Rclone 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?
FeatureRcloneVelero
CategoryBackup & RecoveryBackup & Recovery
LicenseMITApache-2.0
LanguageGoGo
Setup difficultyMediumHard
Min. RAM128 MB256 MB
Deploymentbinary, dockerkubernetes, helm
GitHub stars★ 58,995★ 10,187
First released20142017
ReplacesBackblazeKasten K10

Why pick each one

Choose Rclone if…

  • Works with almost any cloud
  • Extremely versatile
  • Reliable
Rclone details

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
Velero details

Frequently asked questions

Is Rclone or Velero better?

Rclone is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler medium setup. Consider Velero if its specific feature set fits your needs better.

Are Rclone and Velero free and open-source?

Yes. Rclone is licensed under MIT and Velero under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Rclone and Velero with Docker?

Rclone: yes. Velero: check the project docs for container support.

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