The Best Backup Software for Linux in 2026

Your drive will fail eventually. Maybe not this year, but it will happen, and when it does, the only thing standing between you and losing everything is whatever backup system you set up beforehand. Most people find this out the hard way, usually right after a botched update or a coffee spill.

Linux actually gives you more backup options than Windows or macOS, and a large chunk of the best ones are free and open source. That is the whole point of this list: real backup software you can install and run on Linux today, from simple GUI apps to command-line tools that treat your data like it matters.

What Backup Software Actually Does

Backup software automates the part most people skip: copying your files somewhere safe on a schedule, without you having to remember to do it. A good backup tool does more than plain copying, though. The useful ones typically handle:

• Versioning, so you can restore a file from last Tuesday, not just yesterday
• Deduplication and compression, so ten backups of a mostly unchanged folder do not take up ten times the space
• Encryption, so your data stays unreadable to anyone else, including whoever hosts your storage
• Scheduling, so backups happen automatically instead of whenever you remember

A good rule of thumb is the 3-2-1 approach: keep three copies of your data, on two different types of storage, with at least one copy off-site. A snapshot sitting on the same drive you are trying to protect is not really a backup. It is a false sense of security.

Linux Backup Software Comparison Table

Here is how everything on this list stacks up side by side.

1. Timeshift: Best for System Snapshots

Timeshift does one job and does it well: it takes a snapshot of your system before something breaks it, so you can undo the damage in a few clicks. Think of it as the Linux equivalent of System Restore on Windows or Time Machine on macOS, except it is aimed at your operating system and settings, not your personal files. It uses rsync with hard links on ext4 systems, or native snapshots on BTRFS, and it now ships as the default snapshot tool in Linux Mint while sitting in the repos of pretty much every major distro.

Key features:

• Two snapshot modes: RSYNC with hard links, or native BTRFS snapshots
• Scheduled snapshots from hourly to monthly, with automatic cleanup of old ones
• Restore from a live USB even if the system will not boot
• Cross-distro restore, so you can hop back to your old distro after trying a new one

Pros:

• The easiest “undo” button for a broken update you will find on Linux
• Works from a GUI or the terminal
• Free and pre-installed on Linux Mint

Cons:

• Excludes your home folder by default, so it will not save documents or photos
• No cloud or remote backup support, snapshots stay local
• Useless if the entire drive holding your snapshots fails

2. Déjà Dup (GNOME Backups): Best for Simple Desktop Backups

If you are on Ubuntu, Fedora Workstation, or basically any GNOME desktop, Déjà Dup is already installed. It shows up as just “Backups” in your app menu, and it is built to ask you almost nothing: pick a folder, pick a destination, set a schedule, done. Recent versions can run on a Restic backend instead of the older duplicity one, which means real incremental snapshots rather than a glorified folder copy, all without ever touching a terminal.

Key features:

• Incremental, versioned backups with encryption built in
• Backs up to Google Drive, a network server, an external drive, or, with rclone configured, most other cloud storage
• Scheduling handled entirely through the GUI
• Deep integration with the GNOME desktop, including notifications and restore-by-file-manager

Pros:

• About as close to zero-setup as backup software gets
• Real versioned snapshots, not just file copies
• Free, open source, no account required

Cons:

• Only backs up what your user account can see, so it will not rescue a broken OS install
• Not built with headless servers in mind
• Cloud options beyond Google Drive need rclone set up separately

3. BorgBackup: Best for Servers and Power Users

BorgBackup is what a lot of Linux sysadmins reach for once they get tired of babysitting backups by hand. It is entirely command-line, built around cron or systemd timers, and it bakes deduplication, compression, and authenticated encryption directly into how it stores data. That combination is why long-running Borg backups often end up using a fraction of the space you would expect. One feature that is easy to miss: you can mount a Borg archive as a regular folder and grab a single file without restoring the whole thing.

