Kopia vs Rustic

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?
FeatureKopiaRustic
CategoryBackup & RecoveryBackup & Recovery
LicenseApache-2.0Apache-2.0
LanguageGoRust
Setup difficultyEasyMedium
Min. RAM256 MB128 MB
Deploymentbinary, dockerbinary
GitHub stars★ 13,798★ 3,170
First released20192022
ReplacesBackblaze, CarboniteBackblaze, CrashPlan

Why pick each one

Choose Kopia if…

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

Choose Rustic if…

  • Released under the Apache-2.0 license
  • Active community (3.2k GitHub stars)
  • Written in Rust
  • Tiny footprint — runs in 128 MB RAM
Rustic details

Frequently asked questions

Is Kopia or Rustic better?

Kopia is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider Rustic if its specific feature set fits your needs better.

Are Kopia and Rustic free and open-source?

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

Can I run Kopia and Rustic with Docker?

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

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