4,247 stars · Apache-2.0, with GPL-3.0-or-later covering the optional LZO compression support · v3.0.9 (2026-08-20, ungh) · Track this in Scout
Backup and restore for several database systems, straight into cloud storage, able to rewind to any point in time.
▶Repo detailsthe review · specs · pros & cons · install
What it is
WAL-G is a backup tool written in Go. It supports PostgreSQL, Greenplum, MySQL and MariaDB, and Microsoft SQL Server, with MongoDB, Redis and FoundationDB marked as beta. It writes compressed, encrypted backups to S3, Azure, Google Cloud or a local folder.
What it is good for. Anyone running a database that holds something that cannot be retyped. The situation it fixes is the common one: a nightly dump into a folder, never tested, that turns out to be four months stale on the morning it is needed. WAL-G gives point-in-time recovery, which means restoring to 14:32 yesterday rather than to whenever the last dump happened to run. It suits a mixed estate especially well, because one tool covers PostgreSQL and MySQL rather than two tools with two sets of habits.
- Point-in-time recovery, so an accidental
DELETEat lunchtime does not cost the whole day. - Several database systems through one tool, one configuration style and one set of commands.
- Apache-2.0, and moving quickly: release v3.0.9, dated 20 August 2026, welcomed twenty-six first-time contributors and made the MySQL point-in-time image production-ready.
- It is a configuration file and a set of commands. There is no screen, no dashboard and no green tick. The documentation has to be read.
- The support is uneven. PostgreSQL is mature; MongoDB, Redis and FoundationDB are marked beta, and beta on a backup tool deserves the ordinary amount of suspicion.
- The licence is Apache-2.0, except that the optional LZO compression support is GPL-3.0-or-later. A prebuilt binary with LZO in it carries that condition, which matters if the tool is being redistributed inside something else.
pgbackrest/pgbackrestEdition 18 covered this one; PostgreSQL only, written in C, with stronger verification of its own backups and a longer track record.
Track this in Scout- pgmoneta/pgmoneta
A much smaller and newer PostgreSQL backup tool in C, 319 stars, with a lighter configuration and far less history behind it.
Track this in Scout - EnterpriseDB/barman
A Python backup manager for PostgreSQL with a stronger focus on managing many servers from one place.
Track this in Scout
curl -L -o wal-g.tar.gz \ https://github.com/wal-g/wal-g/releases/download/v3.0.9/wal-g-pg-ubuntu-20.04-amd64.tar.gz tar -xzf wal-g.tar.gz sudo mv wal-g-pg-ubuntu-20.04-amd64 /usr/local/bin/wal-g wal-g --version
