Kopia vs Kup

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?
FeatureKopiaKup
CategoryBackup & RecoveryBackup & Recovery
LicenseApache-2.0GPL-2.0
LanguageGoC++
Setup difficultyEasyEasy
Min. RAM256 MB128 MB
Deploymentbinary, dockerbinary
GitHub stars★ 13,798★ 100
First released20192012
ReplacesBackblaze, CarboniteTime Machine

Why pick each one

Choose Kopia if…

  • GUI and CLI both available
  • Fast and efficient
  • Modern design
Kopia details

Choose Kup if…

  • Released under the GPL-2.0 license
  • Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
  • Written in C++
  • Tiny footprint — runs in 128 MB RAM
Kup details

Frequently asked questions

Is Kopia or Kup 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 Kup free and open-source?

Yes. Kopia is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Kup under GPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Kopia and Kup with Docker?

Kopia: yes. Kup: check the project docs for container support.

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