SHSelfHostIndex

Kopia vs ZFS Autobackup

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?
KO Kopia Fast, encrypted backup with a clean interface VS ZF ZFS Autobackup Automated ZFS snapshot and replication tool
FeatureKopiaZFS Autobackup
CategoryBackup & RecoveryBackup & Recovery
LicenseApache-2.0GPL-2.0
LanguageGoPython
Setup difficultyEasyMedium
Min. RAM256 MB128 MB
Deploymentbinary, dockerbare-metal, binary
GitHub stars★ 13,798★ 794
First released20192012
ReplacesBackblaze, CarboniteVeeam

Why pick each one

Choose Kopia if…

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

Choose ZFS Autobackup if…

  • Released under the GPL-2.0 license
  • Written in Python
  • Tiny footprint — runs in 128 MB RAM
ZFS Autobackup details

Frequently asked questions

Is Kopia or ZFS Autobackup better?

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

Are Kopia and ZFS Autobackup free and open-source?

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

Can I run Kopia and ZFS Autobackup with Docker?

Kopia: yes. ZFS Autobackup: check the project docs for container support.

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