Duplicacy 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 | Duplicacy | Obnam2 |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Read-the-docs project |
| Category | Backup & Recovery | Backup & Recovery |
| License | Proprietary | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | Go | Rust |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | binary, docker | binary, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 5,683 | ★ 200 |
| First released | 2016 | 2020 |
| Replaces | Backblaze, Carbonite | Backblaze |
What are Duplicacy and Obnam2?
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
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
Duplicacy vs Obnam2: key differences
Duplicacy is written in Go, while Obnam2 is built with Rust. Licensing differs — Proprietary for Duplicacy versus AGPL-3.0 for Obnam2. Obnam2 is the lighter option, starting around 128 MB of RAM against 256 MB for Duplicacy. Duplicacy is the more established project (first released 2016), while Obnam2 arrived in 2020. Duplicacy has the considerably larger community, at 5,683 GitHub stars versus 200. Duplicacy lists first-class Docker deployment; Obnam2 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 Obnam2 if…
- Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
- Written in Rust
- Tiny footprint — runs in 128 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is Duplicacy or Obnam2 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 Obnam2 free and open-source?
Yes. Duplicacy is licensed under Proprietary and Obnam2 under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Duplicacy and Obnam2 with Docker?
Duplicacy: yes. Obnam2: check the project docs for container support.
Which is lighter on resources, Duplicacy or Obnam2?
Obnam2 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.