Open-source alternatives to Google Drive: 5 file sync and sharing tools compared
Every one of these keeps your files off someone else's servers, and each pays for that with a different kind of work: a PHP stack, a multi-repository build, a single Go service, or nothing at all if you own both ends of the sync. nextcloud/server is the one most readers should start with, because it is the only one here that also replaces calendars and contacts.
What Google Drive does, and why people look elsewhere
Google Drive is hosted file storage with desktop and mobile sync, sharing links, and the Google Docs editors built in.
- files are stored and indexed on Google's servers
- storage tiers priced per user
- no way to keep the data on hardware you control
The candidates at a glance
| Project | Licence | Maintenance | Language | GitHub stars | Install |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| nextcloud/server | AGPL-3.0Network copyleft: hosting a modified version means sharing source | Commits in the last six monthsLast push November 7, 2026 | PHP | 37,439 | See analysis |
| haiwen/seafile | Custom licenceCustom licence: read the LICENSE file | Commits in the last six monthsLast push October 16, 2026 | C | 15,433 | See analysis |
| owncloud/ocis | Apache-2.0Permissive: commercial use allowed | Commits in the last six monthsLast push November 7, 2026 | Go | 2,182 | Command documented |
| filebrowser/filebrowser | Apache-2.0Permissive: commercial use allowed | ArchivedLast push July 31, 2026 | Go | 35,865 | See analysis |
| syncthing/syncthing | MPL-2.0Weak copyleft: changes to its own files stay open | Commits in the last six monthsLast push November 5, 2026 | Go | 90,198 | See analysis |
Each alternative in detail
nextcloud/serverNextcloud server, a safe home for all your data. Do you want to learn more about how you can use Nextcloud to access, share, and protect your files, calendars, contacts, communication & more at home and in your organization?
- Best for
- You want a self-hosted home for files plus calendars, contacts, mail and chat, with a large app catalogue to extend it. The README describes syncing across devices, sharing, and apps including Calendar, Contacts, Mail and Video Chat, with encryption mechanisms, a HackerOne bounty programme and two-factor authentication.
- What you give up
- The releases listed are v35.0.0rc2 and v35.0.0rc1, which are release candidates, so the version you pin is a pre-release unless you check. Our analysis of Nextcloud also notes it needs PHP, a database and a web server run by you, and that it is not a static file server or a drop-in for a hosted sync service. All contributions since 2016 are under AGPLv3 or later, which is the term to read for the way you intend to modify or distribute it.
haiwen/seafileBeyond file syncing and sharing, a new way to organize your files with extensible file properties and flexible views
- Best for
- You want files organised into libraries that sync and encrypt independently, with metadata on top: the README describes library encryption with a user-chosen password, client-side encryption for desktop syncing, extensible file properties such as owner, deadline and status, and table, Kanban, gallery, map and statistics views.
- What you give up
- The split-repository design is the real cost. The README lists the sync client daemon, the sync client GUI, the server core, the server web UI, the iOS app, the Android app and WebDAV as seven separate repositories, and this one is only the client daemon, so you are assembling a server from parts. Licence terms differ per component, with GPLv2 here, AGPLv3 for the server core and Apache License v2 for Seahub. The release list is also old: the most recent tag shown is v9.0.5 from 2024-02-27 while the last push was 2026-09-18.
- Moving from Google Drive
- The README lists sync with existing folders and selective sync for any folder, so a directory you already have can become a library rather than being re-uploaded.
owncloud/ocis:atom_symbol: ownCloud Infinite Scale
- Best for
- You want a single binary or container today that can later be split into services, on Apache-2.0, with clients for web, Android, iOS and desktop. The README describes a scalable server based on reva using WebDAV and CS3, and web office through Collabora Online, OnlyOffice Docs or Microsoft Office Online Server.
- What you give up
- Our analysis of oCIS is blunt that it does not document a rollback path or an upgrade procedure you can follow without reading the changelog, which for a file store is the operational detail that matters most. Identity is also a decision rather than a default: users are authenticated through OpenID Connect against either an external IdP such as Keycloak or the embedded LibreGraph Connect, and the quickstart on this page runs with OCIS_INSECURE=true, which is an evaluation posture rather than a production one.
- First install step
- Full setup guide
docker pull owncloud/ocis
filebrowser/filebrowserFile Browser provides a file managing interface within a specified directory and it can be used to upload, delete, preview and edit your files.
- Best for
- You already run it, or you need a small web interface over one directory you are willing to expose through a reverse proxy that terminates TLS and authenticates users itself, with the process running unprivileged in a container.
