restic: Open-Source Backup Ledger 2026

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

Snapshot

Kind: Backup tool
Licence: BSD-2-Clause
Backer: Community; sponsors include Backblaze, rsync.net and Wasabi
Paid edition or support: No vendor support
Latest release: 0.19.1, 2026-07-05
Next signal: Memory reduction in prune, faster uploads, more verification
Archetype: Community tool, broad base
Evidence grade: A. Release dates verified against GitHub; health figures re-read from the API on 2026-10-02.

Scope of the scores: A backup tool: single binary, no central server or scheduler (wrappers such as Backrest add them).

Scorecard

Dimension	Score	Direction
Capability today	56.4 / 100	higher is better
Momentum since end of 2022	+0.0 points	higher is better
Credibility	21.0 / 25	higher is better
Sustainability risk	9.0 / 25	lower is better
Technical lock-in	4.5 / 25	lower is better
Support and ecosystem	13.0 / 20	higher is better
AI leverage	1.0 / 20	higher is better
Ledger Index	58.1 / 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)	1.5	1.5	1.5	1.5
Recovery (14)	3	3	3	3
Cyber resilience (14)	2.5	3	3.5	3.5
Storage efficiency and targets (10)	3.5	3.5	4.5	4.5
Long-term retention and tape (6)	3	3	3	3
Replication and DR (10)	n/a	n/a	3	3
Security and compliance (8)	3	3	3	3
New-platform support (VMware exit) (8)	1	1	1	1
Management at scale and automation (6)	2	3	3	3
Total / 100	44.4	47.0	56.4	56.4

Year by year: 2016: 44.4 · 2017: 44.4 · 2018: 44.4 · 2019: 47.0 · 2020: 53.0 · 2021: 53.0 · 2022: 56.4 · 2023: 56.4 · 2024: 56.4 · 2025: 56.4 · 2026: 56.4

What moved the score

Year	Domain	Change	Points	Trigger
2019	Cyber resilience	2.5 → 3	+1.4	Append-only REST server
2019	Management at scale and automation	2 → 3	+1.2	JSON output and REST server
2022	Cyber resilience	3 → 3.5	+1.4	Works with S3 Object Lock; integrity checks
2022	Storage efficiency and targets	3.5 → 4.5	+2.0	0.14: compression; Azure, GCS, rclone back ends

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
2023-07	0.16: dry-run prune, repository repair	D3 Recovery	C
2024-07	0.17: faster restores	D3 Recovery	C
2025-03	0.18: S3 Object Lock verification	D4 Cyber resilience	M
2026-07	0.19: multi-threaded restore memory optimisation	D3 Recovery	C

Centre of gravity: Recovery (3), Cyber resilience (1)
Driver mix: Vision 0%, Customer need 75%, Market window 25%, Upstream 0%, Portfolio 0%

Credibility: 21.0 / 25

Criterion	Score	Basis
Cadence	4	Two to five releases a year
Roadmap transparency	4.5	Public milestones and issues
Say-do	4.5	7 of 7 items shipped, 4 to 14 months
Velocity	4	Steady
Lifecycle stability	4	Format v2 introduced without forcing upgrades

Say-do record, 2023 to 2026: 7 items since 2023, all shipped within 4 to 14 months.

Sustainability risk: 9.0 / 25 (lower is better)

Criterion	Score	Basis
Maintainer concentration	3	Co-lead maintainer writes 57 to 76% of commits; two leads
Backer health	3	No company; storage-provider sponsors
Licence-change risk	1	Permissive, distributed copyright
Abandonment signs	0.5	Active
Security response	1.5	Active fixes

Project health: 36,373 stars, 1,901 forks; 475 open issues (median 46 days), 133 open PRs (11 days). 11 to 26 distinct authors a year.

Technical lock-in: 4.5 / 25 (lower is better)

Criterion	Score	Basis
Formats	2	Own repository format, documented
Export path	1	Restore, dump or mount
Stack coupling	0.5	Single Go binary
Hardware / cloud coupling	0	Any local or cloud target
Skills and tooling coupling	1	Common skills

Support and ecosystem: 13.0 / 20

Criterion	Score	Basis
Paid support	1.5	No vendor support
Consultants and partners	2.5	Used widely by consultancies
Documentation	4	Good documentation
Community and packaging	5	Largest community here; in all distributions; Backrest and resticprofile around it

AI leverage: 1 / 20

Strand	Today	Latest step
AI for protection / protecting AI	0	none
AI platform stack	0	none
AI-assisted operations	0	none
Agent openness	1	2019: JSON output

No AI features.

Reading

restic is the most widely adopted backup tool in this Ledger: encrypted, deduplicated, compressed backups to almost any storage, delivered reliably by a responsive project. It is a tool, not a platform: no central console, database agents or VM integration of its own.

Open questions and evidence caveats

Still a 0.x version number after ten years; the repository format is stable in practice.