Key features:

• Deduplicated, compressed, and encrypted backups by default
• Mountable archives via FUSE, so you can browse a backup like a folder
• Backs up to local drives, a NAS, your own server over SSH, or a Borg-compatible host like BorgBase
• Prune policies to automatically clean up old archives

Pros:

• Excellent space efficiency over time thanks to real deduplication
• Strong, well-audited encryption
• Fully self-hostable, with no vendor lock-in

Cons:

• No official GUI on its own, you will want Vorta or Pika Backup for that
• No native support for S3 or Backblaze B2, it needs an SSH-reachable destination
• Some setup required before your first backup runs

4. Vorta: Best GUI for BorgBackup

Vorta takes BorgBackup and wraps it in an actual interface, which is exactly what a lot of people want. It runs on Linux and macOS, sits in your system tray, and lets you configure source folders, destinations, and schedules through a normal settings window instead of a man page. If you are specifically on GNOME and only care about personal files rather than a whole server, Pika Backup is worth a look too. It comes from the GNOME project, connects to a USB drive with almost no configuration, and runs on the same Borg engine underneath.

Key features:

• Built-in scheduler, no cron required
• Profiles for grouping source folders, destinations, and schedules
• Browse and restore individual files from any archive
• Backs up to local drives, your own server, or BorgBase

Pros:

• Makes Borg approachable without losing its space savings or encryption
• Open source and actively maintained
• Still no vendor lock-in, since it is Borg underneath

Cons:

• Does not run on Windows, because Borg itself does not either
• Understanding a few Borg basics still helps
• Pika Backup, its GNOME-native sibling, is simpler but skips full system recovery entirely

5. Restic: Best for Scripted, Automated Backups

Restic is the tool people mean when they say “just use the terminal.” There is no GUI, no built-in scheduler, you bring your own cron job or systemd timer. What you get in exchange is a fast, snapshot-based backup tool that encrypts everything by default and can restore any single snapshot independently of the others. It ships as one static binary, which makes it painless to drop onto a fresh server or a Raspberry Pi and start using right away.

Key features:

• Snapshot-based backups, every run after the first only stores what changed
• Encryption on by default, using a key derived from your password
• Backs up to local disks, SFTP, S3-compatible storage, Backblaze B2, Azure, and Google Cloud
• Single binary with no dependencies to install

Pros:

• About as flexible as backup software gets when it comes to destinations
• Widely tested restore process that the community actually relies on
• Works identically across Linux, macOS, and Windows if you manage a mixed environment

Cons:

• Command line only, there is no first-party GUI
• You are responsible for wiring up your own automation
• Not the friendliest starting point if you have never used a terminal

6. Kopia: Best Balance of GUI and Power

Kopia sits in an interesting spot between Restic and something like Duplicati. It is open source, has a real command-line tool and a real graphical interface called KopiaUI, and covers most of the same cloud backends as Restic while adding extras like Azure Blob and WebDAV out of the box. It is a personal project, not something run by Google despite the Go codebase, and it is still building the track record that Restic and Borg already have, so testing your restores before leaning on it fully is worth the ten minutes.

Key features:

• Client-side, zero-knowledge encryption plus deduplication and compression
• Supports S3-compatible storage, Backblaze B2, Azure Blob, Google Cloud Storage, WebDAV, and SFTP
• Can run its own self-hosted Kopia Repository Server for full control
• Retention and scheduling policies configurable straight from the GUI

Pros:

• A rare combination of a genuine GUI and a genuine CLI in the same tool
• Wide backend support without needing extra glue like rclone
• Actively developed with regular releases

Cons:

• Smaller community than Restic or Borg, so it is less battle-tested at scale
• The repository and policy model takes some reading to fully understand
• Not backed by a large company, so support is community-driven

7. Duplicati: Best for Cloud Backup Destinations

Duplicati runs as a local web server, so you manage it through your browser instead of a desktop app, which works surprisingly well even on headless machines. It supports an enormous list of destinations, nearly every cloud provider you have heard of and several you have not, and it encrypts everything with AES-256 or GPG before it ever leaves your machine. One thing worth knowing upfront: it has been in beta for its 2.0 release for a long time. That is not unusual for this project, and it is stable enough that plenty of people run it in production, but it is fair to mention before you rely on it.

