ElkarBackup vs Restic
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted backup & recovery options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | ElkarBackup | Restic |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 66 · Good | 99 · Excellent |
| Category | Backup & Recovery | Backup & Recovery |
| License | GPL-3.0 | BSD-2-Clause |
| Language | JavaScript | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | binary, docker |
| GitHub stars | ★ 416 | ★ 36,213 |
| First released | 2014 | 2015 |
| Replaces | Carbonite | Backblaze, Carbonite |
What are ElkarBackup and Restic?
ElkarBackup
ElkarBackup is an open-source backup solution with a web interface, built on rsync and rsnapshot for incremental file backups. It targets administrators wanting GUI-managed network backups. It is deployed via Docker.
- Web UI for rsync backups
- Incremental snapshots
- Scheduling and scripts
- Email reports
Restic
Restic is a fast and secure backup program that creates encrypted, deduplicated snapshots to many storage backends. It targets users and admins who want reliable command-line backups. It is deployed as a single binary.
- Encrypted deduplicated snapshots
- Many storage backends
- Fast incremental backups
- Single self-contained binary
ElkarBackup vs Restic: key differences
ElkarBackup is written in JavaScript, while Restic is built with Go. Licensing differs — GPL-3.0 for ElkarBackup versus BSD-2-Clause for Restic. Restic is the lighter option, starting around 256 MB of RAM against 512 MB for ElkarBackup. Restic has the considerably larger community, at 36,213 GitHub stars versus 416.
Why pick each one
Choose ElkarBackup if…
- GUI for rsync backups
- Good scheduling
- Multi-host
Watch out for
- Dated interface
- Slower development
Choose Restic if…
- Strong encryption
- Efficient deduplication
- Wide backend support
Watch out for
- Command-line only
- No built-in scheduler
Frequently asked questions
Is ElkarBackup or Restic better?
Neither is universally better. Restic has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are ElkarBackup and Restic free and open-source?
Yes. ElkarBackup is licensed under GPL-3.0 and Restic under BSD-2-Clause. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run ElkarBackup and Restic with Docker?
ElkarBackup: yes. Restic: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, ElkarBackup or Restic?
Restic has the smaller minimum footprint at 256 MB of RAM, compared to about 512 MB for ElkarBackup. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.