Ceph vs Syncthing-Fork
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
Syncthing-Fork
Android client wrapper for continuous Syncthing file synchronization
| Feature | Ceph | Syncthing-Fork |
|---|---|---|
| Category | File Sync & Storage | File Sync & Storage |
| License | LGPL-2.1 | MPL-2.0 |
| Language | C++ | Java |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 4,096 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | docker, kubernetes, bare-metal | bare-metal, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 16,905 | ★ 2,534 |
| First released | 2006 | 2017 |
| Replaces | Amazon S3, Google Drive | Dropbox, Google Drive |
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
Frequently asked questions
Is Ceph or Syncthing-Fork better?
Neither is universally better. Ceph has the larger community, while Syncthing-Fork is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Ceph and Syncthing-Fork free and open-source?
Yes. Ceph is licensed under LGPL-2.1 and Syncthing-Fork under MPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Ceph and Syncthing-Fork with Docker?
Ceph: yes. Syncthing-Fork: check the project docs for container support.