Restic Browser vs rsnapshot
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted backup & recovery options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Restic Browser | rsnapshot |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Read-the-docs project |
| Health score | 76 · Good | 72 · Good |
| Category | Backup & Recovery | Backup & Recovery |
| License | MIT | GPL-2.0 |
| Language | TypeScript | Perl |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 64 MB |
| Deployment | binary | binary, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 1,306 | ★ 3,683 |
| First released | 2022 | 2003 |
| Replaces | Time Machine | Time Machine |
What are Restic Browser and rsnapshot?
Restic Browser
Restic Browser is a cross-platform desktop application that lets you explore the contents of Restic backup repositories and restore individual files. It provides a graphical alternative to the CLI.
- Browse Restic snapshots visually
- Restore individual files
- Cross-platform desktop app
rsnapshot
rsnapshot is a filesystem snapshot utility built on rsync that makes incremental backups of local and remote machines. It uses hard links to keep multiple full backups while saving disk space.
- Hard-link snapshot rotation
- Local and remote backups
- Low storage overhead
Restic Browser vs rsnapshot: key differences
Restic Browser is written in TypeScript, while rsnapshot is built with Perl. Licensing differs — MIT for Restic Browser versus GPL-2.0 for rsnapshot. Rsnapshot is the lighter option, starting around 64 MB of RAM against 128 MB for Restic Browser. Rsnapshot is the more established project (first released 2003), while Restic Browser arrived in 2022. Rsnapshot has the considerably larger community, at 3,683 GitHub stars versus 1,306.
Why pick each one
Choose Restic Browser if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- Active community (1.3k GitHub stars)
- Written in TypeScript
Choose rsnapshot if…
- Released under the GPL-2.0 license
- Active community (3.7k GitHub stars)
- Written in Perl
- Tiny footprint — runs in 64 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is Restic Browser or rsnapshot better?
Neither is universally better. rsnapshot has the larger community, while Restic Browser is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Restic Browser and rsnapshot free and open-source?
Yes. Restic Browser is licensed under MIT and rsnapshot under GPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Restic Browser and rsnapshot with Docker?
Restic Browser: check the project docs for container support. rsnapshot: check the project docs for container support.
Which is lighter on resources, Restic Browser or rsnapshot?
rsnapshot has the smaller minimum footprint at 64 MB of RAM, compared to about 128 MB for Restic Browser. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.