Snapper
Hacker ApprovedRanked 6 of 19 backup tools by recommenders
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.
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.
14 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 13
- criticize it
- 1
- approval share
- 93%
Recommended in 7 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 13 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 13 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 7 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
Pairs well with Btrfs
“you can use snapper + btrfs and the end result is like `bectl`”
Comment from 16 Mar 2026 in “I Love FreeBSD” “the btrfs+snapper arrangement has worked pretty well for me”
Comment from 10 Mar 2026 in “FreeBSD 14.4-Release Announcement” “snapper, and Btrfs Assistant”
Comment from 1 Feb 2026 in “TIL: Apple Broke Time Machine Again on Tahoe” Recovers systems after breakages
“I've had two breakages over the years that required snapper rollback”
Comment from 26 Dec 2025 in “Asahi Linux with Sway on the MacBook Air M2” “I'm able to get back into my system and fix the issue”
Comment from 20 Jan 2026 in “Prediction: Microsoft Is Going to Do the Funniest Thing Imaginable” “It saved my day already many times.”
Comment from 22 Jul 2026 in “Garage S3: LMDB Corruption Post-Mortem” Boring, dependable, good by default
“Snapper is one of the coolest "boring" Linux projects I know of.”
Comment from 7 Jul 2026 in “A New Foundation for Tuxedo OS: Switching to Debian” “the btrfs+snapper arrangement has worked pretty well for me”
Comment from 10 Mar 2026 in “FreeBSD 14.4-Release Announcement” “Snapper by default is nice”
Comment from 17 Mar 2026 in “OpenSUSE Kalpa” Full and partial rollback
“lets you fully revert your filesystem (snapper rollback) or partially (snapper undochange)”
Comment from 30 Nov 2025 in “CachyOS: Fast and Customizable Linux Distribution” “I've had two breakages over the years that required snapper rollback”
Comment from 26 Dec 2025 in “Asahi Linux with Sway on the MacBook Air M2”
Other backup tools people recommend
The four most recommended other backup tools, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| restic | 83 | 5 | 94% | 12 | — | Approved |
| pgBackRest | 32 | 6 | 84% | 6 | 1 yr4 owners | Approved |
| Borg Backup | 30 | 8 | 79% | 12 | — | Approved |
| iCloud Photos Downloader | 18 | 4 | 82% | 2 | — | — |
| SnapperThis page | 13 | 1 | 93% | 7 | — | Approved |
What people said
All 14 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“that was more the defaults of how cachy set it up, and my use case than btrfs/snapper itself”
“It saved my day already many times.”
“Snapper is one of the coolest "boring" Linux projects I know of.”
“I am using the same in CachyOS now.”
“Snapper by default is nice”
“you can use snapper + btrfs and the end result is like `bectl`”
“the btrfs+snapper arrangement has worked pretty well for me”
“needs complex installation and is not so integrated”
“Initially with snapper, and it's still installed, but any automagicals disabled.”
“snapper, and Btrfs Assistant”
“I'm able to get back into my system and fix the issue”
“I've had two breakages over the years that required snapper rollback”
“lets you fully revert your filesystem (snapper rollback) or partially (snapper undochange)”
“setting up snapper or equivalent”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.