Ceph vs Garage
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted file sync & storage options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Not the right match-up?
Ceph
Distributed object, block, and file storage platform
VS
Garage
Lightweight S3-compatible distributed object store
| Feature | Ceph | Garage |
|---|---|---|
| Category | File Sync & Storage | File Sync & Storage |
| License | LGPL-2.1 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | C++ | Rust |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 4,096 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | docker, kubernetes, bare-metal | docker, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 16,905 | ★ 1,600 |
| First released | 2006 | 2021 |
| Replaces | Amazon S3, Google Drive | Amazon S3, Dropbox |
Why pick each one
Choose Ceph if…
- Released under the LGPL-2.1 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Kubernetes-ready with Helm charts available
- Mature project with 16.9k GitHub stars
Choose Garage if…
- Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (1.6k GitHub stars)
- Written in Rust
Frequently asked questions
Is Ceph or Garage better?
Neither is universally better. Ceph has the larger community; both share a hard setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Ceph and Garage free and open-source?
Yes. Ceph is licensed under LGPL-2.1 and Garage under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Ceph and Garage with Docker?
Ceph: yes. Garage: yes.