Setting up Backups to BorgBase
Time to get real on backups. đź’Ş The Setup section helps you to choose a backup tool and start backing up your files.
Step 1 - Choosing a Backup Tool
Currently BorgBase offers support for three backup tools. Choosing the right one depends on your specific situation. Here a quick comparison:
|  | Borg | Restic | V’Ger |
|---|---|---|---|
| Initial Release | 2010 | 2015 | 2026 |
| Deduplication | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Compression | Yes, different algorithms | Yes, Zstandard only | Yes, LZ4 or Zstandard |
| Encryption | Yes, optional | Yes, always | Yes, always (AES-256-GCM or ChaCha20, auto-selected) |
| Transport protocol | SSH | HTTP/2 | HTTP/2 (REST) |
| Transport authentication | SSH keypair | Username and password | Access token |
| Programming language | Python/C/Cython | Go | Rust |
| Multi-threaded | No (planned) | Yes | Yes |
| Configuration | Via wrappers (e.g. Borgmatic) | Via wrappers (e.g. Autorestic) | Built-in YAML configuration |
| Scheduling | External (cron/systemd) | External (cron/systemd) | Built-in daemon scheduler |
| Installation | Included in many Linux distros, single PyInstaller binary available, or with pip | Single Go binaries for many platforms available | Single binary for Linux, macOS, and Windows |
| Desktop GUIs | Yes, Vorta and Pika Backup | Yes, BackRest | Yes, built-in |
| Related projects and tools | Many community projects with additional tools, e.g. Borgmatic | Some, but not as many as Borg | Built by BorgBase, no wrappers needed |
Borg is the most mature and memory-efficient tool. Restic is well-established with a large community. V’Ger is the fastest in both backup and restore with the lowest CPU cost, and includes built-in scheduling and configuration. See here for an in-depth benchmark.
Here some rough guidance on which one to choose:
- If you want the fastest backups with built-in scheduling and a friendly YAML configuration, use V’Ger.
- If you already use Borg and are happy with it, there’s no need to switch.
- If you need the lowest memory consumption (like on a small VPS), use Borg.
- If you need a desktop GUI for macOS or Gnome, use Borg with Vorta.
- If you already have Restic scripts and workflows in place, Restic will continue to work well.
Step 2 - Create Backup Repository
Next you will create a new “repository” for your backup. A repository groups multiple snapshots (or archives) together and keeps related files. Usually one machine will use one repository. In some cases it can also make sense to share a repository between different machines to benefit from shared deduplication.
To add a new repository on BorgBase, log into your account, go to the Repositories page and click Add Repo. This will ask you to pick a name, region and format. There are also optional settings like limiting the storage quota.
Step 3 - Initialize Repository and Upload Files
This step will depend on the backup tool you chose previously. We provide you with copy & paste commands to get started quickly. To view them, head to the Setup page and choose the repository you just created. You will see commands for the chosen backup tool. For more details, see our documentation for each tool:
If you already have an existing repository, you can also import it using SFTP.