copyparty vs ownCloud Infinite Scale
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
ownCloud Infinite Scale
Go-based file sync and share server, successor to ownCloud PHP
| Feature | copyparty | ownCloud Infinite Scale |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 100 · Excellent | 86 · 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, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 46,774 | ★ 2,127 |
| First released | 2019 | 2020 |
| Replaces | Dropbox, Google Drive | Dropbox, Google Drive |
What are copyparty and ownCloud Infinite Scale?
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
ownCloud Infinite Scale
ownCloud Infinite Scale (oCIS) is the Go-based successor to the PHP ownCloud server. It provides file sync and share with a microservices architecture, Spaces for team collaboration, and OpenID Connect authentication.
- Built in Go for performance
- Spaces-based collaboration
- OpenID Connect support
copyparty vs ownCloud Infinite Scale: key differences
Copyparty is written in Python, while ownCloud Infinite Scale is built with Go. Licensing differs — MIT for copyparty versus Apache-2.0 for ownCloud Infinite Scale. Copyparty is the lighter option, starting around 64 MB of RAM against 512 MB for ownCloud Infinite Scale. Copyparty has the considerably larger community, at 46,774 GitHub stars versus 2,127.
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 ownCloud Infinite Scale if…
- Released under the Apache-2.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (2.1k GitHub stars)
- Written in Go
Frequently asked questions
Is copyparty or ownCloud Infinite Scale better?
copyparty is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider ownCloud Infinite Scale if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are copyparty and ownCloud Infinite Scale free and open-source?
Yes. copyparty is licensed under MIT and ownCloud Infinite Scale under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run copyparty and ownCloud Infinite Scale with Docker?
copyparty: yes. ownCloud Infinite Scale: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, copyparty or ownCloud Infinite Scale?
copyparty has the smaller minimum footprint at 64 MB of RAM, compared to about 512 MB for ownCloud Infinite Scale. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.