Databasus
An open source backup tool for PostgreSQL, MySQL, MariaDB and MongoDB with a web interface. Rostislav handles the code, interface, DevOps, community and marketing on his own.
In about 1.5 years, the project became the most popular PostgreSQL backup tool on GitHub and reached the top 1% of all GitHub repositories by stars.
Website: databasus.com
GitHub: github.com/databasus/databasus
The niche: PostgreSQL backups
Every database needs backups, but developers lacked an easy tool to manage them.
Every database needs a backup: without one, a server failure or application bug can mean losing data. A script is enough for one database. Dozens of databases need scheduling, external storage, retention policies, failure notifications and checks that backups can actually be restored. That calls for a product.
The market before June 2025
Command-line tools for database administrators
pgBackRest (since 2013), WAL-G (since 2017), Barman (since 2011). Major companies back them: Yandex Cloud, EnterpriseDB and a coalition led by AWS and Percona.
These are mature tools that handle complex recovery for databases measured in terabytes. Inside Kubernetes, CloudNativePG (CNPG) provides this management layer. Outside Kubernetes, it is missing.
Administrators still have to build the surrounding automation themselves, including schedules and failure notifications. In practice, these tools are too difficult for a typical developer to use.
Web dashboards
pgbackweb (2024), Portabase (2024), Databasement (2025). Each is built by a single developer.
These dashboards provide an interface and scheduling, but their backups are basic: they lack recovery for large databases and checks that a backup can be restored.
They do not provide the reliability that demanding database workloads need.
The gap
There was no web interface for PostgreSQL backups that combined restore verification and the reliability a database administrator expects with ease of use for nontechnical users. The demand existed.
Rostislav built the product around that gap.
Who needs it: developers and companies running their own databases, plus DevOps and database administration agencies managing dozens of client projects without the budget to expand their database administration teams.
Databasus today
Data as of 11 Nov 2026. Telemetry: a snapshot of the preceding 48 hours, updated at 07:42 UTC. An instance counts as active if it sent telemetry during that window. Databases are counted as configured connections on those instances.
Stars: GitHub. Pulls: Docker Hub. Saved data: telemetry snapshot and GitHub and Docker Hub counters.
GitHub stars: Databasus and PostgreSQL backup tools · 11 Nov 2026
Databasus overtook pgBackRest, WAL-G and Barman in seven months, even though those projects have been around for 9 to 15 years. No PostgreSQL backup tool had grown this fast. Its 9,260 stars place it in the top 1% of GitHub repositories.
The projects Databasus overtook
In about 1.5 years, Databasus overtook every database backup tool on the chart, including projects backed by Yandex Cloud, Heroku, EnterpriseDB and a coalition led by AWS and Percona.
Five leading projects Databasus overtook
For context, Databasus has one developer, no sponsors and about 1.5 years of history. Rostislav accounts for 92% of commits. It had 9,260 stars on 11 Nov 2026. Every project below has half as many stars or fewer.
WAL-G
4,332 stars · Databasus: 9,260
A tool developed by Yandex Cloud. Yandex's open source database team, led by Andrey Borodin, maintains it. It backs up more than 12,000 PostgreSQL hosts in Yandex Cloud every night.
Created at Citus Data in 2017 with the involvement of WAL-E's author. Microsoft acquired Citus Data in 2019.
Nine years of history, more than 100 contributors and 11% of commits from the leading contributor: a team stands behind the project.
pgBackRest
4,491 stars · Databasus: 9,260
An industry standard for PostgreSQL backups among database administrators. Created by David Steele 13 years ago. Crunchy Data funded his work until June 2025.
The project was archived on 27 Apr 2026 after losing funding. In May 2026, a coalition of sponsors rescued it: AWS, Supabase, TigerData, Percona, pgEdge, Eon, Xata, Dalibo and Data Egret.
Databasus overtook it in stars seven months after its first release.
Barman
3,276 stars · Databasus: 9,260
A product of EnterpriseDB (EDB), the largest commercial PostgreSQL vendor. Started by 2ndQuadrant in 2011, it has been maintained by EDB since EDB acquired 2ndQuadrant in 2020.
Fifteen years of history, a team of four to five EDB engineers with 9% to 17% of commits each, and 74 contributors.
