Deja Dup vs snapper
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted backup & recovery options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Deja Dup | snapper |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Read-the-docs project |
| Category | Backup & Recovery | Backup & Recovery |
| License | GPL-3.0 | GPL-2.0 |
| Language | Vala | C++ |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 64 MB |
| Deployment | binary | bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 600 | ★ 1,171 |
| First released | 2008 | 2011 |
| Replaces | Time Machine, Backblaze | Time Machine |
What are Deja Dup and snapper?
Deja Dup
Deja Dup is a simple backup tool that hides the complexity of doing backups properly. It supports local, network, and cloud storage with encryption and incremental backups powered by Restic.
- Beginner-friendly GUI
- Encrypted incremental backups
- Local and cloud targets
snapper
Snapper is a tool for managing filesystem snapshots on Btrfs and LVM thin volumes. It can create automatic timeline snapshots and roll back the system to a previous state.
- Automatic timeline snapshots
- Btrfs and LVM support
- System rollback
Deja Dup vs snapper: key differences
Deja Dup is written in Vala, while snapper is built with C++. Licensing differs — GPL-3.0 for Deja Dup versus GPL-2.0 for snapper. Snapper is the lighter option, starting around 64 MB of RAM against 256 MB for Deja Dup. Deja Dup is the more established project (first released 2008), while snapper arrived in 2011.
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 snapper if…
- Released under the GPL-2.0 license
- Active community (1.2k GitHub stars)
- Written in C++
- Tiny footprint — runs in 64 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is Deja Dup or snapper better?
Neither is universally better. snapper 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 snapper free and open-source?
Yes. Deja Dup is licensed under GPL-3.0 and snapper under GPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Deja Dup and snapper with Docker?
Deja Dup: check the project docs for container support. snapper: check the project docs for container support.
Which is lighter on resources, Deja Dup or snapper?
snapper has the smaller minimum footprint at 64 MB of RAM, compared to about 256 MB for Deja Dup. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.