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Kopia Review

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Should I use Kopia?

Fast and Secure Open-Source Backup Software for Windows, Mac, and Linux - kopia.io

· 1 month ago

Free, fast, encrypted open-source backup that technical users and self-hosters love. Skip it if you want vendor support, or run a server you won't keep patched.

Confidence

Medium. Based on ~15 usable public sources. Unrelated 'Kopia' entities (kopia.ai, KOPIA agriculture program) excluded.

Ratings

  • Value for money
  • Ease of use
  • Feature depth
  • Support quality
  • Security posture

Pricing

$0

Open Source

ModelNot disclosed
Monthly feesNot disclosed
HardwareNot disclosed
Free tierYes

Best for

  • Self-hosters and NAS owners
  • Multi-OS households and small offices
  • Developers backing up to S3/B2
  • Privacy-focused users wanting encrypted dedup

Not for

  • Non-technical users wanting set-and-forget backups — use Backblaze or Time Machine
  • Businesses needing vendor SLAs and support contracts
  • Anyone who won't promptly patch an internet-exposed Kopia server
  • Guess: enterprises needing certified compliance and managed backup

Gotchas - check before you buy

high

Patch to 0.23.0+ before running Kopia server; unauthenticated RCE (CVE-2026-45695)

high

Never expose the Kopia server to the public internet unauthenticated

medium

Free software, but you pay for storage backend (S3, B2) and your time

medium

Default settings have caused silent backup failures — verify your first restore

Pros and cons

Pros

  • Completely free and open-source, no paid tiers
  • Users call it the fastest backup tool they've tried
  • Cross-platform with a user-friendly desktop app
  • Encryption by default plus ransomware-resistant backup mode
  • Backs up to many targets including cloud object storage

Cons

  • Critical unauthenticated RCE in server mode (CVE-2026-45695)
  • Reported dangerous default settings caused backups to fail entirely
  • Metadata can leak into logs
  • Some users report performance issues on large datasets

Sources & method

- 10 sources - Encrypted by default; one critical server RCE (CVE-2026-45695) fixed in 0.23.0 — run the latest version.

official x2review x6security x2
  • CVE-2026-45695 — Unauthenticated RCE via SSH ProxyCommand injection, Affects Kopia server before 0.23.0; rated critical; fixed in 0.23.0.
  • Server mode security concerns, User-reported GitHub issue flags the Kopia server as insecure; forums note metadata leaks to logs.

Key stats

  • Value for money: 5/5

    Rating

  • $0

    Starting price

  • 10

    Sources

  • Analyzed

  • Value for money: 5/5. Free, unlimited, open-source
  • Ease of use: 3/5. Desktop GUI helps; defaults reportedly cause failures
  • Feature depth: 5/5. Encryption, dedup, compression, ransomware mode, many backends
  • Support quality: 2/5. Community forums only; no paid support
  • Security posture: 3/5. Strong encryption; critical server RCE in 2026
  • $0 Price Fully open-source, all features free
  • Yes Free tier No paid tiers; costs are your storage backend
  • 1 Known critical CVEs CVE-2026-45695, fixed in 0.23.0
  • 3 Platforms Windows, macOS, Linux

Pricing

Open Source

$0

  • Unlimited backups on Windows, Mac, Linux
  • Encryption, dedup, compression, ransomware mode
  • Community support only

Security

Encrypted by default; one critical server RCE (CVE-2026-45695) fixed in 0.23.0 — run the latest version.

  • CVE-2026-45695 — Unauthenticated RCE via SSH ProxyCommand injectionAffects Kopia server before 0.23.0; rated critical; fixed in 0.23.0.⁷
  • Server mode security concernsUser-reported GitHub issue flags the Kopia server as insecure; forums note metadata leaks to logs.

What users say

Overwhelmingly positive among self-hosters and technical users who praise its speed, with a minority reporting defaults and performance issues.

“Kopia is by far the fastest backup tool I have ever tried”
LowEndTalk
“Kopia is brilliant”
Reddit, r/selfhosted
“Render me a happy guy. I now am an all-in fan”
Reddit, r/selfhosted
Full analysis

Based on ~15 usable public sources. Unrelated 'Kopia' entities (kopia.ai, KOPIA agriculture program) excluded.

Free, fast open-source backup loved by self-hosters — but patch the server RCE before exposing anything.

Methodology

Based on ~15 usable public sources. Unrelated 'Kopia' entities (kopia.ai, KOPIA agriculture program) excluded.

Read how a report is made.

Sources

  1. Kopia official sitekopia.io
    official
  2. Kopia GitHub repositorygithub.com
    official
  3. Kopia is brilliant : r/selfhostedreddit.com
    review
  4. Kopia is by far the fastest backup tool — LowEndTalklowendtalk.com
    review
  5. MakeUseOf: open-source backup reviewmakeuseof.com
    review
  6. Kopia Backup RCE Vulnerability — Orca Securityorca.security
    security
  7. CVE-2026-45695 — NVDnvd.nist.gov
    security
  8. Dangerous default settings cause backup failures — GitHub issuegithub.com
    review
  9. Duplicati vs Duplicacy vs Kopia vs Vorta comparisonforum.duplicati.com
    review
  10. macOS backups with Kopia and Backblazehmarr.com
    review

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