Key features:

• Web-based GUI with scheduling built in, no external scheduler needed
• AES-256 or GPG encryption applied before upload
• Huge destination list, including S3, Backblaze B2, IDrive e2, Google Drive, OneDrive, Dropbox, and Azure
• Available as both a GUI application and a command-line tool

Pros:

• The broadest cloud destination support of anything on this list
• Scheduling and monitoring live in the same browser interface
• Works well for a headless server accessed over SSH port forwarding

Cons:

• Long-standing beta status, worth knowing even though it has not stopped wide adoption
• Can slow down on very large backup sets
• The web UI means one more background service to keep running

8. Rclone: Best for Backing Up to Any Cloud, Encrypted

Rclone is not strictly a backup program, it is closer to rsync for the cloud, but it earns its spot here because of how many people actually use it as one. It talks to dozens of cloud storage providers through a single consistent command, and its crypt feature encrypts both file contents and file names before anything uploads, so even the provider hosting your data cannot see what is in it. Pair it with a cron job and a bit of scripting, and you have a genuinely private, flexible backup pipeline for free.

Key features:

• Supports dozens of cloud providers, including S3, Google Drive, OneDrive, and Dropbox, through one interface
• Crypt remotes encrypt file contents and file names client-side
• Can mount cloud storage as a local drive using FUSE
• Available as a CLI, with an optional web GUI

Pros:

• Works with almost any cloud storage you would ever want to use
• Encryption keeps your files private even on a provider you do not fully trust
• Free, open source, and extremely well documented

Cons:

• Does not manage versioning or retention on its own, you script that part
• More of a building block than a complete backup solution out of the box
• Command line first, though a GUI exists if you go looking for it

9. Proton Drive CLI: Best Privacy-Focused Pick

Proton, the Swiss company behind Proton Mail, has spent years building a reputation on end-to-end encryption and actually caring about privacy. For a long time, that did not translate into much for Linux users beyond a web app. That changed in mid-2026, when Proton released an official Drive command-line tool for Windows, macOS, and Linux, letting you script uploads, downloads, and backup jobs straight into cron or systemd. A full graphical desktop client for Linux is reportedly on the way, but it had not shipped as of this writing, so Linux users get the CLI first.

Key features:

• Official command-line interface for scripted, automated backups
• End-to-end encryption on everything stored
• Drops neatly into a cron job or systemd timer for hands-off backups
• Backed by a company with a genuine, long-running privacy track record

Pros:

• A privacy-respecting option from a company that is not new or unproven
• No third-party tool needed to script encrypted backups to Proton’s storage
• Fits naturally into existing Linux automation habits

Cons:

• No graphical desktop app for Linux yet, CLI only for now
• Free tier storage is limited, so serious backup volume means a paid plan
• Newer tool, so fewer community guides exist compared with rclone or Restic

10. UrBackup: Best for Backing Up Multiple Machines

Every tool above this one assumes you are backing up a single machine. UrBackup assumes you are not. It runs as a central server with a web dashboard, and you install a small client on every machine you want protected, whether that is a couple of home servers or a small office full of desktops. It deduplicates data across all connected clients, so it does not store the same set of OS files a dozen times over just because a dozen machines share them.

Key features:

• Central web dashboard for monitoring and restoring backups on any connected machine
• Deduplication across all clients, not just within one machine
• File-level backup, with image-based backup for Linux clients on ext4 and XFS in newer versions
• Free and open source

Pros:

• The only tool on this list actually built for managing several machines at once
• Restores and monitoring all happen from one browser tab
• No per-machine manual work once it is set up

Cons:

• Needs a dedicated server and some upfront setup
• Linux image-based backup is newer and less proven than the Windows side
• Overkill if you are only protecting one desktop

11. Clonezilla: Best for Full Disk Images

Clonezilla does one thing nothing else on this list does well: it makes a true bare-metal image of an entire disk, boots independently of whatever OS is installed, and can restore that image onto a completely different, dead system. It is the tool you reach for before a risky distro hop, a drive swap, or a major hardware migration, not for your daily incremental backups. The interface looks like it has not changed since 2005, because it mostly has not, but it clones a drive in a couple of minutes and does not ask you to pay a cent.

