Duplicity vs Restic Cron
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted backup & recovery options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Not the right match-up?
Duplicity
Encrypted bandwidth-efficient backup using rsync
VS
Restic Cron
Containerized scheduled restic backup runner
| Feature | Duplicity | Restic Cron |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Backup & Recovery | Backup & Recovery |
| License | GPL-2.0 | BSD-2-Clause |
| Language | Python | Shell |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 64 MB |
| Deployment | binary, bare-metal | docker |
| GitHub stars | ★ 300 | ★ 702 |
| First released | 2002 | 2019 |
| Replaces | CrashPlan, Backblaze | Backblaze |
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 Restic Cron if…
- Released under the BSD-2-Clause license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Written in Shell
Frequently asked questions
Is Duplicity or Restic Cron better?
Restic Cron 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 Duplicity and Restic Cron free and open-source?
Yes. Duplicity is licensed under GPL-2.0 and Restic Cron under BSD-2-Clause. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Duplicity and Restic Cron with Docker?
Duplicity: check the project docs for container support. Restic Cron: yes.