Kup vs snapper
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted backup & recovery options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Kup | snapper |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Read-the-docs project |
| Category | Backup & Recovery | Backup & Recovery |
| License | GPL-2.0 | GPL-2.0 |
| Language | C++ | C++ |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 64 MB |
| Deployment | binary | bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 100 | ★ 1,171 |
| First released | 2012 | 2011 |
| Replaces | Time Machine | Time Machine |
What are Kup and snapper?
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
snapper
Snapper is a tool for managing filesystem snapshots on Btrfs and LVM thin volumes. It can create automatic timeline snapshots and roll back the system to a previous state.
- Automatic timeline snapshots
- Btrfs and LVM support
- System rollback
Kup vs snapper: key differences
Both projects are written in C++. Snapper is the lighter option, starting around 64 MB of RAM against 128 MB for Kup. Snapper has the considerably larger community, at 1,171 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 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
Frequently asked questions
Is Kup or snapper better?
Neither is universally better. snapper 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 snapper free and open-source?
Yes. Kup is licensed under GPL-2.0 and snapper under GPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Kup and snapper with Docker?
Kup: check the project docs for container support. snapper: check the project docs for container support.
Which is lighter on resources, Kup or snapper?
snapper 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.