BorgBackup
Hacker ApprovedShares rank 5 of 8 backup software by recommenders
Fast, deduplicated, encrypted backups that are easy to restore and run with limited privileges. One critic worries deduplication is a backup liability.
Fast, deduplicated, encrypted backups that are easy to restore and run with limited privileges. One critic worries deduplication is a backup liability.
13 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 12
- criticize it
- 1
- approval share
- 92%
Recommended in 6 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 12 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 12 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 6 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Fast backups, deletes, and restores
“It's just faster to back up, faster to delete old backups, and just easier to do restores”
Comment from 2 Feb 2026 in “Time Machine-style Backups with rsync (2018)” “BorgBackup will be far more efficient than rsync”
Comment from 3 Jan 2026 in “The rsync algorithm (1996) [pdf]” Deduplication and compression across snapshots
“It's deduplicated, even across snapshots, compressed, and end-to-end encrypted.”
Comment from 2 Feb 2026 in “Time Machine-style Backups with rsync (2018)” “this massive reduplication of files became a solved problem”
Comment from 8 Jul 2026 in “Copy That Floppy – Cambridge guide for preserving data from fragile floppy disks” Reliable, works well for daily backups
“Borg backup is a good tool in my opinion and has everything that I need”
Comment from 14 Apr 2026 in “Backblaze has stopped backing up your data” “works great as a Borg server for daily backup”
Comment from 9 Oct 2026 in “Ask HN: What do you run on a $5 VPS that's worth keeping online 24/7?” “Borg has worked very well for me in the past”
Comment from 2 Feb 2026 in “Time Machine-style Backups with rsync (2018)” - Comment from 16 Sep 2026 in “Backups Aren't Simple”
- Comment from 14 Apr 2026 in “Backblaze has stopped backing up your data”
Other backup software people recommend
The four most recommended other backup software, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Time Machine | 70 | 95 | 42% | 13 | 6 yrs13 owners | — |
| Arq Backup | 30 | 2 | 94% | 10 | — | Approved |
| Kopia | 16 | 2 | 89% | 8 | — | Approved |
| Carbon Copy Cloner | 15 | 0 | 100% | 9 | — | Approved |
| BorgBackupThis page | 12 | 1 | 92% | 6 | — | Approved |
What people said
12 of the 16 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“works great as a Borg server for daily backup”
“Borg and restic are fantastic”
“When you do your own backup, you know it works”
“this massive reduplication of files became a solved problem”
“restic/borg are really good”
“Borg backup is a good tool in my opinion and has everything that I need”
“It's just faster to back up, faster to delete old backups, and just easier to do restores”
“Borg has worked very well for me in the past”
“Deduplication helps minimize space, but isn't it a major liability in backups?”
“It's deduplicated, even across snapshots, compressed, and end-to-end encrypted.”
“easily dropped onto any Linux system even with very limited privs”
“BorgBackup will be far more efficient than rsync”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.