Knoxite vs Tarsnap GUI
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted backup & recovery options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Knoxite | Tarsnap GUI |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Read-the-docs project |
| Health score | 13 · At risk | 7 · At risk |
| Category | Backup & Recovery | Backup & Recovery |
| License | GPL-3.0 | BSD-2-Clause |
| Language | Go | C++ |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | binary, bare-metal | binary, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 493 | ★ 251 |
| First released | 2016 | 2016 |
| Replaces | Backblaze | Backblaze |
What are Knoxite and Tarsnap GUI?
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
Tarsnap GUI
Tarsnap GUI is a cross-platform graphical client for the Tarsnap secure online backup service, making encrypted deduplicated backups accessible without the command line. It manages archives, scheduling, and restores through a desktop interface.
- Tarsnap archive management
- Scheduling support
- Encrypted deduplicated backups
- Cross-platform UI
Knoxite vs Tarsnap GUI: key differences
Knoxite is written in Go, while Tarsnap GUI is built with C++. Licensing differs — GPL-3.0 for Knoxite versus BSD-2-Clause for Tarsnap GUI.
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 Tarsnap GUI if…
- Released under the BSD-2-Clause license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- Written in C++
- Tiny footprint — runs in 128 MB RAM
Watch out for
- Tarsnap service is paid
- Requires Tarsnap CLI
Frequently asked questions
Is Knoxite or Tarsnap GUI better?
Neither is universally better. Knoxite has the larger community, while Tarsnap GUI is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Knoxite and Tarsnap GUI free and open-source?
Yes. Knoxite is licensed under GPL-3.0 and Tarsnap GUI under BSD-2-Clause. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Knoxite and Tarsnap GUI with Docker?
Knoxite: check the project docs for container support. Tarsnap GUI: check the project docs for container support.