Duplicacy 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 | Duplicacy | Kopia |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 76 · Good | 94 · Excellent |
| Category | Backup & Recovery | Backup & Recovery |
| License | Proprietary | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | Go | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | binary, docker | binary, docker |
| GitHub stars | ★ 5,683 | ★ 14,188 |
| First released | 2016 | 2019 |
| Replaces | Backblaze, Carbonite | Backblaze, Carbonite |
What are Duplicacy and Kopia?
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
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
Duplicacy vs Kopia: key differences
Both projects are written in Go. Licensing differs — Proprietary for Duplicacy versus Apache-2.0 for Kopia. Duplicacy is the more established project (first released 2016), while Kopia arrived in 2019. Kopia has the considerably larger community, at 14,188 GitHub stars versus 5,683.
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 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 Duplicacy or Kopia better?
Kopia is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider Duplicacy if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are Duplicacy and Kopia free and open-source?
Yes. Duplicacy is licensed under Proprietary and Kopia under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Duplicacy and Kopia with Docker?
Duplicacy: yes. Kopia: yes.