BackupPC vs BorgBackup
BackupPC
backuppc.github.ioBorgBackup
borgbackup.orgSide by side
| Figure | BackupPC | BorgBackup |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | — |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 1 | 1 |
| Spec score · NAS Backup Software | 8.7 (#11) | 8.4 (#16) |
| Spec score · Backup software | 8.2 (#50) | 8.1 (#56) |
| Backup scope | file | mixed |
| Compression | Optional compression reduces storage use, and only new files need to be compressed. | Optional compression choices include lz4, zstd, zlib, and lzma. |
| Computer backup | Yes | Yes |
| Deduplication | Identical files across backups are stored only once to reduce disk storage and disk I/O. | Content-defined chunking stores each new chunk once, including across files, backups, and machines sharing a repository. |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| License | The maker describes BackupPC as open-source software distributed under the GPL license. | BorgBackup is free software under the BSD 3-clause license, and the documentation says its security and functionality can be independently audited. |
| Supported platforms | Linux,Windows,macOS,web | The documentation lists binaries for Linux, macOS, FreeBSD, OpenBSD, and NetBSD; Cygwin and Windows Subsystem for Linux are listed with experimental limitations. |
| Purpose | BackupPC backs up Linux, Windows, and macOS PCs and laptops to a server's disk. | BorgBackup is a deduplicating backup program with optional compression and authenticated encryption. |
| Restore modes | file | file |
| Support | The project lists announcement, user-support, and developer mailing lists. | Free community support is available through documentation, the issue tracker, IRC, Matrix, and the mailing list. |
Plans
In their own words
BackupPC
BackupPC backs up Linux, Windows, and macOS computers to a server’s disk. It is open-source software distributed under the GPL, with a free plan. No software needs to be installed on each computer; its documentation describes backup methods using SMB, rsync, tar, and FTP. Identical files found in different backups are stored once, and optional compression can reduce storage use while compressing only new files. Administrators can use the web interface to check logs, configuration, and status. Users can start or cancel backups, browse files, and restore them directly or download them as ZIP or tar archives. Scheduling settings cover parallel backups, full and incremental backups, and system-wide or per-computer configuration. BackupPC also supports laptops that connect intermittently or use dynamic IP addresses, with configurable email reminders when a computer has not been backed up recently. The project lists announcement, user-support, and developer mailing lists. Its listed latest release is version 4.4.0, dated June 20, 2020. The documentation says it is not intended to recreate a failed disk exactly.
BorgBackup
BorgBackup is free, open-source backup software for computers and servers on Linux, macOS and Windows. It uses content-defined chunking so repeated chunks are stored once, including across files, backups and machines sharing a repository. Optional compression is available with lz4, zstd, zlib and lzma. Client-side 256-bit AES encryption protects backups, while HMAC-SHA256 verifies data integrity and authenticity. Backups can be stored on remote hosts over SSH. Archives can be mounted as user-space file systems for interactive browsing and file restores. Listed repository and storage options include BorgBase, Hetzner Storage Box and rsync.net. Community help is available through documentation, the issue tracker, IRC, Matrix and a mailing list; commercial consulting, support and development are also listed. BorgBackup is licensed under BSD 3-clause, and its documentation says security and functionality can be independently audited. The site identifies version 1.4.5 as stable; the 2.0 beta remains in testing and should not be used in production. Major-version changes may repeatedly break compatibility.