Rustic vs BackupNinja
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?
Rustic
Fast encrypted deduplicated backup compatible with Restic
VS
BackupNinja
Lightweight backup configuration and scheduling system
| Feature | Rustic | BackupNinja |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Backup & Recovery | Backup & Recovery |
| License | Apache-2.0 | GPL-2.0 |
| Language | Rust | Shell |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 64 MB |
| Deployment | binary | bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 3,170 | ★ 68 |
| First released | 2022 | 2004 |
| Replaces | Backblaze, CrashPlan | CrashPlan |
Why pick each one
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
Choose BackupNinja if…
- Released under the GPL-2.0 license
- Written in Shell
- Tiny footprint — runs in 64 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is Rustic or BackupNinja better?
Neither is universally better. Rustic has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Rustic and BackupNinja free and open-source?
Yes. Rustic is licensed under Apache-2.0 and BackupNinja under GPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Rustic and BackupNinja with Docker?
Rustic: check the project docs for container support. BackupNinja: check the project docs for container support.