Gickup vs Kopia
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?
Gickup
Mirror and back up Git repositories across hosts
VS
Kopia
Fast, encrypted backup with a clean interface
| Feature | Gickup | Kopia |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Backup & Recovery | Backup & Recovery |
| License | GPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | Go | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary | binary, docker |
| GitHub stars | ★ 1,427 | ★ 13,798 |
| First released | 2020 | 2019 |
| Replaces | GitHub Backup | Backblaze, Carbonite |
Why pick each one
Choose Gickup if…
- Released under the GPL-3.0 license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (1.4k GitHub stars)
Frequently asked questions
Is Gickup or Kopia better?
Neither is universally better. Kopia has the larger community; both share a easy setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Gickup and Kopia free and open-source?
Yes. Gickup is licensed under GPL-3.0 and Kopia under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Gickup and Kopia with Docker?
Gickup: yes. Kopia: yes.