally better. Conserve Backup has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Conserve Backup and Obnam2 free and open-source?
Yes. Conserve Backup is licensed under GPL-2.0 and Obnam2 under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Conserve Backup and Obnam2 with Docker?
Conserve Backup: check the project docs for container support. Obnam2: check the project docs for container support.