Deja Dup vs Rustic
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?
Deja Dup
Simple backup tool for the GNOME desktop
VS
Rustic
Fast encrypted deduplicated backup compatible with Restic
| Feature | Deja Dup | Rustic |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Backup & Recovery | Backup & Recovery |
| License | GPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | Vala | Rust |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | binary | binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 600 | ★ 3,170 |
| First released | 2008 | 2022 |
| Replaces | Time Machine, Backblaze | Backblaze, CrashPlan |
Why pick each one
Choose Deja Dup if…
- Released under the GPL-3.0 license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- Written in Vala
- Tiny footprint — runs in 256 MB RAM
Choose Rustic if…
- Released under the Apache-2.0 license
- Active community (3.2k GitHub stars)
- Written in Rust
- Tiny footprint — runs in 128 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is Deja Dup or Rustic better?
Neither is universally better. Rustic has the larger community, while Deja Dup is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Deja Dup and Rustic free and open-source?
Yes. Deja Dup is licensed under GPL-3.0 and Rustic under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Deja Dup and Rustic with Docker?
Deja Dup: check the project docs for container support. Rustic: check the project docs for container support.