Self-Hosted Alternatives to CrashPlan
CrashPlan Abandoned Home Users — And Business Plans Keep Getting Pricier
CrashPlan dropped its consumer plan entirely in 2018, forcing home users to migrate elsewhere or upgrade to the business tier at $10/computer/month. That business plan now requires a minimum 2-year commitment and doesn’t even include unlimited storage anymore — it’s been restructured into tiered plans.
Even for businesses, CrashPlan’s value proposition has eroded. The client is resource-heavy (Java-based, regularly consuming 1-2GB of RAM), backup speeds are mediocre compared to modern alternatives, and the web restore interface is slow. Version history is limited to 90 days on most plans.
Self-hosted backup tools solve these problems: no per-device fees, no subscription tiers, no storage limits beyond your own hardware or cloud storage costs. Borgmatic backing up to a $5/month Hetzner Storage Box gives you unlimited retention for less than one month of CrashPlan.
Best Alternatives
Borgmatic — Best Overall Replacement
Borgmatic wraps BorgBackup with YAML configuration and scheduling. It handles the entire backup lifecycle: define what to back up, where to send it, how long to keep it, and how to verify it — all in a single config file. BorgBackup underneath provides deduplication, compression, and authenticated encryption.
Borgmatic’s deduplication is its killer feature: only changed data blocks get stored, regardless of file moves or renames. A 500GB dataset with 1% daily change generates ~5GB of incremental backup data, not 500GB of full copies.
| Feature | CrashPlan Business | Borgmatic (Self-Hosted) |
|---|---|---|
| Per-device cost | $10/month | $0 |
| Storage | 1TB-10TB (tiered) | Your storage (unlimited) |
| Deduplication | File-level | Block-level (much better) |
| Encryption | AES-256 (key held by CrashPlan) | AES-256 (you hold the key) |
| Compression | Basic | LZ4, ZSTD, LZMA |
| Version history | 90 days (most plans) | Unlimited retention |
| RAM usage | 1-2GB (Java) | ~50-200MB |
| Restore speed | Slow (web interface) | Fast (local or direct) |
| Cross-platform | Windows, Mac, Linux | Linux, macOS |
Best for: Linux and macOS users who want efficient, automated backups with full control over encryption keys and retention policies.
[Read our full guide: How to Self-Host Borgmatic]
Restic — Best Cross-Platform Option
Restic is a single Go binary that runs on Linux, macOS, Windows, and FreeBSD. It supports 20+ storage backends natively: local disk, SFTP, S3, Backblaze B2, Azure, Google Cloud Storage, and more. No plugins, no configuration hell — just restic -r s3:bucket backup /data.
Restic’s snapshot model is clean: each backup is an immutable snapshot. Browse any point in time, restore individual files, or do a full restore. Deduplication and encryption are always on — no opt-in required.
Best for: Users who need cross-platform support or want to back up directly to cloud storage (S3, B2, etc.) without an intermediate server.
[Read our full guide: How to Self-Host Restic]
Duplicati — Best for Non-Technical Users
Duplicati has a full web UI for configuring and monitoring backups — no command line required. Schedule backups, browse restore points, configure email notifications, and manage multiple backup jobs through the browser. It supports AES-256 encryption, 25+ cloud storage backends, and incremental backups.
Duplicati is the most accessible CrashPlan replacement. The setup wizard walks through backup configuration step by step. The trade-off: it’s slower than Restic or BorgBackup and the .NET runtime uses more memory.
Best for: Users who want a GUI-based backup tool similar to CrashPlan’s interface. Windows users. Anyone who doesn’t want to touch the command line.
[Read our full guide: How to Self-Host Duplicati]
Kopia — Best Modern Option
Kopia is the newest entrant in this space and it shows — the design is modern, the performance is excellent, and it includes both a CLI and a web UI. Kopia uses content-defined chunking for deduplication (similar to Restic but with a different algorithm), supports compression, and encrypts everything by default.
Kopia’s web UI is the best of any backup tool in this list. It shows repository stats, snapshots, policies, and even lets you browse file contents within snapshots.
Best for: Users who want a modern, actively developed backup tool with both CLI and GUI options.
[Read our full guide: How to Self-Host Kopia]
Migration Guide
CrashPlan doesn’t provide a standard export format, so migration is a fresh start:
- While CrashPlan is still active, identify everything it’s backing up (check the CrashPlan client’s file selection)
- Deploy your chosen self-hosted tool and configure it to back up the same paths
- Run an initial full backup (this takes the longest — subsequent backups are incremental)
- Verify the backup by restoring a few test files
- Once you’ve confirmed at least one successful backup cycle, cancel CrashPlan
- Keep CrashPlan active for at least 2 weeks of overlap to ensure your new solution works reliably
Storage Backend Recommendations
| Use Case | Recommended Backend | Approximate Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Home server backup | Hetzner Storage Box | €3.81/month (1TB) |
| Cloud backup (US) | Backblaze B2 | $5/month (1TB) |
| Cloud backup (budget) | Wasabi | $6.99/month (1TB, no egress) |
| Local NAS | NFS/SMB share | Hardware cost only |
| Off-site to friend’s server | SSH/SFTP | Free (reciprocal) |
Cost Comparison
| CrashPlan Business | Borgmatic + Storage Box | |
|---|---|---|
| Backup software | $10/device/month | $0 |
| Storage (1TB) | Included (limited) | €3.81/month (~$4) |
| 3 devices (annual) | $360/year | ~$48/year |
| 3-year cost (3 devices) | $1,080 | ~$144 |
| Encryption key holder | CrashPlan | You |
| Retention | 90 days | Unlimited |
| Restore speed | Slow | Fast |
Self-hosting saves $312/year for a 3-device household, with better retention, faster restores, and encryption keys you control.
What You Give Up
- Zero-configuration cloud storage. CrashPlan handles storage provisioning, capacity management, and geographic redundancy. Self-hosted means choosing and managing your own storage backend.
- Mobile device backup. CrashPlan has native mobile apps. BorgBackup and Restic are server/desktop tools — mobile backup requires a separate solution (Syncthing, or cloud provider mobile backup).
- Centralized management console. CrashPlan’s admin console shows all devices and their backup status in one place. Self-hosted tools require building your own monitoring (or using something like Uptime Kuma to check backup health).
- Automatic updates. CrashPlan updates itself. Self-hosted tools need manual updates (or container image updates via your orchestration).
- Support. CrashPlan includes support. Self-hosted means community forums and documentation.
FAQ
Which tool should I pick if I’m coming from CrashPlan?
If you’re comfortable with command line: Borgmatic (best deduplication) or Restic (best cross-platform). If you want a GUI: Duplicati (most similar to CrashPlan’s interface) or Kopia (modern UI with CLI option).
Can I do the 3-2-1 backup rule with self-hosted tools?
Yes, and more easily than with CrashPlan. 3 copies: original + local backup + remote backup. 2 media types: SSD + HDD, or disk + cloud. 1 offsite: SSH to a friend’s server, or S3/B2 cloud storage. Configure multiple repositories in Restic or Borgmatic.
How do I monitor if backups are actually running?
Borgmatic and Restic support health check pings (e.g., to Healthchecks.io or Uptime Kuma). Configure a post-backup hook that pings a URL. If the ping stops arriving, you know backups failed.
Can these tools back up running databases?
Not directly from files — you’ll get a corrupted backup. Use pre-backup hooks: pg_dump for PostgreSQL, mysqldump for MySQL, then back up the dump files. Both Borgmatic and Restic support pre/post-backup command hooks for exactly this purpose.
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