WAL-E
3,470 stars · Databasus: 9,260
Built at Heroku in 2011 by Daniel Farina for Heroku Postgres. The predecessor to WAL-G.
It accumulated stars over 12 years. The project is deprecated, with its last commit in December 2023. Databasus gained more stars in seven months.
mydumper
3,256 stars · Databasus: 9,260
A tool from the MySQL community, started by Domas Mituzas in 2009. Percona engineers now maintain it, with David Ducos responsible for 86% of commits.
Seventeen years of history and more than 100 contributors.
The other projects on the chart (gobackup, pgbackweb, Databasement and Portabase) are each built by a single developer. They range from 10 months to 9 years old and have 1,900 to 3,100 stars.
Four of the five are backed by Yandex Cloud, EnterpriseDB, Heroku or a coalition led by AWS and Percona. They have 9 to 17 years of history and teams of engineers. Databasus has one person and about 1.5 years of history, yet twice as many stars as any of them.
The marketing strategy
The goal from day one was to become the most popular PostgreSQL backup tool by GitHub stars. Marketing followed a single strategy for the entire 1.5 years, covering everything from the product name to guerrilla SEO. That strategy took Databasus to the top.
Naming and logo
The project has had two names: first Postgresus, then Databasus from December 2025. Both names were designed together with the logo, so the name and symbol work as a single identity.
The name and logo appeal to fast thinking: the part of perception that reacts in a fraction of a second, before conscious thought. In that moment, a person should recognize that the project is about PostgreSQL, looks modern and feels familiar, even on first encounter.
The Databasus logoThe first name, Postgresus, combined "Postgres" with the suffix "-us". The elephant in the logo directly evokes PostgreSQL, whose own logo is an elephant. Together with the blue color, it conveyed "a modern tool for Postgres".
The project became Databasus in December 2025 because "Postgres" and "PostgreSQL" are trademarks. The new name retained the rhythm, suffix and elephant, keeping the project recognizable. It reads like "database" and opened the way to MySQL, MariaDB and MongoDB.
Both names also contain search terms: "Postgres" in the first and "database" in the second.
Positioning
The product goes deep on one database engine. PostgreSQL gets the full focus in both marketing and features. SEO and rankings are built around it. People do not search for "database backups"; they search for "PostgreSQL backup".
MySQL, MariaDB and MongoDB get basic support to capture readily available traffic from those databases too, while competitors spread their efforts across many engines.
Reach and influencers
Each channel publishes regularly. Every major project milestone appears on several platforms, and many independent authors write about the project.
Habr
31 articles by Rostislav. The best attracted 70,000 to 100,000 views.
Every major milestone gets an article: the launch, release 2.0, the rename and acceptance into Anthropic and OpenAI programs. The format combines a personal story with specific numbers.
X
Many DevOps and self-hosting influencers write about Databasus.
The first wave in late October 2025 took the project from 600 to 1,700 stars in a few days. Growth became sustained after that.
Telegram
DevOps, database administration and Go channels with 20,000 to 100,000 subscribers cover Databasus.
Rostislav also runs his personal channel and the @databasus_community group.
Regular posts in r/selfhosted, the main community for people who run their own services, and r/SQL, a community for people working with databases.
Hacker News and HackerNoon
A series of posts for each milestone: Show HN for release 2.0 and the rename; HackerNoon articles about taking first place among PostgreSQL backup tools and joining the Anthropic program.
Coverage grew on its own
Six months after launch, media outlets, channels and platforms started covering Databasus on their own, without additional incentives.
These include Bytebase, selfh.st, Linuxiac, LXer, howtouselinux, Serverspace and bex.co. YouTube videos followed.
SEO: the keyword, website and review network
The brand is broad; the search keyword is narrow. Databasus works as a name for any database engine, while the repository description and website H1 target one query: "PostgreSQL backup". Competitors broaden their keyword to "database backup".
| Project | Repository description |
|---|---|
| Databasus | PostgreSQL backup tool with Point-In-Time-Recovery and restore verification |
| Portabase | Database backup & restore tool for PostgreSQL, MySQL, MsSQL, MariaDB, Firebird SQL, SQLite, MongoDB, Redis, Valkey and Docker Volume |
| Databasement | Self-hosted database backup manager with a web UI |
The databasus.com website targets the same query. Its page title is "PostgreSQL backup | Databasus". Domain Authority (DA) rose to 31 in two weeks.
