Rclone 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?
Rclone
Sync and copy files to dozens of cloud providers
VS
Rdiffweb
Web interface to browse and restore rdiff-backup repositories
| Feature | Rclone | Rdiffweb |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Backup & Recovery | Backup & Recovery |
| License | MIT | GPL-3.0 |
| Language | Go | Python |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | binary, docker | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 58,995 | ★ 200 |
| First released | 2014 | 2014 |
| Replaces | Backblaze | CrashPlan |
Why pick each one
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
Frequently asked questions
Is Rclone or Rdiffweb better?
Neither is universally better. Rclone has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Rclone and Rdiffweb free and open-source?
Yes. Rclone is licensed under MIT and Rdiffweb under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Rclone and Rdiffweb with Docker?
Rclone: yes. Rdiffweb: yes.