Duplicacy vs Duplicity
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted backup & recovery options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Duplicacy | Duplicity |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Read-the-docs project |
| Category | Backup & Recovery | Backup & Recovery |
| License | Proprietary | GPL-2.0 |
| Language | Go | Python |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | binary, docker | binary, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 5,683 | ★ 300 |
| First released | 2016 | 2002 |
| Replaces | Backblaze, Carbonite | CrashPlan, Backblaze |
What are Duplicacy and Duplicity?
Duplicacy
Duplicacy is a cross-platform cloud backup tool using a novel lock-free deduplication algorithm for efficient encrypted backups. It targets users backing up to cloud storage. It is deployed as a binary with an optional web UI.
- Lock-free deduplication
- Many cloud backends
- Cross-computer deduplication
- Optional web GUI
Duplicity
Duplicity backs up directories by producing encrypted, signed tar-format volumes and uploading them to a remote or local file server. It uses the rsync algorithm for incremental archives.
- GPG-encrypted archives
- Many remote storage backends
- Incremental rsync deltas
Duplicacy vs Duplicity: key differences
Duplicacy is written in Go, while Duplicity is built with Python. Licensing differs — Proprietary for Duplicacy versus GPL-2.0 for Duplicity. Duplicity is the lighter option, starting around 128 MB of RAM against 256 MB for Duplicacy. Duplicity is the more established project (first released 2002), while Duplicacy arrived in 2016. Duplicacy has the considerably larger community, at 5,683 GitHub stars versus 300. Duplicacy lists first-class Docker deployment; Duplicity does not.
Why pick each one
Choose Duplicacy if…
- Efficient deduplication
- Good cloud support
- Reliable
Watch out for
- Web edition is paid
- CLI is free but licensed
Choose Duplicity if…
- Released under the GPL-2.0 license
- Written in Python
- Tiny footprint — runs in 128 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is Duplicacy or Duplicity better?
Neither is universally better. Duplicacy has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Duplicacy and Duplicity free and open-source?
Yes. Duplicacy is licensed under Proprietary and Duplicity under GPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Duplicacy and Duplicity with Docker?
Duplicacy: yes. Duplicity: check the project docs for container support.
Which is lighter on resources, Duplicacy or Duplicity?
Duplicity has the smaller minimum footprint at 128 MB of RAM, compared to about 256 MB for Duplicacy. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.