---
layout: ../../layouts/UseCaseLayout.astro
title: "GitHub Backup Tools Compared: Self-Hosted vs Cloud Solutions"
description: "Compare Gitea Mirror with BackHub, Rewind, GitHub Enterprise Backup, and manual scripts. Choose the best GitHub backup solution for your needs."
canonical: "https://gitea-mirror.com/comparison/github-backup-tools/"
---

# GitHub Backup Tools Compared: Finding the Right Solution

## Why GitHub backups matter

GitHub hosts millions of repositories, but relying on a single platform comes with risks:

- **Outages**: GitHub experiences downtime (most recent: November 2024, October 2024, August 2024)
- **Account issues**: DMCA takedowns, TOS violations, or account suspensions can lock you out
- **Accidental deletions**: One wrong click and your repo history vanishes
- **Company changes**: Microsoft's acquisition led to policy shifts many developers disagreed with
- **Data sovereignty**: GDPR, HIPAA, or internal policies may require local data control

The question isn't *if* you need backups—it's *which solution* fits your workflow and budget.

## Comparison at a glance

| Feature | Gitea Mirror | BackHub | Rewind Backups | GitHub Enterprise Backup | Manual Scripts |
|---------|--------------|---------|----------------|-------------------------|----------------|
| **Cost/Year** | $0 | $600+ | $240+ | $21,000+ | $0 |
| **Self-Hosted** | ✅ | ❌ | ❌ | Optional | ✅ |
| **Setup Time** | 15 min | 5 min | 5 min | Days | 2+ hours |
| **Metadata (Issues/PRs)** | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ |
| **Releases & Assets** | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | Partial |
| **Wiki Backup** | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | Partial |
| **Git LFS Support** | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | Manual |
| **Auto-Discovery** | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ |
| **Scheduled Syncing** | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | Cron-based |
| **Data Ownership** | ✅ Full | ❌ | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ Full |
| **Restore Complexity** | Low | Medium | Medium | Low | High |
| **Multi-Org Support** | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | Manual |
| **Real-Time Dashboard** | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ | ❌ |

## Solution breakdown

### Gitea Mirror (Self-Hosted, Free)

**Best for**: Homelab enthusiasts, indie developers, privacy-conscious teams, cost-sensitive startups

**How it works**: Automatically mirrors your GitHub repositories to your own Gitea server using scheduled syncs. Preserves full history, metadata (issues, PRs as enriched issues, labels, milestones), releases, and wiki content.

**Pros**:
- ✅ **Zero recurring costs** - Just your hosting/hardware
- ✅ **Complete data ownership** - Everything stays on your infrastructure
- ✅ **Privacy-first** - No third parties touch your code
- ✅ **Customizable** - Open source, fork it, extend it
- ✅ **Docker-friendly** - One command deployment
- ✅ **Multi-arch support** - AMD64 and ARM64 (Raspberry Pi compatible)
- ✅ **No vendor lock-in** - Standard Git repos, portable

**Cons**:
- ❌ You manage the infrastructure (server, backups, updates)
- ❌ Community support only (no SLA)
- ❌ Requires basic Docker/server knowledge
- ❌ You're responsible for Gitea security updates

**Ideal user**: "I run a homelab with Proxmox/Docker and want full control over my GitHub backups without paying monthly fees."

**Setup**:
```bash
docker compose -f docker-compose.alt.yml up -d
# Visit http://localhost:4321, create account, add tokens
```

### BackHub (Cloud, $50-200/month)

**Best for**: Teams wanting zero infrastructure management, compliance-focused organizations

**How it works**: SaaS platform that backs up GitHub orgs/repos to their cloud storage. Offers point-in-time recovery and compliance features.

**Pros**:
- ✅ Fully managed (zero infrastructure)
- ✅ SOC 2 compliant
- ✅ Easy restore interface
- ✅ Supports all GitHub features

**Cons**:
- ❌ $600-2400/year minimum
- ❌ Your code lives on their servers
- ❌ Vendor lock-in for restore process
- ❌ Pricing scales with repo count
- ❌ No self-hosted option

**Ideal user**: "I need GitHub backups with compliance guarantees and don't want to manage servers."

### Rewind Backups (Cloud, $20-100/month)

**Best for**: Small teams, agencies managing client repos

**How it works**: Cloud backup service that snapshots GitHub data daily/hourly with web-based restore.

**Pros**:
- ✅ Simple setup (OAuth connection)
- ✅ User-friendly restore UI
- ✅ Supports multiple SaaS platforms (not just GitHub)

**Cons**:
- ❌ $240-1200/year
- ❌ Cloud-only storage
- ❌ Restore requires their platform
- ❌ Limited to their backup schedule
- ❌ No local/offline access

**Ideal user**: "I backup multiple SaaS tools and want one dashboard for everything."

### GitHub Enterprise Backup Utilities (Self-Hosted, Requires GHE)

**Best for**: Large enterprises already on GitHub Enterprise

**How it works**: Official GitHub tool for backing up GitHub Enterprise Server instances. Creates encrypted backup snapshots.

