SHSelfHostIndex

Minarca vs Rdiffweb

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 Cross-platform backup software with a central server VS RD Rdiffweb Web interface to browse and restore rdiff-backup repositories
FeatureMinarcaRdiffweb
Deploy effortUnder-an-hour setupUnder-an-hour setup
CategoryBackup & RecoveryBackup & Recovery
LicenseGPL-3.0GPL-3.0
LanguagePythonPython
Setup difficultyMediumMedium
Min. RAM512 MB256 MB
Deploymentdocker, bare-metaldocker, bare-metal
GitHub stars★ 100★ 200
First released20152014
ReplacesCrashPlanCrashPlan

What are Minarca and Rdiffweb?

Minarca

Minarca is a free and open-source backup software with a centralized web-based server and cross-platform clients. It is built on rdiff-backup for efficient incremental backups.

  • Central backup server
  • Cross-platform clients
  • rdiff-backup engine

Rdiffweb

Rdiffweb is a web application used to browse and restore data from rdiff-backup repositories. It provides email notifications, quota management, and multi-user access.

  • Browse rdiff-backup repos
  • Email notifications
  • Per-user quotas

Minarca vs Rdiffweb: key differences

Both projects are written in Python. Rdiffweb is the lighter option, starting around 256 MB of RAM against 512 MB for Minarca. Rdiffweb has the considerably larger community, at 200 GitHub stars versus 100.

Why pick each one

Choose Minarca if…

  • Released under the GPL-3.0 license
  • First-class Docker support for quick deployment
  • Written in Python
  • Lightweight — runs in 512 MB RAM
Minarca details

Choose Rdiffweb if…

  • Released under the GPL-3.0 license
  • First-class Docker support for quick deployment
  • Written in Python
  • Tiny footprint — runs in 256 MB RAM
Rdiffweb details

Frequently asked questions

Is Minarca or Rdiffweb better?

Neither is universally better. Rdiffweb has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.

Are Minarca and Rdiffweb free and open-source?

Yes. Minarca is licensed under GPL-3.0 and Rdiffweb under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Minarca and Rdiffweb with Docker?

Minarca: yes. Rdiffweb: yes.

Which is lighter on resources, Minarca or Rdiffweb?

Rdiffweb has the smaller minimum footprint at 256 MB of RAM, compared to about 512 MB for Minarca. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.

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