Duplicacy vs UrBackup
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted backup & recovery options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Duplicacy | UrBackup |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 76 · Good | 82 · Excellent |
| Category | Backup & Recovery | Backup & Recovery |
| License | Proprietary | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | Go | C |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | binary, docker | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 5,683 | ★ 922 |
| First released | 2016 | 2011 |
| Replaces | Backblaze, Carbonite | Carbonite |
What are Duplicacy and UrBackup?
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
UrBackup
UrBackup is a client-server backup system that performs both file and disk image backups across a network with a web UI. It targets administrators backing up multiple machines. It is deployed via Docker or native packages.
- File and full image backups
- Client-server architecture
- Web-based administration
- Incremental backups
Duplicacy vs UrBackup: key differences
Duplicacy is written in Go, while UrBackup is built with C. Licensing differs — Proprietary for Duplicacy versus AGPL-3.0 for UrBackup. Duplicacy is the lighter option, starting around 256 MB of RAM against 512 MB for UrBackup. UrBackup is the more established project (first released 2011), while Duplicacy arrived in 2016. Duplicacy has the considerably larger community, at 5,683 GitHub stars versus 922.
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 UrBackup if…
- Good for backing up many PCs
- Image backup support
- Central management
Watch out for
- Interface feels dated
- Smaller community
Frequently asked questions
Is Duplicacy or UrBackup 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 UrBackup free and open-source?
Yes. Duplicacy is licensed under Proprietary and UrBackup under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Duplicacy and UrBackup with Docker?
Duplicacy: yes. UrBackup: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Duplicacy or UrBackup?
Duplicacy has the smaller minimum footprint at 256 MB of RAM, compared to about 512 MB for UrBackup. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.