Tink vs Duplicacy
Duplicacy stores lock-free snapshots behind a snapshot ID. That is not a mechanic. Tink installs in one command, watches the Linux host, explains what is wrong, and helps you fix it.
Duplicacy runs the snapshot. Tink answers “why is this VPS sick?”
Accidental sysadmins land on Duplicacy because a lock-free chunk store looks cheaper than a NAS. Then the host volume fills, nginx dies, and duplicacy list still looks complete — no snapshot match for host fill. A filling /var is a Tink warning; it is not a Duplicacy job unless you scraped cron mail 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 Duplicacy if you already run snapshots. Use Tink if you run Linux servers and want a mechanic.
| Feature | Tink | Duplicacy |
|---|---|---|
| Setup time | 30 seconds (one curl | sh command) | Hours — duplicacy init, .duplicacy/preferences, storage URL, snapshot ID, then a host that still has no mechanic after the last backup reports chunks uploaded |
| What you get | Working monitoring, diagnosis, and approved fixes | Lock-free snapshots and a snapshot ID. Disk fill, nginx, Postgres, and certs stay your problem until you SSH past duplicacy list |
| Pricing | Free (Scout) / $9 / $29 per machine per month | CLI personal use is free; commercial CLI and Web Edition are licensed. You still pay the person who owns the VPS after the last duplicacy backup stays clean |
| Hidden costs | None — fully managed | A quiet overnight snapshot, a healthy storage URL that is not host fill, and a second tool to tell you the box is sick while duplicacy list still looks complete |
| Monitoring approach | Agent on the server — CPU, disk, services, logs, certs, ports | Duplicacy CLI, .duplicacy/preferences, chunk store, and remote snapshots. Duplicacy does not watch a quiet cert or host auth.log after the last backup finished |
| Configuration | None after install — heuristics and AI | .duplicacy/preferences, storage URL, snapshot ID, filters, prune schedule, and which failed duplicacy backup actually pages you |
| Plain-English diagnosis | Yes — AI explains root cause, impact, and fix | You read duplicacy list and duplicacy check, then SSH into the host to change the Linux box Duplicacy already sits on |
| Fix execution | Proposes and executes approved commands with an audit trail | duplicacy backup and duplicacy restore — Duplicacy cannot free host disk, rotate a cert, or stop SSH brute-force unless you restored that path |
| Alerting | Built-in across 8 channels | Not a Duplicacy job — cron mail from a failed duplicacy backup plus a separate monitoring tool have to fire |
| Predictive alerts | Yes — disk fills in ~6 days, memory and CPU trends | Not a Duplicacy job — a snapshot ID does not forecast a quiet host filling up |
| SSH brute-force detection | Built-in — parses auth.log every scan | Never — Duplicacy does not read host auth.log, journald, or firewall state after the last snapshot landed |
| Machine offline detection | Agent presence monitoring with multi-channel alerts | Silence if the Duplicacy cron dies after the last timer — unless you built a separate uptime check |
| Public status page | Shareable URL with 90-day history | None — Duplicacy has no customer-facing status page for the Linux host |
| Weekly fleet digest | Automated Monday digest + daily brief when issues are open | None — a duplicacy list recap is not a plain-English fleet narrative |
| On-call tracking | Built-in /oncall command + incident acknowledgment | Not included — wire failed duplicacy backup mail into PagerDuty or another incident tool |
| Conversation interface | Telegram, WhatsApp, web dashboard, CLI | duplicacy list and SSH. No mechanic you text when /var filled and the last snapshot still showed chunks uploaded |
| Learning curve | None — works after install | Steep — snapshot IDs, storage URLs, filters, prune, Web Edition :3875, and which failure is Duplicacy vs the running host |
| Best for | Freelancers, small teams, accidental sysadmins (1-50 Linux servers) | Teams that already run Duplicacy for lock-free snapshots, not a sick-VPS mechanic |
When Duplicacy is the right choice
Keep using Duplicacy when you already want that exact job:
- Lock-free chunked snapshots — you need .duplicacy/preferences, a snapshot ID, and a storage URL, not a mechanic.
- An existing backup stack — duplicacy backup timers, prune, and duplicacy list matter more than guest nginx, certs, and SSH on a quiet VPS.
- An existing lab or nested setup — Duplicacy already runs, the snapshot ID already exists, and someone owns the storage URL.
- Hosts that only page on snapshot or storage death — you already run failed duplicacy backup mail, not a sick-box SSH loop.
The real cost of “just watch duplicacy list”
Duplicacy runs snapshots and a snapshot ID. A working ops loop for five Linux boxes is not:
- A healthy snapshot 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 — Duplicacy will stay quiet until the next duplicacy backup fails
- A single VPS with a dead agent still needs a mechanic, not another snapshot ID
For a 5-server team, Tink Mechanic at $45/month is cheaper than the engineer who keeps failed-backup notifications alive after a Duplicacy storage URL, and every scan includes a diagnosis a quiet duplicacy list will not type.
No .duplicacy/preferences homework. No silent host. One command install.
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