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Disk ARchive (dar) vs rdiff-backup: catalog facts
Disk ARchive (dar)	rdiff-backup
Free Free; source code and static binaries are published.	Free Free and open source under the GPL.
Linux, Command line	Windows, macOS, Linux, Command line
Differential and incremental backups alongside full archives Built-in compression and encryption	The newest backup is a plain mirror you can read without the tool Reverse deltas keep history cheap while the current copy stays instant
Command line only Several parallel branches can make choosing a version confusing	No client-side encryption Restoring very old versions means replaying many increments
Downloadable app	Downloadable app
Open source	Open source
License not stated	License: GPL-2.0
No account needed	Not stated if an account is needed
Works offline	Not stated if it works offline
Official website Full listing and sources Checked September 24, 2026	Official website Full listing and sources Checked September 22, 2026

Catalog facts only. Anything “not stated” is unconfirmed. Check full listings for details.