restic
Open-source command-line backup program that makes encrypted, deduplicated snapshots to many storage backends.
Liked for encrypted offsite snapshots123 to a wide choice of storage backends like Hetzner Storage Boxes, B2, R2 and S3-compatible buckets,456789 with easy scripting and integrity checks.101112 The main caveat raised is that it has no built-in redundancy to correct errors, so the repository server must provide it.13
Why people recommend it
Storage backends · 3
Commenters back up to Hetzner, B2, Cloudflare R2, S3-compatible buckets, pCloud and rsync.net, and can switch providers easily.
“Hetzner backup servers make for a great restic backend.”
“I have complete control over the exclusions and retention.”
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“Software like https://restic.net/ does a good job.”
Encryption · 3
Users like keeping their own key and sending only encrypted data to cloud storage.
“I use restic to manage backups with my own key offsite.”
“Restic is a program I have on my computer (that I can even compile from sources), and not a website that gets loaded everytime”
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“I use restic to create encrypted snapshots on external cloud storage for the data I care about.”
Scriptable · 3
Commenters drive it from cron jobs and shell scripts, and it accepts piped input such as database dumps.
“daily backups using restic to a Hetzner Storage Box and weekly, makes a test restoring to a temporary folder and comparing checksums.”
“I use restic as well.”
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“Software like https://restic.net/ does a good job.”
Deduplication · 3
Deduplication makes long snapshot retention practical, and one user found it much better than duplicity.
“Software like https://restic.net/ does a good job.”
“Then switched to Restic - so much better - highly recommend this.”
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“I have complete control over the exclusions and retention.”
Integrity checks · 2
Repo checks and scripted test restores help users confirm their backups actually work.
“Software like https://restic.net/ does a good job.”
“daily backups using restic to a Hetzner Storage Box and weekly, makes a test restoring to a temporary folder and comparing checksums.”
Backrest web UI · 2
Backrest gives restic a web UI for scheduling, pruning and checking repos.
“as a web UI around restic”
“definitely leaning towards Restic + Backrest.”
Caveats and dissent
No error correction · 1
Restic has no redundancy to correct errors, so it relies on the storage server for that.
Google Drive backend · 1
Pairing it with Google Drive via rclone for about 5TB was described as rather clunky.
“google drive+rclone+borg/restic/whatever”
Often compared with
Who recommends it in their own words
Threads where it came up
- Backblaze has stopped backing up your data 5 mentions
- Backups Aren't Simple 4 mentions
- What I self-host 2 mentions
- Dutch governments builds alternative for Microsoft based on NixOS 2 mentions
- Creating backup storage sucks 2 mentions
- Obnam Community 1 mention
Also written as Restic. Data: restic.json. Quotes are verbatim; the verdict and theme labels are written by a model from these comments, and every clause links to its sources.
All comments 26
“went to borg (and later to restic)”
“I use both Restic and Syncthing.”
“I use restic to create encrypted snapshots on external cloud storage for the data I care about.”
“languagetool, nextcloud, hister, syncthing, restic backups, vaultwarden, windmill”
“daily backups using restic to a Hetzner Storage Box and weekly, makes a test restoring to a temporary folder and comparing checksums.”
“restic for cloud backups”
“restic for cloud backups”
“Then switched to Restic - so much better - highly recommend this.”
“On my home PC I use restic, and (shockingly) I run it manually (via a script).”
“definitely leaning towards Restic + Backrest.”
“Software like https://restic.net/ does a good job.”
“Restic has also been working great.”
“as a web UI around restic”
“backed up to rsync.net via restic”
“actually I use restic and a s3 compatible bucket.”
“I use restic to manage backups with my own key offsite.”
“I use restic as well.”
“I have complete control over the exclusions and retention.”
“you can layer restic on top for a complete backup solution”
“Just switched from Backblaze to Cloudflare R2 (using restic).”
“I like backblaze for backups, but I use restic and b2.”
“I am looking at using something like auto-restic with 1 minute frequency to do backups”
“Hetzner backup servers make for a great restic backend.”
“Restic and Borg are good options to look into.”
“Restic is a program I have on my computer (that I can even compile from sources), and not a website that gets loaded everytime”
“google drive+rclone+borg/restic/whatever”