Conserve Backup 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?
Conserve Backup
Robust, fast, deduplicating backup tool
VS
Restic Cron
Containerized scheduled restic backup runner
| Feature | Conserve Backup | Restic Cron |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Backup & Recovery | Backup & Recovery |
| License | GPL-2.0 | BSD-2-Clause |
| Language | Rust | Shell |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 64 MB |
| Deployment | binary, bare-metal | docker |
| GitHub stars | ★ 278 | ★ 702 |
| First released | 2015 | 2019 |
| Replaces | Backblaze | Backblaze |
Why pick each one
Choose Conserve Backup if…
- Released under the GPL-2.0 license
- Written in Rust
- 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 Conserve Backup or Restic Cron better?
Restic Cron is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider Conserve Backup if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are Conserve Backup and Restic Cron free and open-source?
Yes. Conserve Backup 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 Conserve Backup and Restic Cron with Docker?
Conserve Backup: check the project docs for container support. Restic Cron: yes.