Kup vs Sanoid
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted backup & recovery options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Kup | Sanoid |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Read-the-docs project |
| Category | Backup & Recovery | Backup & Recovery |
| License | GPL-2.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Language | C++ | Perl |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | binary | bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 100 | ★ 3,861 |
| First released | 2012 | 2014 |
| Replaces | Time Machine | Time Machine |
What are Kup and Sanoid?
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
Sanoid
Sanoid is a policy-driven snapshot management tool for ZFS filesystems, bundled with Syncoid for snapshot replication. Together they automate ZFS snapshots and offsite backup replication.
- Policy-based ZFS snapshots
- Syncoid replication included
- Automated pruning
Kup vs Sanoid: key differences
Kup is written in C++, while Sanoid is built with Perl. Licensing differs — GPL-2.0 for Kup versus GPL-3.0 for Sanoid. Kup is the more established project (first released 2012), while Sanoid arrived in 2014. Sanoid has the considerably larger community, at 3,861 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 Sanoid if…
- Released under the GPL-3.0 license
- Active community (3.9k GitHub stars)
- Written in Perl
- Tiny footprint — runs in 128 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is Kup or Sanoid better?
Neither is universally better. Sanoid 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 Sanoid free and open-source?
Yes. Kup is licensed under GPL-2.0 and Sanoid under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Kup and Sanoid with Docker?
Kup: check the project docs for container support. Sanoid: check the project docs for container support.