#14 of 16 open-source backup tools · Updated October 2026
Burp review 2026
Burp · One-maintainer project
Burp ranks #14 of 16 open-source backup tools in the Open-Source Backup Ledger 2026, with a Ledger Index of 35.2 out of 100. Burp is a lean, secure network backup tool with built-in certificate handling and block dedupe, kept alive by one person.
Scores
Source: Open-Source Backup Ledger 2026, edition 2026-10-02. How each score works: methodology.
Pros
No domain scores 4 or higher out of 5.
Cons
- Databases and applications1/5
- Replication and DR1/5
- New-platform support (VMware exit)1/5
What the Ledger says
Burp is a lean, secure network backup tool with built-in certificate handling and block dedupe, kept alive by one person. It has no cloud, tape, replication or hypervisor support and adds no features; the main risk is simply its bus factor of one.
No AI features.
Capability by area
Buying, lock-in and release record
Buying and licence (sustainability risk)(lower is better)
- Maintainer concentration5
- One maintainer writes over 80% of commits
- Backer health4
- No organisation
- Licence-change risk2
- AGPLv3, single copyright holder
- Abandonment signs3
- Slow but alive: releases in Dec 2025 and May 2026
- Security response3
- No security process
Technical lock-in(lower is better)
- Formats2.5
- Protocol 2 chunk store readable only by Burp
- Export path2.5
- Restore through Burp itself
- Stack coupling0.5
- Single C binary
- Hardware / cloud coupling0
- Local POSIX storage
- Skills and tooling coupling2.5
- Niche
Release credibility
- Cadence2
- No releases in 2023 or 2024; one each in 2025 and 2026
- Roadmap transparency2.5
- Public GitHub
- Say-do2.5
- 4 of 4 shipped, with lags of 16 to 35 months
- Velocity1.5
- 1 to 6 commits a year since 2023
- Lifecycle stability2.5
- Both protocols still maintained
Partners and services
- Paid support0.5
- None
- Consultants and partners1
- Third-party burp-ui only
- Documentation2
- Man page and website
- Community and packaging2
- Debian package, small community
Alternatives to Burp
Questions about Burp
Is Burp any good?
Burp ranks #14 of 16 open-source backup tools in the Open-Source Backup Ledger 2026, with a Ledger Index of 35.2 out of 100. Its weakest are databases and applications, replication and dr, new-platform support (vmware exit).
What are the best alternatives to Burp?
The closest by Ledger Index are BackupPC (33.9), Amanda (31.6), UrBackup (46.7), Bacula (51.8).
How is Burp licensed and sold?
One maintainer writes over 80% of commits.
How much lock-in does Burp bring?
Burp scores 8 out of 25 on technical lock-in (lower is better). Export path: Restore through Burp itself.
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