Kopia vs Magic Wormhole

A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted apps from related categories — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.

Not the right match-up?
FeatureKopiaMagic Wormhole
CategoryBackup & RecoveryFile Sync & Storage
LicenseApache-2.0MIT
LanguageGoPython
Setup difficultyEasyEasy
Min. RAM256 MB32 MB
Deploymentbinary, dockerbinary
GitHub stars★ 13,798★ 22,792
First released20192016
ReplacesBackblaze, CarboniteWeTransfer, AirDrop

Why pick each one

Choose Kopia if…

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

Choose Magic Wormhole if…

  • Released under the MIT license
  • Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
  • Mature project with 22.8k GitHub stars
  • Written in Python
Magic Wormhole details

Frequently asked questions

Is Kopia or Magic Wormhole better?

Neither is universally better. Magic Wormhole has the larger community; both share a easy setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.

Are Kopia and Magic Wormhole free and open-source?

Yes. Kopia is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Magic Wormhole under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Kopia and Magic Wormhole with Docker?

Kopia: yes. Magic Wormhole: check the project docs for container support.

Related comparisons