Gickup vs Velero
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
Velero
Backup and migrate Kubernetes cluster resources
| Feature | Gickup | Velero |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Backup & Recovery | Backup & Recovery |
| License | GPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | Go | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary | kubernetes, helm |
| GitHub stars | ★ 1,427 | ★ 10,187 |
| First released | 2020 | 2017 |
| Replaces | GitHub Backup | Kasten K10 |
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)
Choose Velero if…
- Released under the Apache-2.0 license
- Kubernetes-ready with Helm charts available
- Mature project with 10.2k GitHub stars
- Written in Go
Frequently asked questions
Is Gickup or Velero better?
Neither is universally better. Velero has the larger community, while Gickup is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Gickup and Velero free and open-source?
Yes. Gickup is licensed under GPL-3.0 and Velero under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Gickup and Velero with Docker?
Gickup: yes. Velero: check the project docs for container support.