nxs-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.
| Feature | nxs-backup | pgBackRest |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 74 · Good | 89 · Excellent |
| Category | Backup & Recovery | Backup & Recovery |
| License | GPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Language | Go | C |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary | docker, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 276 | ★ 4,402 |
| First released | 2022 | 2013 |
| Replaces | Veeam | Veeam |
What are nxs-backup and pgBackRest?
nxs-backup
Nxs-backup is an open-source backup solution that simplifies the backup of files and databases such as MySQL, PostgreSQL, and MongoDB. It supports incremental backups and remote storage.
- File and database backups
- Incremental support
- Remote storage targets
pgBackRest
pgBackRest is a robust backup and restore tool for PostgreSQL that supports full, differential, and incremental backups. It offers parallel processing, encryption, and cloud storage targets.
- Full and incremental backups
- Parallel compression
- S3 and Azure storage support
nxs-backup vs pgBackRest: key differences
Nxs-backup is written in Go, while pgBackRest is built with C. Licensing differs — GPL-3.0 for nxs-backup versus MIT for pgBackRest. Nxs-backup is the lighter option, starting around 128 MB of RAM against 256 MB for pgBackRest. PgBackRest is the more established project (first released 2013), while nxs-backup arrived in 2022. PgBackRest has the considerably larger community, at 4,402 GitHub stars versus 276.
Why pick each one
Choose nxs-backup if…
- Released under the GPL-3.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Written in Go
- Tiny footprint — runs in 128 MB RAM
Choose pgBackRest if…
- Released under the MIT license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (4.4k GitHub stars)
- Written in C
Frequently asked questions
Is nxs-backup or pgBackRest better?
Neither is universally better. pgBackRest has the larger community, while nxs-backup is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are nxs-backup and pgBackRest free and open-source?
Yes. nxs-backup is licensed under GPL-3.0 and pgBackRest under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run nxs-backup and pgBackRest with Docker?
nxs-backup: yes. pgBackRest: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, nxs-backup or pgBackRest?
nxs-backup has the smaller minimum footprint at 128 MB of RAM, compared to about 256 MB for pgBackRest. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.