Minarca Backup vs pgBackRest
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?
Minarca Backup
Centralized rdiff-backup with self-service restore
VS
pgBackRest
Reliable backup and restore solution for PostgreSQL
| Feature | Minarca Backup | pgBackRest |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Backup & Recovery | Backup & Recovery |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Language | Python | C |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | docker, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 239 | ★ 4,296 |
| First released | 2016 | 2013 |
| Replaces | CrashPlan, Veeam | Veeam |
Why pick each one
Choose Minarca Backup if…
- Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Written in Python
- Lightweight — runs in 512 MB RAM
Choose pgBackRest if…
- Released under the MIT license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (4.3k GitHub stars)
- Written in C
Frequently asked questions
Is Minarca Backup or pgBackRest better?
Neither is universally better. pgBackRest has the larger community, while Minarca Backup is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Minarca Backup and pgBackRest free and open-source?
Yes. Minarca Backup is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and pgBackRest under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Minarca Backup and pgBackRest with Docker?
Minarca Backup: yes. pgBackRest: yes.