# Snapper

13 Hacker News commenters recommended Snapper and 1 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 7 of 13 months. It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** Linux tool for taking and rolling back filesystem snapshots, often credited with recovering systems after breakages. One critic notes it needs complex installation and is not very integrated.

## Why people recommend it

- Pairs well with Btrfs (3 comments): "you can use snapper + btrfs and the end result is like `bectl`" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47401207)) "the btrfs+snapper arrangement has worked pretty well for me" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47324761)) "snapper, and Btrfs Assistant" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46849881))
- Recovers systems after breakages (3 comments): "I've had two breakages over the years that required snapper rollback" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46390470)) "I'm able to get back into my system and fix the issue" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46699110)) "It saved my day already many times." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49005803))
- Boring, dependable, good by default (3 comments): "Snapper is one of the coolest "boring" Linux projects I know of." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48824866)) "the btrfs+snapper arrangement has worked pretty well for me" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47324761)) "Snapper by default is nice" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47418736))
- Full and partial rollback (2 comments): "lets you fully revert your filesystem (snapper rollback) or partially (snapper undochange)" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46097797)) "I've had two breakages over the years that required snapper rollback" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46390470))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Borg Backup](https://hackerapproved.com/p/borg.md): 30 recommend
- [Parachute Backup](https://hackerapproved.com/p/parachute-backup.md): 8 recommend
- [Timeshift](https://hackerapproved.com/p/timeshift.md): 6 recommend
- [Photos Backup Anywhere](https://hackerapproved.com/p/photos-backup-anywhere.md): 6 recommend

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Snapper", https://hackerapproved.com/p/snapper/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).