Kopia 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?
Kopia
Fast, encrypted backup with a clean interface
VS
Restic Cron
Containerized scheduled restic backup runner
| Feature | Kopia | Restic Cron |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Backup & Recovery | Backup & Recovery |
| License | Apache-2.0 | BSD-2-Clause |
| Language | Go | Shell |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 64 MB |
| Deployment | binary, docker | docker |
| GitHub stars | ★ 13,798 | ★ 702 |
| First released | 2019 | 2019 |
| Replaces | Backblaze, Carbonite | Backblaze |
Why pick each one
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 Kopia or Restic Cron 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 Kopia and Restic Cron free and open-source?
Yes. Kopia is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Restic Cron under BSD-2-Clause. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Kopia and Restic Cron with Docker?
Kopia: yes. Restic Cron: yes.