- What you give up
- This one is finished, and the README says so directly: File Browser is archived on 2026-09-01, the last planned release has shipped, and there will be no further releases, bug fixes or security fixes. The last push was 2026-07-31. Two issue classes remain unaddressed: sessions are self-contained JWTs that cannot be revoked, so a leaked token stays valid until it expires, and the command execution feature is disabled by default because it is described as equivalent to shell access on the host.
syncthing/syncthingOpen Source Continuous File Synchronization
- Best for
- You own the machines on both ends of the sync and want files to move peer to peer over an encrypted connection with no server in the middle. The README describes selective folder syncing, conflict handling based on history rather than timestamps, delta transfer with resumable interrupted transfers, and syncing with two or more servers.
- What you give up
- There is no web interface for sharing with people who do not run Syncthing, and no mobile client in the official release set, so the sharing half of what Google Drive does is simply not here. Our analysis of Syncthing also says to confirm the device ID exchange works across your network and which of 22000/tcp, 22000/udp and 21027/udp your firewall allows, and to check whether your distribution ships a build with the automatic upgrade mechanism disabled.
A platform, a library model, one binary, one directory, and no server at all
Google Drive is hosted file storage with desktop and mobile sync, sharing links, and the Google Docs editors built in. People look elsewhere for three reasons. Files are stored and indexed on Google's servers. Storage is tiered and priced per user. And there is no way to keep the data on hardware you control.
The five projects here answer that with five different ideas about what a file is.
nextcloud/server is the platform. The README calls it a safe home for all your data and describes storing files, contacts and calendars on a server of your choosing, syncing them across devices, and sharing them, then extends that with hundreds of apps including Calendar, Contacts, Mail and Video Chat discoverable through an app store. It is a PHP application, and the paths to a running instance are several: sign up with one of their providers, install a server on your own hardware or with a ready-to-use appliance, buy a device with Nextcloud preinstalled, or use a service provider.
haiwen/seafile has a different organising idea: the library. The README describes collections of files called libraries, each synced separately, each encryptable with a password the user chooses, plus groups for sharing. On top of that it adds metadata management, with extensible file properties like owner, deadline and status, file tags with a parent-child hierarchy, and views including table, Kanban, gallery, map and statistics. It also carries collaboration features: OnlyOffice and Collabora integration, a built-in document editor called SeaDoc, a wiki, and an Excalidraw whiteboard.
owncloud/ocis is ownCloud's rewrite of its sync and share platform in Go, and it is the most deployment-flexible of the five. The README describes it as a single binary or container that scales from a Raspberry Pi to a Kubernetes cluster by changing configuration and starting more services, with a multiservice architecture that lets you reuse services you already run.
filebrowser/filebrowser is the smallest idea of all: a web interface over one directory, nothing more. And it is the only one of the five that has stopped.
syncthing/syncthing has no server at all. It synchronises files directly between two or more computers, which is the right shape when the only machines involved are ones you already own.
Left out, and worth saying why: the object-storage gateways, which give you an S3 bucket with a web interface rather than a sync service, and the peer-to-peer file sharing tools built for ad hoc transfers rather than ongoing sync. Both exist; neither is what someone leaving a hosted drive is usually looking for.
Why Dropbox and OneDrive are not on this list
Dropbox and OneDrive appear next to Google Drive in most of these searches and neither is here, because both are hosted services that store your files on someone else's infrastructure. That is the same property that makes Google Drive the product being replaced.
There is a fair argument for staying on any of the three. If a shared drive has to work for people who will never install a sync client or run a server, a hosted product is the only thing that satisfies that, and the fact that your files are indexed somewhere you do not control is the cost of it. OneDrive in particular sits next to the office suite a lot of companies already run, and Dropbox has a long history as a plain sync client rather than a collaboration platform.
The reason none of them qualifies is the third reason on the list: no way to keep the data on hardware you control. A compliance requirement, a contract, or simply not wanting an index of your documents to exist somewhere you did not choose is what makes this a search rather than a preference.
Also absent is a category worth naming: hosted services built on top of the open source projects here. A provider who will run Nextcloud for you is a real option, and the Nextcloud README points at a provider directory for exactly that. It keeps the open source software and gives up the part you were looking for.
And the last absence is the one people miss: there is no self-hosted equivalent of the browser-based document editors that come with the hosted drives. The projects here integrate with Collabora, OnlyOffice and Microsoft Office Online Server if you run one of those yourself, which is a different operating commitment from editing in a web tab.
Choosing by scenario: one person, a small team, a company with residency rules, a developer embedding file access
Who needs access, and with what, decides this more than any storage feature.
