Borg
BorgBackup is a deduplicating backup program with compression and authenticated encryption, described as free software.
About Borg
BorgBackup is a backup program that stores files as content-defined chunks and keeps identical chunks once across files and archives. It supports compression with lz4, zstd, zlib, lzma or no compression, and AES encryption with authentication so repositories contain ciphertext.
It runs on Linux, macOS and BSD and stores repositories on local disk, USB drive, or a machine reachable over SSH. Archives can be mounted as a filesystem with FUSE to browse older file versions. The 1.4 series is listed as the current stable series for production use, while the 2.0 series is listed as in testing.
Key features
- Deduplicates content-defined chunks across files and archives
- AES encryption with authentication; server stores ciphertext
- Compression options: lz4, zstd, zlib, lzma, or none
- Mount archives as filesystem with FUSE to browse versions
- Back up to local disk, USB drive, or machine over SSH
- Install via distribution packages, single-file binary, or pip
Best for: Users on Linux, macOS, or BSD who manage their own backups to local disks or SSH servers.
Good for
- Deduplication stores repeated chunks once across files and archives
- AES encryption with authentication stores backups as ciphertext on the server
- Repositories work on local disk, USB drive, or over SSH without daemons or agents
Watch out for
- Version 2.0 testing series is listed as not for production use
- Version 1.2 oldstable is still maintained but has no new releases
Borg at a glance
- Website
- borgbackup.org
- Category
- Software & Utilities › Backup & Recovery
- Type
- Website
- Pricing
- Not confirmed. Check the site
- Platforms
- Linux, macOS, Web
- Open source
- Not stated
- Language
- English
- Last checked
- Oct 5, 2026 · Online when checked
- Listed
- Oct 5, 2026
Guides for Backup & Recovery
Borg alternatives
Tools and sites you could use instead, ranked by how closely they match.
Borg combines compression and authenticated encryption in a deduplicating archiver; this repository identifies its README as Borg 2.
Kopia backs up data across Windows, macOS, and Linux with incremental backups, client-side encryption, compression, and deduplication.
Open source
7 alternatives
FolderClone is Windows software for automated folder backup and synchronization, described as a set-and-forget solution.
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Borg FAQ
Where can Borg store backup repositories?
On local disk, USB drive, or any machine reachable over SSH.
How can Borg be installed?
From distribution packages, as a single-file binary, or via pip.
Which series should be used for production?
The 1.4 series is the current stable series for production use; the 2.0 series is in testing and should not be used in production yet.
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