rdiff-backup vs Sanoid
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?
rdiff-backup
Reverse-incremental backups preserving file history
VS
Sanoid
Policy-driven ZFS snapshot management and replication
| Feature | rdiff-backup | Sanoid |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Backup & Recovery | Backup & Recovery |
| License | GPL-2.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Language | Python | Perl |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 64 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | binary | bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 1,264 | ★ 3,830 |
| First released | 2001 | 2014 |
| Replaces | Time Machine | Time Machine |
Why pick each one
Choose rdiff-backup if…
- Released under the GPL-2.0 license
- Active community (1.3k GitHub stars)
- Written in Python
- Tiny footprint — runs in 64 MB RAM
Choose Sanoid if…
- Released under the GPL-3.0 license
- Active community (3.8k GitHub stars)
- Written in Perl
- Tiny footprint — runs in 128 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is rdiff-backup or Sanoid better?
Neither is universally better. Sanoid has the larger community, while rdiff-backup is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are rdiff-backup and Sanoid free and open-source?
Yes. rdiff-backup is licensed under GPL-2.0 and Sanoid under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run rdiff-backup and Sanoid with Docker?
rdiff-backup: check the project docs for container support. Sanoid: check the project docs for container support.