2 self-hosted Resilio Sync alternatives

Last reviewed Oct 11, 2026 · 638 words

Switch from Resilio Sync to Syncthing. It does the same job the same way, direct device-to-device sync with no cloud server in the middle, but it is MPL-2.0 open source, has no paid tier, and with about 89,000 stars it is one of the most watched projects in the whole directory. The move takes an evening for a handful of devices, and if your folders are already in sync on both ends, Syncthing compares them instead of copying them all again.

What you gain and what you give up

Gained: a protocol and client you can audit, TLS-encrypted transfers between devices that authenticate each other by device ID, file versioning per folder, and an "untrusted device" mode that stores an encrypted copy on a machine that cannot read it, which covers the same ground as Resilio's encrypted peers. The directory estimates it at 128 MB of RAM, so it runs comfortably on a NAS or a Pi.

Given up: three conveniences. First, Resilio's share links and keys. Syncthing pairs devices explicitly, and both sides must accept, so handing someone a link to a folder is not how it works. Second, selective sync with placeholder files. Syncthing keeps full copies on every device that shares a folder; you can exclude paths with ignore patterns, but you cannot browse a folder and pull single files on demand. Third, mobile polish. The official Android app was retired, so Android users install Syncthing-Fork, the community continuation, and iOS has no official client at all. If the phone is a core sync target, test this before you commit.

How the migration actually goes

There is no importer, because there is nothing to import: Resilio's configuration is a list of folders and peers, and you recreate that by hand. The order matters, though.

1. Let Resilio finish syncing so every device holds identical copies, then stop Resilio on all of them. Two sync engines watching the same folder will fight over every change.
2. Install Syncthing on each device. In Docker, publish 22000 over both TCP and UDP plus 21027/UDP for local discovery, and keep the 8384 web GUI off the internet, as the catalogue's deploy notes warn.
3. Exchange device IDs, then add each existing folder on both sides with the same folder ID. Syncthing scans, hashes and exchanges indexes; identical files are not transferred again.
4. Add .sync to the folder's ignore patterns, or delete it once you are done with Resilio. That hidden directory holds Resilio's own state and archive, and there is no reason to replicate it.

Turn on versioning for any folder you care about. Sync is not backup: a deletion on one device propagates everywhere, and versioning is the cheap safety net.

Which Syncthing add-ons are worth installing?

On the desktop, Syncthing Tray puts status, notifications and per-folder controls in the system tray, which is the part of Resilio's desktop client most people miss. It is optional, but it removes the need to open the web GUI to check whether a sync finished. If what you actually wanted from Resilio was a shared drive with web access and links for other people, Syncthing is the wrong tool, and the Nextcloud vs Syncthing write-up explains where the line falls.

What I'd do

Move to Syncthing, one folder at a time, starting with the least important one so you learn the pairing flow on data you would not mourn. Keep Resilio stopped but installed for a week, then remove it and its .sync directories. For Android, go straight to Syncthing-Fork; for iPhone, decide whether the phone needs to be in the sync loop at all before you start.