RankMe vs Backrest
Backrest is a free, open-source web UI and scheduler wrapped around restic. It is the closest tool to RankMe and an excellent generic restic frontend. The gap: Backrest is not Docker-aware — it backs up paths, so a live Postgres data directory gets copied instead of dumped, and there is no restore-drill verification.
At a glance
| Capability | RankMe | Backrest |
|---|---|---|
| Docker-aware database dumps | Auto-detects Postgres/MySQL/MariaDB/Mongo and dumps from the running container | None — backs up whatever host paths you point it at, including live DB files |
| Compose + reverse-proxy detection | Scans docker-compose.yml, .env, volumes, and Traefik/nginx config automatically | Manual — you list every path yourself |
| Automated restore-drill verification | Scheduled restore-to-scratch + diff vs source proves the backup restores | restic check verifies repo integrity only, not restorability |
| Failure alerting | Resend email alerts plus a dead-man’s-switch heartbeat catch silent stalls | Basic notification hooks; no heartbeat / dead-man’s-switch |
| Per-project billing for agencies | Per-project metering and multi-VPS fleet view | None (not a product goal) |
| Underlying backup engine | Restic (encrypted, deduplicated, incremental) — standard repos | Restic (same engine) — standard repos |
| Price | Free self-host tier; paid Pro/Business for scale + support | Free and open-source, no paid tier |
| Lock-in | Standard restic repos on your storage VPS — restore without RankMe | Standard restic repos — restore without Backrest |
Who each is for
You run databases in Docker and want them dumped correctly (pg_dumpall, mysqldump --single-transaction, mongodump --oplog) and drill-verified — not copied live.
Self-hosters who back up plain files and directories and are comfortable adding their own pre-backup database dump hooks.
Migrating to RankMe
Both tools write standard restic repositories, so migration is low-risk: point RankMe at your existing restic repo and it reads your snapshots directly. The one change worth making is to stop backing up live database data directories and let RankMe’s adapters dump them from the container instead. Your retention and prune policies map across one-to-one.
Last updated: July 2026
Frequently asked questions
Is RankMe a fork of Backrest?
No. Both use restic as the engine, but RankMe is a separate MERN application built around Docker-project awareness: adapter-based database dumps, Compose/reverse-proxy detection, and automated restore drills. Backrest is a generic restic UI.
Backrest is free — why pay for RankMe?
RankMe has a free self-host tier too. You pay only when you want scheduling at scale, email alerts, more projects, or per-project billing for many client servers. The database-adapter and restore-drill correctness features are the reason to switch, not the price.
Can Backrest back up my Postgres container correctly?
Only if you add your own pre-backup hook that runs pg_dumpall and writes the dump to a path Backrest then backs up. Out of the box it copies the live data directory, which is not a consistent, restorable dump. RankMe does the dump for you.
Will my existing restic repo work with RankMe?
Yes. RankMe reads standard restic repositories. Point it at the same repo and password and your Backrest-created snapshots are visible immediately.
Does Backrest verify that backups restore?
Backrest can run restic check, which validates repository integrity. It does not restore the data to a scratch location and diff it against the source. RankMe runs that restore drill on a schedule so you know recovery works before you need it.