Best GitHub Backup Tools & Solutions Compared

Your GitHub repositories contain the accumulated work of your entire engineering team — and GitHub, like any platform, is not immune to outages, accidental deletions, or account compromises. If you do not have an independent backup, you are one bad day away from losing code, issues, pull requests, and CI configurations. A dedicated GitHub backup solution removes that risk entirely.

This guide compares the leading GitHub backup tools on the market so you can pick the right one for your workflow and budget.

How We Evaluated These Tools

Before diving into individual tools, here are the criteria we used to evaluate each option. These reflect what actually matters when you need to recover code under pressure.

• Automation capabilities — Can it run on a schedule without manual intervention? Does it handle new repos automatically?

• Storage options — Where do backups land? Can you use your own storage, or are you locked into the vendor's infrastructure?

• Pricing — What does it cost at scale? Are there per-repo fees, or is pricing based on storage?

• Ease of setup — How fast can you go from sign-up to first backup? Does it require server provisioning?

• Security — Does it support encryption at rest and in transit? How does authentication work?

• Restore capability — Can you actually restore from a backup when you need to? How granular is the restore?

With those criteria in mind, here is how the top GitHub backup tools stack up.

1. Gitbackups

Best for: Teams and solo developers who want fully automated backups to their own S3-compatible storage.

Gitbackups is a purpose-built SaaS for backing up GitHub repositories to S3-compatible storage on an automated schedule. You connect your GitHub account using an access token, SSH key, or access key, select the repositories you want to protect, choose a backup schedule, and Gitbackups handles the rest. Backups are stored in your own S3-compatible bucket — whether that is AWS S3, DigitalOcean Spaces, Backblaze B2, MinIO, or any other provider.

Who it is for

Developers, teams, and organizations that want a hands-off backup workflow without giving up control of where their data lives. If you care about data sovereignty or need to meet compliance requirements that mandate independent backups, Gitbackups fits well.

Pros

• Fully automated scheduled backups with no manual steps after initial setup

• Backups go to your own S3-compatible storage, so you own the data

• Simple setup — connect GitHub, pick repos, set a schedule, done

• Supports access tokens, SSH keys, and access keys for flexible authentication

• Covers repositories, branches, and associated metadata

• Clear, predictable pricing without per-repo surcharges

Cons

• Focused specifically on GitHub (not a multi-SaaS backup platform)

• Newer to the market compared to some alternatives

Pricing

Check the Gitbackups website for current plans and pricing.

2. BackHub (Acquired by Rewind)

Best for: Historical reference only — BackHub has been absorbed into Rewind Backups.

BackHub was one of the earliest dedicated GitHub backup services. It offered daily automatic backups of GitHub repositories, including metadata like issues and pull requests. In 2020, BackHub was acquired by Rewind (formerly SaaSy), and the standalone BackHub product has since been folded into the broader Rewind platform.

Who it was for

BackHub originally served small teams and individual developers who needed a simple, no-frills GitHub backup without managing infrastructure.

Pros

• Was easy to set up and use

• Backed up repos and metadata (issues, PRs)

• Had a free tier for small accounts

Cons

• No longer available as a standalone product

• Existing BackHub users were migrated to Rewind, which has a different pricing model

• The acquisition means you cannot sign up for BackHub directly anymore

Pricing

No longer independently available. See Rewind Backups below.

3. Rewind Backups

Best for: Organizations already using multiple SaaS tools who want a single backup vendor.

Rewind is a broader SaaS backup platform that covers GitHub alongside services like Shopify, BigCommerce, QuickBooks, and others. After acquiring BackHub, Rewind integrated GitHub backup into its multi-service offering. It backs up repositories, branches, pull requests, issues, and other metadata.

Who it is for

Companies that want to consolidate their SaaS backups under one roof. If you are already using Rewind for another service, adding GitHub makes sense. If GitHub is your only backup need, Rewind may be more platform than you require.

Pros

• Backs up multiple SaaS platforms beyond just GitHub

• Covers repositories, metadata, issues, and pull requests

• Established company with a track record in SaaS backup

• Daily automated backups

Cons

• GitHub backup is one of many features, not the core focus

• Storage is managed by Rewind — you do not control the storage destination

• Pricing can be higher since you are paying for a broader platform

• Setup may involve more steps given the multi-SaaS scope

Pricing

Rewind offers custom pricing depending on the services and volume. Check the Rewind website for a quote.

4. github-backup-utils (GitHub Enterprise Server Only)

Best for: Organizations running GitHub Enterprise Server on their own infrastructure.

github-backup-utils is GitHub's official backup and recovery tool. It creates full snapshots of a GitHub Enterprise Server instance, including repositories, wikis, Gists, user data, and configuration. It is a command-line utility that you run on a dedicated backup host.