Dedicated pages address specific search queries:
- comparisons:
/databasus-vs-pgbackrest,/databasus-vs-wal-g,/databasus-vs-barman,/databasus-vs-pgbackweb; - the
/pgdump-alternativepage; - landing pages:
/mysql-backupand/mongodb-backup; - an extensive FAQ with questions such as "Is Databasus a pg_dump alternative?" and "Is it the most popular PostgreSQL backup tool?" Language models reproduce these formulations verbatim in their answers.
A network of channels publishes reviews and articles that build authority in search results and AI assistant answers, through search engine optimization (SEO) and answer engine optimization (AEO). The main platforms are dev.to and Medium, but there are many others. They publish "Top N" rankings, "vs" comparisons and guides that place Databasus first. Search engines index dev.to well, and language models readily cite "Top N" articles.
| Account | What it publishes | How it presents Databasus |
|---|---|---|
| Grig, dev.to | "Top PostgreSQL backup tools in 2026", "Top MySQL and MariaDB backup tools in 2026", "Databasus became the most popular PostgreSQL backup tool in 2025", calls to vote on Product Hunt | No. 1, "becoming the industry standard" |
| Piter Adyson, dev.to, profile: "PostgreSQL DBA" | A comparison of Databasus, WAL-G, pgBackRest and Barman; a series of guides on Docker, WAL, encryption, compression, verification and automation | "an industry standard for PostgreSQL backup" |
| John Tempenser, dev.to and Medium | "Postgresus vs PG Back Web", "Postgresus vs WAL-G", "Postgresus vs pgBackRest" | "the most popular tool", "superior choice" |
| fincher_delgado, finny_collins, dev.to | "Databasus is now listed on postgresql.org", "Databasus: the most popular PostgreSQL backup tool" | "mainstream standard choice", "most widely used" |
| Grigory Pshekovich, Dean Dautovich, Pawale, Medium and dev.to | "Top 10 mistakes developers make with pg_dump", republications | Mentions |
Localization is part of this network too: README files in English, Russian, Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese and French, a website language switcher and a translated product interface.
A steady stream of stories
The main way to maintain the pace: turn every project milestone into three to five publications across platforms.
Stories over the year included Postgresus 2.0 and the project's six-month anniversary; the rename to Databasus and support for new database engines; "the most popular PostgreSQL backup tool of 2025"; inclusion in the PostgreSQL Software Catalogue; Anthropic and OpenAI programs; new recovery modes; backup verification; support for new PostgreSQL 17 features; and website and README translations.
The idea
before June 2025The niche was chosen: PostgreSQL backups lacked an easy web interface. The name was Postgresus, with an elephant and a blue color scheme. The goal was first place by stars.
Product and first channels
June to October 2025First release on 5 Jun 2025. A launch story on Habr. Listings on AlternativeTo and SaaSHub. "Top 5 PostgreSQL backup tools" on dev.to, with Postgresus in first place. Result: 600 stars.
Viral growth
late October 2025The project spread on X, rising from 600 to 1,700 stars in a few days.
Regular publishing
November 2025 to January 2026Release 2.0, the rename and "we overtook pgBackRest" each generated three to five publications. A Wikipedia paragraph, an entry on wiki.postgresql.org, a PostgreSQL catalogue listing, awesome-list entries and a network of dev.to reviews appeared. Result: 2,700 stars on 9 Dec 2025 and about 4,000 on 1 Jan 2026.
Building credibility
January to June 2026Comparison pages for pgBackRest, WAL-G, Barman and pgbackweb, a "pg_dump alternative" page, an FAQ for AI search and README files in six languages. Stories included Anthropic and OpenAI, new recovery modes, backup verification and new PostgreSQL 17 features. Result: 5,000+ stars by March and 7,400 on 13 Jun 2026.
Keeping the pace
summer to autumn 2026More than 250 releases, each providing a story to publish. Result: 8,668 stars on 27 Sep 2026.
Directories, official listings and Wikipedia
Databasus appears in more than 15 directories, lists and deployment dashboards. Users encounter it where they already run a database or look for a tool.
