Knoxite vs Kopia
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted backup & recovery options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Kopia
Fast, encrypted backup with a clean interface
| Feature | Knoxite | Kopia |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 13 · At risk | 94 · Excellent |
| Category | Backup & Recovery | Backup & Recovery |
| License | GPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | Go | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | binary, bare-metal | binary, docker |
| GitHub stars | ★ 493 | ★ 14,188 |
| First released | 2016 | 2019 |
| Replaces | Backblaze | Backblaze, Carbonite |
What are Knoxite and Kopia?
Knoxite
Knoxite is a flexible data storage and backup tool that supports deduplication, encryption, and many storage backends. It can back up to local disk, SFTP, and S3-compatible targets.
- Deduplicated backups
- Encryption
- Multiple storage backends
- Cross-platform
Kopia
Kopia is a fast and secure backup tool that creates encrypted, deduplicated snapshots and offers both a CLI and a desktop GUI. It targets users who want modern backups with a clean interface. It is deployed as a binary or via Docker.
- Encrypted deduplicated snapshots
- Both CLI and desktop GUI
- Many storage backends
- Compression and policies
Knoxite vs Kopia: key differences
Both projects are written in Go. Licensing differs — GPL-3.0 for Knoxite versus Apache-2.0 for Kopia. Knoxite is the lighter option, starting around 128 MB of RAM against 256 MB for Kopia. Knoxite is the more established project (first released 2016), while Kopia arrived in 2019. Kopia has the considerably larger community, at 14,188 GitHub stars versus 493. Kopia lists first-class Docker deployment; Knoxite does not.
Why pick each one
Choose Knoxite if…
- Released under the GPL-3.0 license
- Written in Go
- Tiny footprint — runs in 128 MB RAM
Choose Kopia if…
- GUI and CLI both available
- Fast and efficient
- Modern design
Watch out for
- Younger than Restic
- Advanced options can confuse
Frequently asked questions
Is Knoxite or Kopia better?
Kopia is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider Knoxite if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are Knoxite and Kopia free and open-source?
Yes. Knoxite is licensed under GPL-3.0 and Kopia under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Knoxite and Kopia with Docker?
Knoxite: check the project docs for container support. Kopia: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Knoxite or Kopia?
Knoxite has the smaller minimum footprint at 128 MB of RAM, compared to about 256 MB for Kopia. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.