Side by Side
| Borg | restic | Kopia | rclone | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| What it is | Backup tool | Backup tool | Backup tool, with a desktop app | File copy and sync tool |
| Keeps old versions | Yes, as archives | Yes, as snapshots | Yes, as snapshots | No (only with --backup-dir) |
| Encryption | Yes, chosen at setup | Always on | Always on | Optional (crypt remote) |
| Deduplication | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Compression | Yes (lz4 by default) | Yes (repository v2) | Yes, when turned on | No |
| Stores backups on | Local disk or an SSH server with Borg | Local disk, SFTP, S3, B2, Azure, GCS, rclone | Local disk, SFTP, S3, B2, Azure, GCS, WebDAV, rclone | Over 70 systems, from SFTP and S3 to Google Drive |
| Windows | No (WSL only) | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Cleaning up old versions | prune, then compact | forget --prune | Automatic maintenance | Not applicable |
Borg: Linux Servers over SSH
Borg backs up to a local disk or to a server that has Borg installed, over SSH. That limit is also its strength: it is fast, compresses well, and has been used on servers for years. Old archives are thinned out with borg prune, and borg compact gives the space back. It runs on Linux and macOS; on Windows only through WSL.
Choose it for Linux servers backing up to a storage box. The whole setup is in How to back up a Linux server with Borg.
restic: One Tool for Every Machine and Backend
restic is a single program for Linux, macOS, Windows and BSD that backs up to local disks, SFTP, S3 and most cloud storage, and to anything else through rclone. Encryption cannot be turned off, compression arrived with repository version 2, and restic forget --prune deletes old snapshots and frees their space in one step.
Choose it when you back up to S3, or want the same tool on every operating system. Setup is in Using object storage and Connecting to a storage box.
Kopia: Backups with a Desktop App
Kopia works much like restic, with the same kinds of storage, but adds KopiaUI, a desktop app that sets up scheduled backups and lets you browse and restore files with a mouse. Policies per folder control how many versions to keep and whether to compress, and maintenance runs by itself.
Choose it for laptops and desktops, or for anyone who would rather not use a terminal. It connects to a storage box over SFTP and to object storage over S3.
rclone: Copying and Syncing, Not Versioning
rclone copies, syncs and mounts files on more than seventy storage systems. It is the best tool for moving a bucket from one provider to another, keeping a mirror, or reaching Google Drive or Dropbox from a server. A crypt remote adds encryption.
What it does not do is keep versions. With rclone sync, a file deleted on your side is deleted in the copy at the next run. Use it for transfers, and use a backup tool for backups. How to copy an S3 bucket with rclone shows it at its best.
Which One for You
- A Linux server to a storage box: Borg.
- Servers to S3 object storage: restic.
- A mix of Linux, Windows and macOS with one tool: restic.
- Laptops and desktops, with a desktop app: Kopia.
- Moving data between providers, or a plain mirror: rclone.
- A Synology NAS: Synology's own Hyper Backup.
Whichever you choose, restore something from it once a month. A backup you have never restored from is a hope, not a backup.