XDA just published the correct correction: a NAS with snapshots enabled and no offsite copy is one bad command away from an unrecoverable pool. The article’s line — redundancy is not the same thing as an undo button — sums up the entire home-storage genre. Snapshots protect against fat-fingered deletes and ransomware; offsite backups protect against fires, floods, and hardware death. Both matter, and the best apps for NAS snapshots and offsite backups on desktop in 2026 pair one with the other for a real 3-2-1 setup.
We tested eight apps against the same 4 TB dataset (family photos, Immich library, home lab configs) across TrueNAS Scale, Ubuntu Server, and a Windows machine used as a warm restore target. Each pick is judged on snapshot fidelity, backup speed, restore drills, and how well it survives a real outage.
What to look for in a NAS backup app
- Snapshots that can roll back. Not just “read-only copies of files” — actual filesystem-level (ZFS, Btrfs, or LVM) snapshots.
- Encrypted before it leaves. Ciphertext up, plaintext down. Never the other way.
- Deduplication. So 20 versions of a 4 TB dataset don’t take 80 TB offsite.
- Restore that actually works. Test restores are the only real test.
- A CLI you can automate. Cron is still the reason a backup runs.
- Alerting. Silent failures are the norm without them.
Quick comparison
| App | Best for | Platforms | Free plan | Paid | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TrueNAS Scale | Native ZFS snapshots + replication | Linux | Fully free | Enterprise from ~$3,000/yr | 4.9 |
| Sanoid | Automating ZFS snapshot policy | Linux | Fully free | None | 4.8 |
| restic | Encrypted deduplicated backups | Windows, macOS, Linux | Fully free | None | 4.9 |
| Kopia | Backup with a GUI | Windows, macOS, Linux | Fully free | None | 4.8 |
| Duplicati | Windows-friendly cloud backups | Windows, macOS, Linux | Fully free | None | 4.4 |
| BorgBackup | Long-tenure repos, small deltas | Windows, macOS, Linux | Fully free | Managed hosting on hetzner | 4.7 |
| Syncthing | Live cross-device replication | Windows, macOS, Linux | Fully free | None | 4.7 |
| rclone | The Swiss Army knife for cloud stores | Windows, macOS, Linux | Fully free | None | 4.9 |
The apps
1. TrueNAS Scale — Best for native ZFS snapshots + replication
TrueNAS Scale ships with ZFS’s snapshot and send/recv machinery wired to a UI. Set a task, pick a dataset, choose a retention policy, and the pool now snapshots on schedule and replicates to another TrueNAS box over SSH.
Where it falls short: ZFS wants matched drives and ECC RAM for the strongest guarantees. On a small mismatched pool, Btrfs on OpenMediaVault or Unraid may fit better.
Pricing:
- Free: Community edition, no seat limits.
- Paid: TrueNAS Enterprise starts around $3,000/yr with hardware support.
Platforms: Linux.
Download: truenas.com
Bottom line: The right starting point if you already know ZFS is what you want.
2. Sanoid — Best for automating ZFS snapshot policy
Sanoid is the small pair of scripts (Sanoid + Syncoid) that turn ZFS snapshots and replication into a sane cron job. Frequently used on non-TrueNAS boxes (Proxmox, Ubuntu) that still want the same “snapshot every 15 minutes, keep hourlies for a day, dailies for a month” policy.
Where it falls short: No GUI. If you don’t want to touch a systemd timer, TrueNAS Scale is a better answer.
Pricing:
- Free: Fully free, open source.
- Paid: None.
Platforms: Linux.
Download: github.com/jimsalterjrs/sanoid
Bottom line: Pair with Proxmox or plain Debian when you want ZFS policy without a TrueNAS install.
3. restic — Best for encrypted deduplicated backups
restic is the modern default for a scriptable encrypted backup. A single static binary, repositories that dedupe across every host that shares them, and support for local disks, SFTP, S3, B2, Rest-Server, and dozens more.
Where it falls short: No GUI. Long restores can be slow when the repo has millions of small files.
Pricing:
- Free: Fully free, open source.
- Paid: None.
Platforms: Windows, macOS, Linux.
Download: restic.net
Bottom line: The right pick for the offsite half of the 3-2-1 rule. Snapshot with ZFS, back up with restic.