Key features:

• Boots from a live CD or USB, independent of any installed OS
• Supports 15-plus filesystems, including ext4, btrfs, XFS, and NTFS, across both MBR and GPT
• Only copies used blocks, so images end up smaller and faster than a raw disk copy
• AES-256 encryption available, with images savable to local disk, USB, NFS, SSH, or even S3

Pros:

• True bare-metal backup and restore, not just files
• Works no matter what is installed on the target machine
• The Server Edition can image dozens of machines at once over the network

Cons:

• Not meant for regular, ongoing backups
• Text-based interface that takes some getting used to
• Overkill for just protecting a folder of documents

What About rsync and Other Built-in Tools?

rsync deserves its own section because it is not really a backup program, it is the tool a lot of backup programs are quietly built on top of. It comes pre-installed on nearly every Linux distribution, and it copies only the parts of a file that changed instead of the whole thing, which makes it extremely fast for repeated backups over a network or to an external drive.

Here is the catch people run into: rsync by itself does not keep history. If you sync a folder and a file in it gets corrupted or accidentally deleted, running rsync again will happily copy that mistake straight into your “backup” too. There is no built-in way to go back to last week’s version unless you set that up yourself, usually with the –link-dest flag to create hardlinked snapshots, which is close to what Timeshift does under the hood.

That does not make rsync useless, far from it. Combined with tar for archiving and cron or a systemd timer for scheduling, you can build a backup system that does exactly what you want and nothing you do not. It is just more manual work than installing Borg or Kopia and letting them handle versioning and encryption for you. If you like control and do not mind writing a script, rsync is still one of the best tools on Linux. If you want that same control without the ongoing manual work, use it as the destination for one of the dedicated tools above instead.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best backup software for Linux?

It depends on what you are protecting. Déjà Dup is the simplest choice for a desktop full of personal files. BorgBackup and Restic give you more control on a server or homelab. Kopia is the best middle ground if you want a real GUI without losing power, and Timeshift is worth running alongside any of these to protect your system state before updates.

Is rsync enough for backups on its own?

Not really. rsync syncs files but does not keep version history by default, so a corrupted or accidentally deleted file gets copied over your “backup” too. It works well as a building block, especially with the –link-dest flag, but most people get better protection from a tool that handles versioning automatically.

Do I have to pay for good backup software on Linux?

No. Most of the strongest tools on this list, including BorgBackup, Restic, Kopia, Timeshift, Déjà Dup, rclone, Duplicati, UrBackup, and Clonezilla, are free and open source. You might still pay for cloud storage space to send those backups to, but the software itself will not cost you anything.

What is the difference between a system backup and a file backup?

A system backup protects your operating system, settings, and installed programs, which is what Timeshift and Clonezilla are built for. A file backup protects your personal data, documents, photos, and code, which is what Déjà Dup, BorgBackup, Restic, and Kopia handle. Most setups benefit from running both.

Can Linux backup tools encrypt my data automatically?

Yes. BorgBackup, Restic, Kopia, Duplicati, rclone’s crypt remotes, and Proton Drive all encrypt your data on your machine by default or with minimal setup, so your files are unreadable before they ever leave your computer. That matters most when you are backing up to any cloud or remote storage you do not fully control.

What is the 3-2-1 backup rule?

Keep three copies of your data, stored on two different types of media, with at least one copy kept off-site. A snapshot stored on the same drive it is protecting does not count as a real backup, since one drive failure can take out your only copy along with it.

Which Linux backup tool is best for beginners?

Déjà Dup, since it comes pre-installed on most GNOME-based distros and asks almost nothing of you beyond picking a destination. Pair it with Timeshift for system-level snapshots, and you have solid coverage without ever touching a terminal.

Pick one tool from this list and actually set it up this week. The backup software that saves your files someday is whichever one you installed before you needed it, not the one you were still researching when your drive died.