CryptPad 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?
FeatureCryptPadSyncthing-Fork
CategoryFile Sync & StorageFile Sync & Storage
LicenseAGPL-3.0MPL-2.0
LanguageJavaScriptJava
Setup difficultyMediumEasy
Min. RAM512 MB128 MB
Deploymentdocker, bare-metalbare-metal, binary
GitHub stars★ 7,832★ 2,534
First released20152017
ReplacesGoogle Drive, Microsoft 365Dropbox, Google Drive

Why pick each one

Choose CryptPad if…

  • Strong privacy guarantees
  • Real-time collaboration
  • No account needed to start
CryptPad details

Choose Syncthing-Fork if…

  • Actively maintained
  • No central server needed
Syncthing-Fork details

Frequently asked questions

Is CryptPad or Syncthing-Fork better?

Neither is universally better. CryptPad 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 CryptPad and Syncthing-Fork free and open-source?

Yes. CryptPad is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Syncthing-Fork under MPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run CryptPad and Syncthing-Fork with Docker?

CryptPad: yes. Syncthing-Fork: check the project docs for container support.

Related comparisons