Kup vs rdiff-backup
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?
Kup
KDE backup scheduler for personal files
VS
rdiff-backup
Reverse-incremental backups preserving file history
| Feature | Kup | rdiff-backup |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Backup & Recovery | Backup & Recovery |
| License | GPL-2.0 | GPL-2.0 |
| Language | C++ | Python |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 64 MB |
| Deployment | binary | binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 100 | ★ 1,264 |
| First released | 2012 | 2001 |
| Replaces | Time Machine | Time Machine |
Why pick each one
Choose Kup if…
- Released under the GPL-2.0 license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- Written in C++
- Tiny footprint — runs in 128 MB RAM
Choose rdiff-backup if…
- Released under the GPL-2.0 license
- Active community (1.3k GitHub stars)
- Written in Python
- Tiny footprint — runs in 64 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is Kup or rdiff-backup better?
Neither is universally better. rdiff-backup has the larger community, while Kup is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Kup and rdiff-backup free and open-source?
Yes. Kup is licensed under GPL-2.0 and rdiff-backup under GPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Kup and rdiff-backup with Docker?
Kup: check the project docs for container support. rdiff-backup: check the project docs for container support.