copyparty vs SFTPGo
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
SFTPGo
Full-featured SFTP, FTP and WebDAV server
| Feature | copyparty | SFTPGo |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 100 · Excellent | 94 · Excellent |
| Category | File Sync & Storage | File Sync & Storage |
| License | MIT | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | Python | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 64 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary | docker, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 46,774 | ★ 12,570 |
| First released | 2019 | 2019 |
| Replaces | Dropbox, Google Drive | Dropbox |
What are copyparty and SFTPGo?
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
SFTPGo
SFTPGo is a configurable file transfer server supporting SFTP, FTP/S, WebDAV, and HTTP access with cloud storage backends. It suits administrators who need secure, multi-protocol file access. It is deployed via Docker or a single binary.
- SFTP, FTP, WebDAV and HTTP support
- Cloud storage backends
- Per-user quotas and rules
- Web admin and REST API
copyparty vs SFTPGo: key differences
Copyparty is written in Python, while SFTPGo is built with Go. Licensing differs — MIT for copyparty versus AGPL-3.0 for SFTPGo. Copyparty is the lighter option, starting around 64 MB of RAM against 128 MB for SFTPGo. Copyparty has the considerably larger community, at 46,774 GitHub stars versus 12,570.
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 SFTPGo if…
- Multi-protocol in one binary
- Flexible storage backends
- Strong access controls
Watch out for
- No sync client
- Configuration can be complex
Frequently asked questions
Is copyparty or SFTPGo better?
copyparty is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider SFTPGo if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are copyparty and SFTPGo free and open-source?
Yes. copyparty is licensed under MIT and SFTPGo under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run copyparty and SFTPGo with Docker?
copyparty: yes. SFTPGo: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, copyparty or SFTPGo?
copyparty has the smaller minimum footprint at 64 MB of RAM, compared to about 128 MB for SFTPGo. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.