Ceph vs Pydio Cells
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted file sync & storage options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Ceph
Distributed object, block, and file storage platform
VS
Pydio Cells
Document sharing and collaboration for organizations
| Feature | Ceph | Pydio Cells |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 94 · Excellent | 86 · Excellent |
| Category | File Sync & Storage | File Sync & Storage |
| License | LGPL-2.1 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | C++ | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 4,096 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | docker, kubernetes, bare-metal | docker, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 17,069 | ★ 2,252 |
| First released | 2006 | 2018 |
| Replaces | Amazon S3, Google Drive | Dropbox, Box, Google Drive |
What are Ceph and Pydio Cells?
Ceph
Ceph is a highly scalable distributed storage system that provides object, block, and file storage in a unified cluster. It is designed for fault tolerance with no single point of failure.
- Unified object, block, and file storage
- Self-healing and self-managing
- Massive scalability
Pydio Cells
Pydio Cells is a content collaboration platform for organizations, offering file sharing, workspaces, and access controls. It is designed for teams and enterprises needing governed document collaboration. It is deployed via Docker or native binaries.
- Workspace-based collaboration
- Granular access control
- Built-in search and metadata
- Mobile and desktop clients
Ceph vs Pydio Cells: key differences
Ceph is written in C++, while Pydio Cells is built with Go. Licensing differs — LGPL-2.1 for Ceph versus AGPL-3.0 for Pydio Cells. Pydio Cells is the lighter option, starting around 512 MB of RAM against 4,096 MB for Ceph. Ceph is the more established project (first released 2006), while Pydio Cells arrived in 2018. Ceph has the considerably larger community, at 17,069 GitHub stars versus 2,252.
Why pick each one
Choose Ceph if…
- Object, block and file
- No single failure point
- Massive proven scalability
Watch out for
- Steep operational complexity
- Needs multiple nodes
- High hardware requirements
Choose Pydio Cells if…
- Strong enterprise features
- Modern Go codebase
- Good access governance
Watch out for
- Heavier than simple tools
- Smaller community
Frequently asked questions
Is Ceph or Pydio Cells better?
Neither is universally better. Ceph has the larger community, while Pydio Cells is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Ceph and Pydio Cells free and open-source?
Yes. Ceph is licensed under LGPL-2.1 and Pydio Cells under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Ceph and Pydio Cells with Docker?
Ceph: yes. Pydio Cells: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Ceph or Pydio Cells?
Pydio Cells has the smaller minimum footprint at 512 MB of RAM, compared to about 4,096 MB for Ceph. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.