Obnam2 vs Velero
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?
Obnam2
Simple, secure chunk-based backup program
VS
Velero
Backup and migrate Kubernetes cluster resources
| Feature | Obnam2 | Velero |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Backup & Recovery | Backup & Recovery |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | Rust | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | binary, bare-metal | kubernetes, helm |
| GitHub stars | ★ 200 | ★ 10,187 |
| First released | 2020 | 2017 |
| Replaces | Backblaze | Kasten K10 |
Why pick each one
Choose Obnam2 if…
- Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
- Written in Rust
- Tiny footprint — runs in 128 MB RAM
Choose Velero if…
- Released under the Apache-2.0 license
- Kubernetes-ready with Helm charts available
- Mature project with 10.2k GitHub stars
- Written in Go
Frequently asked questions
Is Obnam2 or Velero better?
Neither is universally better. Velero has the larger community, while Obnam2 is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Obnam2 and Velero free and open-source?
Yes. Obnam2 is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Velero under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Obnam2 and Velero with Docker?
Obnam2: check the project docs for container support. Velero: check the project docs for container support.