Restic Cron vs Restic
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?
Restic Cron
Containerized scheduled restic backup runner
VS
Restic
Fast, secure, efficient backup program
| Feature | Restic Cron | Restic |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Backup & Recovery | Backup & Recovery |
| License | BSD-2-Clause | BSD-2-Clause |
| Language | Shell | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 64 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | docker | binary, docker |
| GitHub stars | ★ 702 | ★ 35,412 |
| First released | 2019 | 2015 |
| Replaces | Backblaze | Backblaze, Carbonite |
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 Restic Cron or Restic better?
Neither is universally better. Restic has the larger community, while Restic Cron is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Restic Cron and Restic free and open-source?
Yes. Restic Cron is licensed under BSD-2-Clause and Restic under BSD-2-Clause. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Restic Cron and Restic with Docker?
Restic Cron: yes. Restic: yes.