Duplicati vs Duplicity
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted backup & recovery options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Duplicati
Free backup software with a friendly web UI
VS
Duplicity
Encrypted bandwidth-efficient backup using rsync
| Feature | Duplicati | Duplicity |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Read-the-docs project |
| Category | Backup & Recovery | Backup & Recovery |
| License | MIT | GPL-2.0 |
| Language | C# | Python |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | binary, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 15,020 | ★ 300 |
| First released | 2008 | 2002 |
| Replaces | Backblaze, Carbonite | CrashPlan, Backblaze |
What are Duplicati and Duplicity?
Duplicati
Duplicati is free backup software that stores encrypted, incremental backups to cloud and local destinations through a web interface. It targets users who want scheduled GUI-driven backups. It is deployed via Docker or installers.
- Web-based backup management
- Encrypted incremental backups
- Many cloud storage targets
- Scheduling built in
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
Duplicati vs Duplicity: key differences
Duplicati is written in C#, while Duplicity is built with Python. Licensing differs — MIT for Duplicati versus GPL-2.0 for Duplicity. Duplicity is the lighter option, starting around 128 MB of RAM against 256 MB for Duplicati. Duplicity is the more established project (first released 2002), while Duplicati arrived in 2008. Duplicati has the considerably larger community, at 15,020 GitHub stars versus 300. Duplicati lists first-class Docker deployment; Duplicity does not.
Why pick each one
Choose Duplicati if…
- Friendly GUI
- Broad storage support
- Free
Watch out for
- Restores can be slow
- Long beta history
Choose Duplicity if…
- Released under the GPL-2.0 license
- Written in Python
- Tiny footprint — runs in 128 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is Duplicati or Duplicity better?
Duplicati is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider Duplicity if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are Duplicati and Duplicity free and open-source?
Yes. Duplicati is licensed under MIT and Duplicity under GPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Duplicati and Duplicity with Docker?
Duplicati: yes. Duplicity: check the project docs for container support.
Which is lighter on resources, Duplicati or Duplicity?
Duplicity has the smaller minimum footprint at 128 MB of RAM, compared to about 256 MB for Duplicati. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.