Restic vs Deja Dup
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted backup & recovery options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Restic | Deja Dup |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Read-the-docs project |
| Category | Backup & Recovery | Backup & Recovery |
| License | BSD-2-Clause | GPL-3.0 |
| Language | Go | Vala |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | binary, docker | binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 36,213 | ★ 600 |
| First released | 2015 | 2008 |
| Replaces | Backblaze, Carbonite | Time Machine, Backblaze |
What are Restic and Deja Dup?
Restic
Restic is a fast and secure backup program that creates encrypted, deduplicated snapshots to many storage backends. It targets users and admins who want reliable command-line backups. It is deployed as a single binary.
- Encrypted deduplicated snapshots
- Many storage backends
- Fast incremental backups
- Single self-contained binary
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
Restic vs Deja Dup: key differences
Restic is written in Go, while Deja Dup is built with Vala. Licensing differs — BSD-2-Clause for Restic versus GPL-3.0 for Deja Dup. Deja Dup is the more established project (first released 2008), while Restic arrived in 2015. Restic has the considerably larger community, at 36,213 GitHub stars versus 600. Restic lists first-class Docker deployment; Deja Dup does not.
Why pick each one
Choose Restic if…
- Strong encryption
- Efficient deduplication
- Wide backend support
Watch out for
- Command-line only
- No built-in scheduler
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
Frequently asked questions
Is Restic or Deja Dup better?
Neither is universally better. Restic 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 Restic and Deja Dup free and open-source?
Yes. Restic is licensed under BSD-2-Clause and Deja Dup under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Restic and Deja Dup with Docker?
Restic: yes. Deja Dup: check the project docs for container support.