Tink vs Burp
Burp copies client backups, librsync deltas, and a server catalog. That is not a mechanic. Tink installs in one command, watches the Linux host, explains what is wrong, and helps you fix it.
Burp runs the backup. Tink answers “why is this VPS sick?”
Accidental sysadmins land on Burp because a network backup looks cheaper than a NAS. Then the host volume fills, nginx dies, and burp -a s still looks ok — no backup match for host fill. A filling /var is a Tink warning; it is not a Burp job unless you scraped the server log and watched it.
Tink is the other job: detect the issue on the machine, say why it happened in plain English, propose the command, and run it only after you approve. Keep using Burp if you already run network backups. Use Tink if you run Linux servers and want a mechanic.
| Feature | Tink | Burp |
|---|---|---|
| Setup time | 30 seconds (one curl | sh command) | Hours — burp.conf, burp-server.conf, SSL certs, clientname, include paths, then a host that still has no mechanic after the last burp -a t reports backups timed |
| What you get | Working monitoring, diagnosis, and approved fixes | Client backups, librsync deltas, and a server catalog. Disk fill, nginx, Postgres, and certs stay your problem until you SSH past burp -a s |
| Pricing | Free (Scout) / $9 / $29 per machine per month | AGPL and free. You still pay the person who owns the VPS after the last burp -a l stays listed |
| Hidden costs | None — fully managed | A quiet overnight burp -a t, a healthy catalog that is not host fill, and a second tool to tell you the box is sick while burp -a s still looks ok |
| Monitoring approach | Agent on the server — CPU, disk, services, logs, certs, ports | Burp server, clients, and restore points. Burp does not watch a quiet cert or host auth.log after the last backup finished |
| Configuration | None after install — heuristics and AI | burp.conf, burp-server.conf, SSL, clientname, include/exclude, and which cron actually pages you |
| Plain-English diagnosis | Yes — AI explains root cause, impact, and fix | You read burp -a s and the server log, then SSH into the host to change the Linux box Burp already sits on |
| Fix execution | Proposes and executes approved commands with an audit trail | Retry burp -a t — Burp cannot free host disk, rotate a cert, or stop SSH brute-force unless you restore the whole tree |
| Alerting | Built-in across 8 channels | Not a Burp job — cron mail plus a separate monitoring tool have to fire |
| Predictive alerts | Yes — disk fills in ~6 days, memory and CPU trends | Not a Burp job — a backup timestamp does not forecast a quiet host filling up |
| SSH brute-force detection | Built-in — parses auth.log every scan | Never — Burp does not read host auth.log, journald, or firewall state after the last backup landed |
| Machine offline detection | Agent presence monitoring with multi-channel alerts | Silence if the client dies after the last Success cron — unless you built a separate uptime check |
| Public status page | Shareable URL with 90-day history | None — Burp has no customer-facing status page for the Linux host |
| Weekly fleet digest | Automated Monday digest + daily brief when issues are open | None — a backup recap is not a plain-English fleet narrative |
| On-call tracking | Built-in /oncall command + incident acknowledgment | Not included — wire failed burp -a t into PagerDuty or another incident tool |
| Conversation interface | Telegram, WhatsApp, web dashboard, CLI | burp -a s and SSH. No mechanic you text when /var filled and the last backup still showed timed |
| Learning curve | None — works after install | Steep — burp.conf, SSL, clientname, include paths, and which failure is Burp vs the running host |
| Best for | Freelancers, small teams, accidental sysadmins (1-50 Linux servers) | Teams that already run Burp for network backups, not a sick-VPS mechanic |
When Burp is the right choice
Keep using Burp when you already want that exact job:
- Network backups with a Burp catalog — you need burp.conf, SSL, and burp -a t, not a mechanic.
- An existing backup stack — timed backups, restore points, and burp -a r matter more than guest nginx, certs, and SSH on a quiet VPS.
- An existing lab or nested setup — Burp already starts, the catalog already ships, and someone owns the Burp server.
- Hosts that only page on backup death — you already run cron mail from failed burp -a t, not a sick-box SSH loop.
The real cost of “just watch burp -a s”
Burp runs backups and restores. A working ops loop for five Linux boxes is not:
- A healthy backup still means you SSH into the host and change the box by hand when it gets sick later
- Host fill, nginx, certs, and SSH brute-force never appear unless a separate tool scraped those signals and a rule fired
- A filling /var is a Tink disk warning on every scan — Burp will stay quiet until the next burp -a t fails
- A single VPS with a dead agent still needs a mechanic, not another backup timestamp
For a 5-server team, Tink Mechanic at $45/month is cheaper than the engineer who keeps failed-backup notifications alive after a free Burp install, and every scan includes a diagnosis a quiet burp -a s will not type.
No burp.conf homework. No silent host. One command install.
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