Obnam2 vs Restic
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted backup & recovery options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Obnam2 | Restic |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Under-an-hour setup |
| Category | Backup & Recovery | Backup & Recovery |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | BSD-2-Clause |
| Language | Rust | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | binary, bare-metal | binary, docker |
| GitHub stars | ★ 200 | ★ 36,213 |
| First released | 2020 | 2015 |
| Replaces | Backblaze | Backblaze, Carbonite |
What are Obnam2 and Restic?
Obnam2
Obnam2 is a backup program that splits files into chunks for deduplicated, encrypted storage to a backup server. It is built with a focus on simplicity and verifiable correctness.
- Chunk-based deduplication
- Encrypted storage
- Backup server model
- Simplicity focused
Restic
Restic is a fast and secure backup program that creates encrypted, deduplicated snapshots to many storage backends. It targets users and admins who want reliable command-line backups. It is deployed as a single binary.
- Encrypted deduplicated snapshots
- Many storage backends
- Fast incremental backups
- Single self-contained binary
Obnam2 vs Restic: key differences
Obnam2 is written in Rust, while Restic is built with Go. Licensing differs — AGPL-3.0 for Obnam2 versus BSD-2-Clause for Restic. Obnam2 is the lighter option, starting around 128 MB of RAM against 256 MB for Restic. Restic is the more established project (first released 2015), while Obnam2 arrived in 2020. Restic has the considerably larger community, at 36,213 GitHub stars versus 200. Restic lists first-class Docker deployment; Obnam2 does not.
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 Restic if…
- Strong encryption
- Efficient deduplication
- Wide backend support
Watch out for
- Command-line only
- No built-in scheduler
Frequently asked questions
Is Obnam2 or Restic better?
Neither is universally better. Restic has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Obnam2 and Restic free and open-source?
Yes. Obnam2 is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Restic under BSD-2-Clause. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Obnam2 and Restic with Docker?
Obnam2: check the project docs for container support. Restic: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Obnam2 or Restic?
Obnam2 has the smaller minimum footprint at 128 MB of RAM, compared to about 256 MB for Restic. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.