**Pros**:
- ✅ Official GitHub tool
- ✅ Enterprise-grade
- ✅ Compliance-ready

**Cons**:
- ❌ Requires GitHub Enterprise license ($21k+/year for 10 users)
- ❌ Only works with Enterprise Server, not GitHub.com
- ❌ Complex setup and maintenance
- ❌ Overkill for small teams

**Ideal user**: "We're already paying for GitHub Enterprise and need official backup tooling."

### Manual Git Scripts (DIY, Free but Brittle)

**Best for**: Minimalists with few repos and technical expertise

**How it works**: Cron jobs that run `git clone --mirror` for each repo.

**Pros**:
- ✅ Zero cost
- ✅ Simple concept
- ✅ No third-party dependencies

**Cons**:
- ❌ No metadata backup (issues, PRs, releases lost)
- ❌ Manual discovery of new repos
- ❌ No LFS support without extra work
- ❌ Fails silently (no health checks)
- ❌ High maintenance overhead
- ❌ No organization/bulk operations
- ❌ Wiki requires separate cloning logic

**Ideal user**: "I have 2-3 repos and enjoy writing Bash scripts."

## Decision framework

### Choose Gitea Mirror if you:
- Want $0 recurring costs
- Run a homelab or have spare hardware
- Value data ownership and privacy
- Are comfortable with Docker/basic sysadmin tasks
- Need to back up personal repos or small org (&lt;50 repos)
- Want to learn self-hosting skills

### Choose BackHub if you:
- Have budget for managed services ($50-200/mo)
- Need SOC 2 compliance
- Want zero infrastructure management
- Back up 10+ organizations
- Require guaranteed SLA

### Choose Rewind if you:
- Back up multiple SaaS tools (not just GitHub)
- Have limited budget ($20-50/mo)
- Want dead-simple restore UX
- Don't need self-hosted storage

### Choose GitHub Enterprise Backup if you:
- Already have GitHub Enterprise Server
- Need official support contracts
- Operate at enterprise scale (hundreds of users)
- Have compliance requirements for official tooling

### Choose Manual Scripts if you:
- Have &lt;5 repos
- Don't care about metadata/issues/PRs
- Enjoy scripting and troubleshooting
- Have time to maintain cron jobs

## Real-world cost comparison (5-year total)

Assuming 50 repositories, 10 active contributors:

| Solution | Year 1 | Year 5 Total | Notes |
|----------|--------|--------------|-------|
| **Gitea Mirror** | $0-50 | $0-250 | Only hardware/hosting costs (VPS: ~$50/yr) |
| **BackHub** | $1,200 | $6,000 | Scales with repos |
| **Rewind** | $600 | $3,000 | Mid-tier plan |
| **GitHub Enterprise Backup** | $21,000+ | $105,000+ | Requires GHE license |
| **Manual Scripts** | $0 | $0 | Plus hundreds of hours maintaining |

## Migration paths

### From cloud backup to Gitea Mirror
1. Export backup data from your cloud provider (if supported)
2. Deploy Gitea Mirror following the [backup playbook](/use-cases/backup-github-repositories/)
3. Let Gitea Mirror rebuild from GitHub (preserves all metadata)
4. Cancel cloud subscription once validated

### From manual scripts to Gitea Mirror
1. Note your current repo list
2. Deploy Gitea Mirror and connect GitHub
3. Auto-import handles discovery
4. Delete cron jobs once sync confirmed

### From Gitea Mirror to other solutions
Your repos are standard Git mirrors—clone from Gitea and push to any other service. Zero lock-in.

## Frequently asked questions

### Can I use Gitea Mirror alongside a cloud backup service?

Absolutely! Gitea Mirror adds a self-hosted "warm backup" layer while cloud services provide offsite redundancy. Best of both worlds.

### What if my hardware fails?

Snapshot your Gitea Mirror data volume regularly using ZFS, Btrfs, or tools like Restic. Store snapshots offsite. The GitHub → Gitea Mirror sync is idempotent—spin up a new instance, restore data volume, and it resumes.

### How does Gitea Mirror compare for disaster recovery?

**RTO (Recovery Time Objective)**: Minutes—just `git clone` from your Gitea server.
**RPO (Recovery Point Objective)**: Depends on sync interval (15 min - 24 hours typical).

Cloud services have similar RPO but may have slower RTO if you need to restore hundreds of repos through a web UI.

### Can I try Gitea Mirror without committing?

Yes! The Docker setup takes 15 minutes. Test with a few repos, evaluate, then scale or remove with `docker compose down -v`.

### Does Gitea Mirror work with GitHub Enterprise Cloud?

Yes, as long as you have API access and a personal access token. The GitHub API endpoint is configurable.

## Next steps

- **Ready to self-host?** Follow the [GitHub backup playbook](/use-cases/backup-github-repositories/)
- **Need multi-tenant?** See [Proxmox LXC deployment](/use-cases/proxmox-lxc-homelab/) or [Kubernetes Helm chart](/use-cases/deploy-with-helm-chart/)
- **Questions?** [Open a GitHub discussion](https://github.com/RayLabsHQ/gitea-mirror/discussions)

## Honest assessment

Gitea Mirror is **not** enterprise SaaS. There's no 24/7 support, no compliance certifications, no guaranteed uptime. It's a well-maintained open source project built by and for developers who value ownership and cost-effectiveness.

If you need a pager number when things break, choose a commercial solution. If you enjoy owning your infrastructure and solving problems, Gitea Mirror saves thousands of dollars annually while giving you complete control.

The best backup solution is the one you'll actually use and test. Choose based on your skills, budget, and risk tolerance—not marketing promises.
