copyparty vs OpenCloud
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted file sync & storage options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
copyparty
Portable file server with accelerated resumable uploads
VS
OpenCloud
Modern open-source file platform from ownCloud team
| Feature | copyparty | OpenCloud |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 100 · Excellent | 90 · Excellent |
| Category | File Sync & Storage | File Sync & Storage |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | Python | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 64 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary | docker |
| GitHub stars | ★ 46,774 | ★ 6,056 |
| First released | 2019 | 2025 |
| Replaces | Dropbox, Google Drive | Dropbox, Google Drive |
What are copyparty and OpenCloud?
copyparty
copyparty is a portable file server with features including resumable uploads, deduplication, WebDAV, FTP, and media indexing. It runs from a single Python file with no dependencies.
- Accelerated resumable uploads
- WebDAV, FTP, and TFTP support
- Single-file Python deployment
OpenCloud
OpenCloud is a modern open-source file sync, share, and collaboration platform built on a microservice architecture. It targets organizations wanting a current, lightweight content collaboration server. It is deployed via Docker Compose.
- Microservice-based architecture
- Web-based collaboration
- Lightweight Go backend
- Compatible desktop clients
copyparty vs OpenCloud: key differences
Copyparty is written in Python, while OpenCloud is built with Go. Licensing differs — MIT for copyparty versus Apache-2.0 for OpenCloud. Copyparty is the lighter option, starting around 64 MB of RAM against 512 MB for OpenCloud. Copyparty is the more established project (first released 2019), while OpenCloud arrived in 2025. Copyparty has the considerably larger community, at 46,774 GitHub stars versus 6,056.
Why pick each one
Choose copyparty if…
- Single-file deployment
- Fast resumable uploads
- WebDAV and FTP built in
Watch out for
- Unconventional interface
- Many flags to learn
Choose OpenCloud if…
- Modern, fast codebase
- Lightweight footprint
- Permissively licensed
Watch out for
- Very new project
- Smaller ecosystem so far
Frequently asked questions
Is copyparty or OpenCloud better?
copyparty is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider OpenCloud if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are copyparty and OpenCloud free and open-source?
Yes. copyparty is licensed under MIT and OpenCloud under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run copyparty and OpenCloud with Docker?
copyparty: yes. OpenCloud: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, copyparty or OpenCloud?
copyparty has the smaller minimum footprint at 64 MB of RAM, compared to about 512 MB for OpenCloud. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.