Custom Backup vs Velero

A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted backup & recovery options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.

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FeatureCustom BackupVelero
CategoryBackup & RecoveryBackup & Recovery
LicenseAGPL-3.0-onlyApache-2.0
LanguageShellGo
Setup difficultyEasyHard
Min. RAM512 MB256 MB
Deploymentbare-metalkubernetes, helm
GitHub stars★ 4★ 10,187
First released20242017
ReplacesKasten K10

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 Velero if…

  • Released under the Apache-2.0 license
  • Kubernetes-ready with Helm charts available
  • Mature project with 10.2k GitHub stars
  • Written in Go
Velero details

Frequently asked questions

Is Custom Backup or Velero better?

Neither is universally better. Velero has the larger community, while Custom Backup is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.

Are Custom Backup and Velero free and open-source?

Yes. Custom Backup is licensed under AGPL-3.0-only and Velero under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Custom Backup and Velero with Docker?

Custom Backup: check the project docs for container support. Velero: check the project docs for container support.

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