Kup vs rsnapshot
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted backup & recovery options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Kup | rsnapshot |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Read-the-docs project |
| Category | Backup & Recovery | Backup & Recovery |
| License | GPL-2.0 | GPL-2.0 |
| Language | C++ | Perl |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 64 MB |
| Deployment | binary | binary, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 100 | ★ 3,683 |
| First released | 2012 | 2003 |
| Replaces | Time Machine | Time Machine |
What are Kup and rsnapshot?
Kup
Kup is a backup scheduler for the KDE desktop that helps users keep their personal files backed up. It supports synchronized folders and incremental backups using the bup format.
- Integrated with KDE Plasma
- bup-based incremental backups
- Automatic scheduling
rsnapshot
rsnapshot is a filesystem snapshot utility built on rsync that makes incremental backups of local and remote machines. It uses hard links to keep multiple full backups while saving disk space.
- Hard-link snapshot rotation
- Local and remote backups
- Low storage overhead
Kup vs rsnapshot: key differences
Kup is written in C++, while rsnapshot is built with Perl. Rsnapshot is the lighter option, starting around 64 MB of RAM against 128 MB for Kup. Rsnapshot is the more established project (first released 2003), while Kup arrived in 2012. Rsnapshot has the considerably larger community, at 3,683 GitHub stars versus 100.
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 rsnapshot if…
- Released under the GPL-2.0 license
- Active community (3.7k GitHub stars)
- Written in Perl
- Tiny footprint — runs in 64 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is Kup or rsnapshot better?
Neither is universally better. rsnapshot 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 rsnapshot free and open-source?
Yes. Kup is licensed under GPL-2.0 and rsnapshot under GPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Kup and rsnapshot with Docker?
Kup: check the project docs for container support. rsnapshot: check the project docs for container support.
Which is lighter on resources, Kup or rsnapshot?
rsnapshot has the smaller minimum footprint at 64 MB of RAM, compared to about 128 MB for Kup. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.