Restic vs Rclone

Restic is a backup program with snapshots and deduplication, while Rclone is a sync/copy tool. They work together beautifully!

Quick comparison

Feature	Restic	Rclone
Primary Purpose	Backup with snapshots	File sync/copy
Deduplication	✅ Block-level	❌ File-level only
Encryption	✅ Always	✅ Optional
Versioning	✅ Snapshots	❌ No built-in
Incremental	✅ Automatic	⚠️ Manual
Mount backups	✅ Read-only	✅ Read/write
Cloud support	⚠️ Limited	✅ 70+ providers

Key differences

Restic (backup repository)

Creates time-based snapshots with full version history
Block-level deduplication saves massive storage
Always encrypted, no plaintext option
Repository format (not directly readable files)

Rclone (file operations)

Copies/syncs files as-is, directly accessible
Supports 70+ cloud providers natively
Optional encryption via crypt remotes
Mount, serve, and transfer capabilities

When to use each tool

Scenario	Better Choice	Why
Personal computer backup	Restic	Deduplication + version history
Sync photos to cloud	Rclone	Direct access to files
Server backup with history	Restic	Snapshots + deduplication
Cloud-to-cloud migration	Rclone	Direct provider support
Media server sync	Rclone	Files remain accessible

Storage Example (1TB data, 30 days)

Restic: ~1.3TB total (with dedup)
Rclone: 30TB (full copies) or 1TB (current only)

Using them together

The real magic happens when you combine both tools. Use Restic for backups with Rclone as the backend:

# Configure Restic to use Rclone backend
export RESTIC_REPOSITORY="rclone:gdrive:backup-repo"

# Now Restic can backup to ANY Rclone remote!
restic init
restic backup /important/data
restic snapshots

# Or use both separately for different purposes
restic -r rclone:gdrive:backups backup /documents  # Versioned backups
rclone sync /photos gdrive:Photos                  # Direct sync

Decision matrix

Need	Choose	Why
Version history	Restic	Snapshots
Direct file access	Rclone	No repository format
Deduplication	Restic	Block-level dedup
Cloud flexibility	Rclone	70+ providers
Simple sync	Rclone	Easier to understand
Compliance/audit	Restic	Immutable snapshots
Streaming media	Rclone	Direct access
Minimal storage	Restic	Deduplication

Common misconception: "Rclone backups are enough" — Be careful! Standard rclone sync overwrites old files. If you corrupt a file and sync, your backup is now corrupt too. Restic's snapshots prevent this.

Bottom line: Use Restic for bulletproof backups with history, Rclone for flexible file operations, or both together for the ultimate backup strategy.