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Tarsnap

Online backups for the truly paranoid

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Tarsnap is a command-line online backup service for Linux, FreeBSD, NetBSD, OpenBSD, macOS, and other UNIX-like systems, with Cygwin and the Windows Subsystem for Linux also supported. It addresses the need to back up files without relying on the service provider to access the stored data: encryption uses personal keys, and the client code is available for inspection. Backups are deduplicated, so only unique data is uploaded and stored after compression and encryption.

The client is built around the open source libarchive archive handling library. Backups are taken as complete snapshots, with the service identifying unique data automatically rather than requiring separate full and incremental backup decisions. The command-line interface includes options such as --dry-run-metadata for simulating archive creation, --noatime, --null-input, --null-output, --hashes, and --print-stats. The service is provided using infrastructure from Amazon Web Services.

Tarsnap is packaged as a prepaid, usage-based service with no fixed costs or minimum monthly fees. Charges are based on encoded data, meaning the bytes stored or transmitted after deduplication, compression, and encryption, with separate rates for storage and bandwidth.

12 alternatives to Tarsnap

Ranked by how well each tool replaces Tarsnap: shared features, audience, price and popularity.

  1. Duplicity

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    Covers 1 of 13 key features, has a free plan and is open source.

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  2. Syncovery

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  3. Duplicati

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    Covers 1 of 13 key features, has a free plan and is open source.

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  4. FBackup

    Free file backup application for personal and commercial use on Windows.

    Covers 0 of 13 key features and has a free plan.

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  5. BorgBackup

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    Covers 0 of 13 key features, has a free plan and is open source.

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    SyncBack V12 offers reliable backup and synchronization.

    Covers 2 of 13 key features and has a free plan.

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  7. FreeFileSync

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    Covers 1 of 13 key features.

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  9. Restic

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    Covers 2 of 13 key features, has a free plan and is open source.

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  10. Carbon Copy Cloner

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  12. Bacula

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    Covers 1 of 13 key features and is open source.

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