Borgmatic vs Restic: Which Backup Tool to Use?

Quick Verdict Both are excellent CLI backup tools. Restic is faster, supports more backends natively (S3, B2, Azure, GCS), and is easier to learn. Borgmatic (wrapping BorgBackup) has better compression, more mature deduplication, and Docker-native scheduling via cron. Choose Restic for cloud backups, Borgmatic for local/SSH backups. Overview Borgmatic is a configuration wrapper around BorgBackup that adds YAML-based config, scheduling, and hooks. BorgBackup is a deduplicating archiver focused on efficiency and security. Restic is a standalone backup tool with similar goals — deduplication, encryption, and speed — but supports more storage backends natively. Feature Comparison Feature Borgmatic (BorgBackup) Restic Configuration YAML config file CLI flags / env vars Docker support Official image with cron CLI tool (script + cron) Storage backends Local, SSH/SFTP only Local, SFTP, S3, B2, Azure, GCS, REST Encryption AES-256 (repokey or keyfile) AES-256 (always on) Compression LZ4, zstd, z