curl vs restic
curl
curl.se
restic
restic.netSide by side
| Figure | curl | restic |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | Yes |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| iOS | Yes | — |
| Android | Yes | — |
| API | — | Yes |
| Self-hosted | — | Yes |
| Plans published | 1 | 2 |
| Spec score · Command Line Tools | 8.4 (#7) | 8.3 (#10) |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Platforms | The downloads page lists packages for Linux, macOS, iOS, and 32-bit and 64-bit Windows, among many other systems. | windows,macos,linux |
| Purpose | curl is a command line tool and library for transferring data with URLs. | restic is a backup program for backing up files. |
| Security reporting | The project asks people who find or suspect a security problem in curl or libcurl to file a detailed report and links to a table of vulnerable versions. | Critical security issues should be reported privately by email, with PGP encryption recommended, instead of through public GitHub issues. |
Plans
In their own words
restic
restic is a free, open-source program for backing up files on Linux, macOS, Windows, and BSD. It transfers only changed portions of backed-up files and runs as a single executable without a server or complex setup. Storage options include local repositories, SFTP, REST server, Amazon S3, S3-compatible services, OpenStack Swift, Backblaze B2, Azure Blob Storage, Google Cloud Storage, and rclone. Restic restores snapshots and checks repository metadata or full data integrity. Each repository requires a password, and multiple keys can be managed; losing the password prevents access to stored data. Official binaries are reproducibly built and can be checked with SHA-256 checksums and a PGP signature. The listed backup and restore scope is files. Mobile backup and ransomware protection are listed as unavailable. The latest listed release is restic 0.19.1, released July 5, 2026.