Who it is for

Exclusively for organizations running GitHub Enterprise Server (the self-hosted version). If you use GitHub.com (including GitHub Enterprise Cloud), this tool does not apply to you.

Pros

• Official GitHub tool with first-party support

• Comprehensive snapshots of the entire GitHub Enterprise Server instance

• Supports incremental backups to reduce transfer time

• Free and open source

Cons

• Only works with GitHub Enterprise Server — not GitHub.com or GitHub Enterprise Cloud

• Requires a dedicated Linux host for the backup process

• Significant operational overhead to set up and maintain

• You need to manage storage, scheduling, monitoring, and alerting yourself

• Restoring requires provisioning a new GitHub Enterprise Server instance

Pricing

Free (open source). But factor in the infrastructure and ops costs of running it.

5. Manual Scripts (DIY with GitHub API + Cron)

Best for: Developers who want full control and do not mind maintaining custom scripts.

The DIY approach uses the GitHub REST or GraphQL API to clone repositories on a schedule using cron or a CI/CD pipeline. A typical setup involves a shell script that iterates over your repos, runs git clone --mirror, and pushes the result to a storage destination.

Who it is for

Individual developers or small teams with strong ops skills who prefer to own every part of the pipeline. Also useful as a stopgap while evaluating dedicated tools.

Pros

• Completely free (aside from storage costs)

• Full control over what gets backed up and how

• No vendor dependency

• Can be tailored to specific workflows or storage backends

Cons

• You are responsible for writing, testing, and maintaining the scripts

• Error handling, retry logic, and monitoring are on you

• Does not back up metadata (issues, PRs, wikis) without additional API work

• Breaks when GitHub changes API rate limits or endpoints

• No built-in restore workflow — recovery is manual

• Scales poorly as the number of repos grows

Pricing

Free (your time excluded). Storage costs depend on your provider.

For a deeper look at building your own backup workflow, see our guide on how to back up GitHub repositories.

6. GitProtect.io

Best for: Organizations that need DevOps backup with compliance features.

GitProtect.io is a commercial backup platform for Git hosting services including GitHub, GitLab, and Bitbucket. It offers automated backups with scheduling, retention policies, and support for multiple storage destinations. GitProtect focuses on compliance and disaster recovery, offering features like ransomware protection and audit logs.

Who it is for

Mid-size to enterprise teams that need backup with compliance, audit, and disaster recovery features. Also a fit if you use multiple Git hosting providers and want a single tool to cover them all.

Pros

• Supports GitHub, GitLab, and Bitbucket from a single platform

• Offers multiple storage destinations including on-premise and cloud

• Compliance-oriented features like audit logs, retention policies, and encryption

• Supports both repository data and metadata (issues, PRs, wikis)

• Granular restore capabilities

Cons

• Pricing can be complex and higher for larger organizations

• More features than some teams need, which adds setup complexity

• UI can feel heavyweight compared to simpler tools

Pricing

GitProtect.io offers a free plan for limited use. Paid plans scale based on the number of users and repositories. Check the GitProtect.io website for details.

Comparison Table

Our Recommendation

There is no single best tool for every situation. The right choice depends on your team size, technical resources, and compliance needs.

For solo developers and small teams

Gitbackups is the most practical option. You get automated scheduled backups without managing infrastructure, and your data goes to storage you control. Setup takes minutes, and there is nothing to maintain after the initial configuration. If you want to understand why independent backups matter in the first place, start with our complete guide to backing up GitHub.

For teams using multiple SaaS tools

Rewind makes sense if you already use it for other services. Consolidating your backup stack under one vendor reduces the number of tools you manage. But if GitHub is your only concern, a dedicated tool will give you more control for less cost.

For GitHub Enterprise Server customers

github-backup-utils is the obvious choice — it is built by GitHub specifically for Enterprise Server. Just be prepared for the ops overhead of running and monitoring it. We have a detailed breakdown of github-backup-utils if you want to understand what is involved.

For compliance-focused organizations

GitProtect.io is worth evaluating if you need audit logs, retention policies, and multi-platform coverage. The feature set is broad, so make sure you actually need the extras before committing to the pricing.

For the DIY crowd

Custom scripts work for a handful of personal repos, but they do not scale. If you go this route, invest time in monitoring and error handling from the start. Most teams that start with scripts eventually migrate to a dedicated tool once the maintenance burden grows.

Whatever you choose, the critical point is to have a backup at all. GitHub is reliable, but no platform is immune to data loss. Whether it is an accidental force push, a compromised account, or a platform incident, having an independent copy of your code is a fundamental part of any disaster recovery plan.

Start protecting your repositories today — your future self will thank you.