Custom 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.

Not the right match-up?
FeatureCustom BackupDuplicati
CategoryBackup & RecoveryBackup & Recovery
LicenseAGPL-3.0-onlyMIT
LanguageShellC#
Setup difficultyEasyEasy
Min. RAM512 MB256 MB
Deploymentbare-metaldocker, bare-metal
GitHub stars★ 4★ 14,864
First released20242008
ReplacesBackblaze, Carbonite

Why pick each one

Choose Custom Backup if…

  • Released under the AGPL-3.0-only license
  • Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
  • Written in Shell
  • Lightweight — runs in 512 MB RAM
Custom Backup details

Choose Duplicati if…

  • Friendly GUI
  • Broad storage support
  • Free
Duplicati details

Frequently asked questions

Is Custom Backup or Duplicati better?

Neither is universally better. Duplicati has the larger community; both share a easy setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.

Are Custom Backup and Duplicati free and open-source?

Yes. Custom Backup is licensed under AGPL-3.0-only and Duplicati under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Custom Backup and Duplicati with Docker?

Custom Backup: check the project docs for container support. Duplicati: yes.

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