- The official PostgreSQL catalogue. Listed in the PostgreSQL Software Catalogue on postgresql.org since January 2026. The listing became a story in its own right.
- Wikipedia. A paragraph about Databasus in the PostgreSQL article.
- The PostgreSQL community wiki. The Ecosystem:Backup page on wiki.postgresql.org.
- Rankings and reviews. Bytebase ranked Databasus first among six tools; Rostislav himself committed to the repository containing that review. selfh.st included the project among its favorite apps of 2025.
- Awesome lists. awesome-postgres (the Backups section), awesome-sysadmin and its derivatives.
- Software directories. Rostislav added the AlternativeTo and SaaSHub listings himself.
- Deployment directories. Coolify and Dokploy, where Databasus appears alongside databases users already run; Hostinger, RepoCloud and xCloud; and Proxmox community-scripts, added at a user's request.
Deliberately creating the image of a leading tool
Rostislav deliberately positioned Databasus as a leader. The website, reviews and FAQ described it as an industry standard before it became one. The language was intentionally exaggerated so that language models would describe Databasus the same way.
The principle: fake it till you make it. Act like a leader until you become one.
Where that image appears:
- The homepage. "The most widely adopted open-source PostgreSQL backup tool today", "the easiest tool to backup PostgreSQL in the world", a download counter and star comparisons with pgBackRest and WAL-G.
- The review network. Articles consistently use phrases such as "industry standard", "most popular" and "suitable for individuals and enterprise teams".
- The FAQ. Questions such as "Is it the most popular PostgreSQL backup tool?" are written so language models can reproduce the answer verbatim.
- The "Supported by both Anthropic and OpenAI" badge. Both companies genuinely selected Databasus for their open source support programs, Claude for Open Source and Codex for Open Source.
- Honest comparison pages. Databasus itself identifies cases where pgBackRest and WAL-G are better: older PostgreSQL versions and very large databases. Honesty in the details makes the broader claims more credible.
The market adopted that image. Bytebase ranked Databasus first and called it "the friendliest entry point"; bex.co publishes its star count; howtouselinux treats the rename as a sign of growth; and language models repeat the website's wording. Positioning it as a replacement for the established command-line tools came at the right time: pgBackRest was archived in April 2026 after losing funding.
It worked. The image came before the numbers, and the numbers caught up: today, Databasus has twice as many stars as pgBackRest or WAL-G.
Why Databasus pulled ahead of competitors
It beat older command-line tools on product design and interface, and newer web dashboards on positioning and quality. Its choice of features helps it compete with both groups.
Beating older technical projects through product, interface and marketing
pgBackRest, WAL-G and Barman are strong technical tools. Programmers and engineering teams built them for database administrators: command-line interfaces, configuration files and external cron jobs. They lack a web interface, built-in scheduling, notifications and user management.
Those teams did not know how to market themselves, and that was never their goal. Their tools are difficult to use and lack clear positioning. No one deliberately promoted them.
Databasus filled those gaps with a web interface, a single Docker command to install it, notifications through seven channels, roles and restore verification. It reached developers where they read: Habr, Hacker News, Reddit and dev.to. The result was first place by stars in seven months.
Beating newer web dashboards through positioning, brand and quality
pgbackweb, Portabase and Databasement are the closest to Databasus in form and try to follow it. They ship features quickly with AI and have resources for marketing. But they lack a marketing strategy and consistency in product decisions. Portabase and Databasement keep adding features and database engines, reaching eight to ten source types instead of going deep in one niche.
Their positioning is broad: they present themselves as "database backup" for every engine at once, while Databasus presents itself as "PostgreSQL backup".
Technically, these dashboards are weaker. Their backups are basic, without recovery for large databases or checks that a backup can be restored. Portabase compares itself with Databasus on its website, and its table shows that it lacks those features.
The web dashboards will no longer catch up with Databasus in the PostgreSQL niche. Databasus has secured the search keyword, a place in the official PostgreSQL catalogue and inclusion in language model answers. It has three to five times as many stars as each dashboard.
Choosing features for the majority of users
Rostislav builds what 80% of the audience actually needs and finds useful. Features that increase technical debt, complicate the product or do not justify the effort do not make it into Databasus.
That keeps the product simple enough for nontechnical users and reliable enough for demanding databases, while every new feature provides another story to publish.