One person who owns two machines should look at syncthing/syncthing. There is no server to run and no account, and the README's goal list puts safe from data loss and secure against attackers above everything else. The cost is that it is a synchronisation tool, not a sharing tool, and the first-time device ID exchange is a small ceremony you do once per pair of machines.
A small team that wants a shared drive with a web interface should look at owncloud/ocis or nextcloud/server. oCIS is the lighter of the two to start, because it is one container and the same configuration scales up to a cluster. Nextcloud is the heavier one and the broader one, and it buys calendars, contacts and an app catalogue along with the files. A team that only needs files is paying for the rest of Nextcloud, and that is a reasonable trade rather than a wrong one.
A company with data residency requirements is usually choosing between those two plus its operational appetite. Both keep the data in your own network. The difference is PHP and a web server with a database for Nextcloud, against a single Go binary and container for oCIS, and the AGPL-3.0 terms of the first against Apache-2.0 for the second.
A team that wants files as a library with real metadata, rather than a folder tree, is the case haiwen/seafile covers and the others do not. Owner, deadline and status as file properties with Kanban and map views is a different model, and it comes with the assembly cost described below.
A developer embedding file access into a product should note that none of these is a component library. oCIS and Nextcloud both expose documented protocols, WebDAV and CS3 in the case of oCIS, which is the integration surface to build against, and that is a different commitment from adopting a hosted API.
What each one asks you to run, and the one you should not deploy
The install commands on this page range from a development build to a production-shaped Docker run, and that spread tells you most of what you need to know.
nextcloud/server shows npm ci followed by npm run dev. That is a source build of a monorepo whose third-party components arrive as git submodules, and the README says the stable branches should never be used on production systems. It is a reminder that the shipped artefact is a release tarball or an appliance, not a checkout.
owncloud/ocis shows the full quickstart: create the config and data directories, change their ownership, pull the image, run an init step with the insecure flag, then run the service with environment variables for the proxy address and the public URL. That is a complete evaluation path in five commands, and the README is explicit that the insecure flag is not a production posture and that the Prerequisites and Deployment pages should be read first.
haiwen/seafile has no install command in our analysis, which matches the split-repository design. The README points to a manual for building the server, and the fact that the manual lives outside the repository is itself a signal about how many parts you are assembling.
syncthing/syncthing also has no install command in our analysis. The README describes a build with go run build.go, a separate Docker README, GUI implementations for Windows, Mac and Linux, and release binaries that are GPG signed with a built-in automatic upgrade mechanism that is disabled in some distribution channels.
filebrowser/filebrowser shows docker compose up -d, and that is the one command on this page you should not run on a new deployment. The README's own guidance is to treat it as unmaintained software: do not expose it directly to the internet, put it behind a reverse proxy that terminates TLS and does its own authentication, keep the command runner disabled, and run it unprivileged in a container with only the directory you intend to serve mounted in.
Licences: AGPL, Apache, GPL, MPL, and one project that is five licences at once
This list is more varied than most, and the variety is not accidental.
nextcloud/server is AGPL-3.0, and the README states that all contributions from 2016 onward are licensed under AGPLv3 or any later version. For internal hosting without modification that is unremarkable. For a company that modifies it and exposes it to users over a network, the source obligation applies, and our analysis of Nextcloud tells you to read the terms against the way you intend to distribute or modify the code.
owncloud/ocis and filebrowser/filebrowser are both Apache-2.0, which is the easy answer. Run it, change it, keep your changes.
syncthing/syncthing is MPL-2.0, which is file-level copyleft. If you modify a file in the project you owe that file back; if you only use it, there is nothing to do.
haiwen/seafile is the one that makes licensing a project-management task. The README lists five licences across the project: Apache License v2 for the iOS client and for Seahub, the server web UI, GPLv3 for the Android client, GPLv2 for the desktop syncing client in this repository, and AGPLv3 for the server core. Our analysis of Seafile tells you to verify the terms for each component you deploy, because you are choosing from five.
One point applies across all five. A permissive licence on the file server does not change the fact that the server holds every copy of your documents, and it does not tell you who restores it.
Bottom line
Pick syncthing/syncthing when you own both machines and want no server, owncloud/ocis when you want a single Apache-2.0 binary or container that scales later, nextcloud/server when you want the files plus calendars, contacts, mail and a large app catalogue and can run PHP and a database, and haiwen/seafile when your files are libraries with real metadata and you can assemble a multi-repository deployment. filebrowser/filebrowser is not a choice for a new deployment, since the README states it is archived and will receive no further fixes. Before committing, check the release channel you are pinning, settle the identity provider on oCIS, and know which Seafile components you are actually running under which licence.
Sources
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