#KopiaLens vs Backrest

Backrest is the best-known web UI for restic: a self-hosted server that schedules backups, prunes and checks repositories, and lets you browse and restore from a browser. KopiaLens is a backup app on the Kopia engine with a desktop-first workflow and a much deeper view inside the backup. They solve the same "I need a GUI for my backups" problem on different engines.

	KopiaLens	Backrest
What it is	A backup app that shows what is inside your backups	A self-hosted web UI and orchestrator for restic
Works with	Kopia repositories	restic repositories
Platforms	Windows, macOS, Linux, Docker and NAS, Home Assistant, browser	Windows, macOS, Linux, FreeBSD, Docker
Scheduled backups	Built in, per policy	Cron schedules
Browse and restore	Yes	Yes
Several repositories	Yes, one connection each	Yes, with multi-repo views
Per-folder size after dedup	Yes	No; whole-repo graphs only
Reclaimable space and removal previews	Yes	No
Search across every snapshot	Yes	No
Remove files from old snapshots	Pro, guided with previews	No guided workflow; use restic rewrite and prune
Price (November 2026)	Free; Pro $20/year or $50 lifetime at launch pricing	Free

#What KopiaLens adds

• Where the space goes. Per-folder physical size after deduplication, reclaimable space, churn and a retention simulation. Backrest graphs whole-repo total size, compression ratio, snapshot count and blob count; it does not show per-folder or reclaimable figures.
• Search across every snapshot. Find every version of a file in one search.
• Guided removal. Take one folder out of every snapshot with a preview before anything is deleted (Pro). Backrest leaves removal to restic's rewrite command, with no preview of the space freed.
• Kopia's ecosystem. Standard Kopia repositories that KopiaUI and the kopia command line can also open.

#What Backrest does well

• A real web UI for restic. Import an existing restic repository, browse snapshots, restore files, and see operations without touching the CLI.
• Scheduling and health in one place. Cron schedules, prune, forget and check, with history.
• Notifications. Discord, Slack, Shoutrrr, Gotify and more.
• Hooks. Run shell commands before and after backups.
• Multi-repo and remote access. Run it on a NAS or home server and open it from any browser.
• Free, open source, cross-platform. One Go binary or a Docker container, built for restic's repository format. See KopiaLens vs restic.

For a headless home server and a restic user, Backrest is a strong default.

#Who should pick which

Pick Backrest for a restic user, a headless server, or a multi-repo setup. It is free and does the orchestration well.

Pick KopiaLens for a Kopia user who wants to understand the size of the backups and clean up old snapshots. It runs on the desktop or in Docker, but its strength is the view inside, not fleet management.

#Switching

KopiaLens cannot open a restic repository, and Backrest cannot open a Kopia repository. There is no conversion tool. If you move, start a new Kopia repository in KopiaLens and keep Backrest for the old restic snapshots until they expire.

The backup app is free. Pro, for cleanup, costs $20 a year or $50 lifetime at launch pricing. Download KopiaLens or see the plans.

Prices and product facts checked November 2026. Spotted something out of date? Email support@kopialens.com and we'll fix it.