ElkarBackup alt Snapper vs Sanoid
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?
ElkarBackup alt Snapper
Btrfs snapshot management tool with rollback
VS
Sanoid
Policy-driven ZFS snapshot management and replication
| Feature | ElkarBackup alt Snapper | Sanoid |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Backup & Recovery | Backup & Recovery |
| License | GPL-2.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Language | C++ | Perl |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 64 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal | bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 1,158 | ★ 3,830 |
| First released | 2011 | 2014 |
| Replaces | Time Machine | Time Machine |
Why pick each one
Choose ElkarBackup alt Snapper if…
- Released under the GPL-2.0 license
- Active community (1.2k GitHub stars)
- Written in C++
- Tiny footprint — runs in 64 MB RAM
Choose Sanoid if…
- Released under the GPL-3.0 license
- Active community (3.8k GitHub stars)
- Written in Perl
- Tiny footprint — runs in 128 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is ElkarBackup alt Snapper or Sanoid better?
Neither is universally better. Sanoid has the larger community, while ElkarBackup alt Snapper is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are ElkarBackup alt Snapper and Sanoid free and open-source?
Yes. ElkarBackup alt Snapper is licensed under GPL-2.0 and Sanoid under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run ElkarBackup alt Snapper and Sanoid with Docker?
ElkarBackup alt Snapper: check the project docs for container support. Sanoid: check the project docs for container support.