Duplicity vs HashBackup
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted backup & recovery options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Duplicity | HashBackup |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Read-the-docs project |
| Category | Backup & Recovery | Backup & Recovery |
| License | GPL-2.0 | MIT |
| Language | Python | Python |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | binary, bare-metal | binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 300 | ★ 1 |
| First released | 2002 | 2009 |
| Replaces | CrashPlan, Backblaze | CrashPlan |
What are Duplicity and HashBackup?
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
HashBackup
HashBackup is a command-line backup program for Unix-like systems that performs deduplicated, compressed, and encrypted backups to local or remote destinations. It supports retention policies, selective restore, and many storage targets.
- Deduplication and compression
- Encrypted backups
- Many remote destinations
- Flexible retention
Duplicity vs HashBackup: key differences
Both projects are written in Python. Licensing differs — GPL-2.0 for Duplicity versus MIT for HashBackup. Duplicity is the lighter option, starting around 128 MB of RAM against 256 MB for HashBackup. Duplicity is the more established project (first released 2002), while HashBackup arrived in 2009. Duplicity has the considerably larger community, at 300 GitHub stars versus 1.
Why pick each one
Choose Duplicity if…
- Released under the GPL-2.0 license
- Written in Python
- Tiny footprint — runs in 128 MB RAM
Choose HashBackup if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Written in Python
- Tiny footprint — runs in 256 MB RAM
Watch out for
- Command-line only
- Smaller community
Frequently asked questions
Is Duplicity or HashBackup better?
Neither is universally better. Duplicity has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Duplicity and HashBackup free and open-source?
Yes. Duplicity is licensed under GPL-2.0 and HashBackup under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Duplicity and HashBackup with Docker?
Duplicity: check the project docs for container support. HashBackup: check the project docs for container support.
Which is lighter on resources, Duplicity or HashBackup?
Duplicity has the smaller minimum footprint at 128 MB of RAM, compared to about 256 MB for HashBackup. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.