Burp: Open-Source Backup Ledger 2026

Part of the Open-Source Backup Ledger (edition 2026-10-02). How the scores work: methodology.

Snapshot

Kind: Backup platform
Licence: AGPLv3
Backer: None; personal project of Graham Keeling
Paid edition or support: None (third-party burp-ui web interface exists)
Latest release: 3.3.0, 2026-05-30
Next signal: Compiler and OpenSSL maintenance; no feature expansion planned
Archetype: One-maintainer project
Evidence grade: A. GitHub API; dates match GitHub releases.

Scorecard

Dimension	Score	Direction
Capability today	38.2 / 100	higher is better
Momentum since end of 2022	+0.0 points	higher is better
Credibility	11.0 / 25	higher is better
Sustainability risk	17.0 / 25	lower is better
Technical lock-in	8.0 / 25	lower is better
Support and ecosystem	5.5 / 20	higher is better
AI leverage	0.5 / 20	higher is better
Ledger Index	35.2 / 100	balanced weights

Capability by domain

Scores 0 to 5 against fixed anchors; total is weighted to 100.

Domain (weight)	2016	2019	2022	Today
Virtual and physical servers (12)	2.5	2.5	2.5	2.5
Databases and applications (12)	1	1	1	1
Recovery (14)	2	2	2	2
Cyber resilience (14)	2	2	2	2
Storage efficiency and targets (10)	2.5	2.5	2.5	2.5
Long-term retention and tape (6)	3	3	3	3
Replication and DR (10)	1	1	1	1
Security and compliance (8)	2.5	2.5	2.5	2.5
New-platform support (VMware exit) (8)	1	1	1	1
Management at scale and automation (6)	2	2	2	2
Total / 100	38.2	38.2	38.2	38.2

Year by year: 2016: 38.2 · 2017: 38.2 · 2018: 38.2 · 2019: 38.2 · 2020: 38.2 · 2021: 38.2 · 2022: 38.2 · 2023: 38.2 · 2024: 38.2 · 2025: 38.2 · 2026: 38.2

What moved the score

Year	Domain	Change	Points	Trigger
n/a	n/a	n/a	n/a	No change since the first scored year

Direction, 2023 to 2026

Each item carries one theme and one driver (V vision, C customer need, M market window, U upstream, P portfolio).

Date	Item	Theme	Driver
2025-12	3.2.0 maintenance release	D12 Packaging and licensing	C
2025-12	GCC 14 build fixes	D12 Packaging and licensing	U
2026-05	3.3.0: status monitor memory fix	D10 Scale and automation	C

Centre of gravity: Packaging and licensing (2), Scale and automation (1)
Driver mix: Vision 0%, Customer need 67%, Market window 0%, Upstream 33%, Portfolio 0%

Credibility: 11.0 / 25

Criterion	Score	Basis
Cadence	2	No releases in 2023 or 2024; one each in 2025 and 2026
Roadmap transparency	2.5	Public GitHub
Say-do	2.5	4 of 4 shipped, with lags of 16 to 35 months
Velocity	1.5	1 to 6 commits a year since 2023
Lifecycle stability	2.5	Both protocols still maintained

Say-do record, 2023 to 2026: 4 maintenance items, all shipped, but 3.2 arrived about 35 months after first discussed.

Sustainability risk: 17 / 25 (lower is better)

Criterion	Score	Basis
Maintainer concentration	5	One maintainer writes over 80% of commits
Backer health	4	No organisation
Licence-change risk	2	AGPLv3, single copyright holder
Abandonment signs	3	Slow but alive: releases in Dec 2025 and May 2026
Security response	3	No security process

Project health: Bus factor of one. Last release 2026-05-30. 503 stars; 77 open issues with a median age of 1,413 days.

Technical lock-in: 8.0 / 25 (lower is better)

Criterion	Score	Basis
Formats	2.5	Protocol 2 chunk store readable only by Burp
Export path	2.5	Restore through Burp itself
Stack coupling	0.5	Single C binary
Hardware / cloud coupling	0	Local POSIX storage
Skills and tooling coupling	2.5	Niche

Support and ecosystem: 5.5 / 20

Criterion	Score	Basis
Paid support	0.5	None
Consultants and partners	1	Third-party burp-ui only
Documentation	2	Man page and website
Community and packaging	2	Debian package, small community

AI leverage: 0.5 / 20

Strand	Today	Latest step
AI for protection / protecting AI	0	none
AI platform stack	0	none
AI-assisted operations	0	none
Agent openness	0.5	2016: CLI; JSON in the status monitor

No AI features.

Reading

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.

Open questions and evidence caveats

Single maintainer: plan for the case where releases stop.