shouldiuse.io

VERDICT

Should I use rdiff-backup?

reverse differential backup tool, over a network or locally - rdiff-backup.net

Depends. Buy it if you're a Linux admin or terminal-comfortable user — it's free, proven for ~20 years, and gives versioned backups. Skip it if you want a GUI, vendor support, or a managed cloud backup.

Confidence

Medium. Based on 20+ public sources; no formal review ratings exist for this product, so scores rely on community and documentation evidence.

Ratings

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

Pricing

Free

Open source

ModelNot disclosed
Monthly feesNot disclosed
HardwareNot disclosed
Free tierYes

Best for

  • Linux sysadmins
  • Terminal-comfortable home users
  • Disk-to-disk backups over SSH
  • Zero-budget versioned backups

Not for

  • Non-technical users wanting one-click GUI backups
  • Businesses needing vendor support or SLAs
  • Anyone wanting a managed cloud backup dashboard
  • People who won't read man pages

Gotchas - check before you buy

high

Long diff chains make migrating away painful later.

medium

Zero vendor support; community mailing list is your help desk.

medium

Incrementals can crawl with many changed files; plan job windows.

medium

Temp directory may fill mid-recovery; reconfigure /tmp or free space.

Pros and cons

Pros

  • Proven solid across nearly 20 years of use
  • Works locally or over SSH, on Linux and Windows
  • Exact mirror plus unlimited incrementals for versioning
  • Latest backup browsable as a plain file copy
  • Completely free and open source

Cons

  • Command-line only; terminal comfort required
  • Slower than rsync due to stored version history
  • Some incremental backup runs take very long
  • Restores depend on long diff chains over time
  • Recovery can demand extra temporary disk space

Sources & method

Analyzed 9/22/2026 - 10 sources - No known vulnerabilities found in the sources reviewed.

official x4review x4news x2
  • Default SSH usage carries risk if the server runs as root, The man page warns that although SSH is secure, default rdiff-backup usage presents some security risks, e.g. when the server runs as root.

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