Exactly what are you trying to back up? If it’s for something like, let’s say, a password manager, syncing is the worst way imaginable.

But if it’s for your Jellyfin media backup, rsync is pretty sufficient imo. They rarely change, costs pretty penny to back up and (relatively) easy to rebuild.

So it all comes down to what your scenario is.

There is absolutely no way you can avoid GH hosted project completely. It’s like trying to buy a phone without Chinese parts.