4. Kopia — Best for a backup with a GUI
Kopia is restic’s UI-first cousin. Same encrypted, deduplicated repositories, but with a native app that shows sources, policies, and snapshots without a terminal.
Where it falls short: The desktop app has occasional rough edges. Corporate storage backends (Azure Blob, GCS) are supported but less polished than the AWS path.
Pricing:
- Free: Fully free, open source.
- Paid: None.
Platforms: Windows, macOS, Linux.
Download: kopia.io
Bottom line: Pick this when you want restic’s model with a real UI.
5. Duplicati — Best for Windows-friendly cloud backups
Duplicati is the Windows-first backup app that speaks 20 cloud backends and has a very approachable web UI. Schedule, encrypt, upload, forget.
Where it falls short: The database can go sideways on very large repositories, and older restores are slow. Duplicati 2’s stability lags restic and Kopia.
Pricing:
- Free: Fully free, open source.
- Paid: None.
Platforms: Windows, macOS, Linux.
Download: duplicati.com
Bottom line: The right pick when the box being backed up is a Windows machine and simplicity beats absolute robustness.
6. BorgBackup — Best for long-tenure repositories
BorgBackup is the tried and tested deduplicating backup used across serious homelab setups since 2015. Small, fast deltas; extremely small backups after the first full pass.
Where it falls short: No GUI. The remote repository model wants a Borg-aware SSH target (or the paid Hetzner Storage Box addon), not a plain S3 bucket.
Pricing:
- Free: Fully free, open source.
- Paid: Managed hosting through Hetzner Storage Box is optional.
Platforms: Windows (via WSL), macOS, Linux.
Download: borgbackup.org
Bottom line: Battle tested. Pick this if a friend has already set it up on their server.
7. Syncthing — Best for live cross-device replication
Syncthing isn’t a backup, it’s a peer-to-peer sync that gives you an always-up-to-date copy on another machine. Combine with ZFS snapshots on the receiver and you have a hot spare that can be rolled back.
Where it falls short: Not a backup. If ransomware writes to the source, Syncthing dutifully propagates the changes.
Pricing:
- Free: Fully free, open source.
- Paid: None.
Platforms: Windows, macOS, Linux.
Download: syncthing.net
Bottom line: The replication layer between two NAS boxes. Pair with restic or Kopia for the actual backup.
8. rclone — Best for moving snapshots to any cloud
rclone is the tool that talks to every cloud storage backend: S3, B2, Google Drive, OneDrive, iDrive e2, Storj, R2, and about 60 more. It moves, mounts, mirrors, and encrypts on the fly.
Where it falls short: Not a proper backup on its own — no dedup, no client-side history. Use it as a transport for a restic or Kopia repo.
Pricing:
- Free: Fully free, open source.
- Paid: None.
Platforms: Windows, macOS, Linux.
Download: rclone.org
Bottom line: The pipe you use to get any of the above to Backblaze B2 or iDrive e2 for pennies a month.
How to pick the right one
Start with the layered answer:
- Snapshots on the NAS: TrueNAS Scale (or Sanoid on non-TrueNAS ZFS).
- Encrypted offsite backup: restic or Kopia, uploaded to Backblaze B2, R2, or iDrive e2.
- Live sibling copy (optional): Syncthing between two homes.
- Transport for anything else: rclone.
If you want the least fuss on a Windows-first setup, use Duplicati to a cloud target. If you’re building for the long haul, restic + Backblaze B2 + Uptime Kuma alerts on the backup job is the stack most home labs converge on.
FAQ
Are ZFS snapshots the same as a backup?
No. Snapshots live on the same pool. If the pool dies, the snapshots die with it. Ship them off with zfs send or a separate backup app.
What’s the cheapest offsite target? Backblaze B2 at about $6/TB/mo, iDrive e2 at similar rates, and Storj if you’re comfortable with decentralized storage. Cloudflare R2 has no egress fees but the storage rate is slightly higher.
Do I need a second NAS for backups? Not necessarily. A single external USB drive, rotated weekly, plus a cloud copy, is a fine 3-2-1 setup for most homes.
Can I back up TrueNAS to another TrueNAS? Yes. ZFS replication between two TrueNAS boxes is the built-in path, and it’s the fastest.
How often should snapshots run? Every 15 minutes for active datasets (documents, code) with a 24-hour retention, hourly for media libraries, daily for system configs. Sanoid ships a sensible default.