FileGator vs Spacedrive

A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted file sync & storage options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.

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FeatureFileGatorSpacedrive
CategoryFile Sync & StorageFile Sync & Storage
LicenseMITAGPL-3.0
LanguagePHPRust
Setup difficultyEasyMedium
Min. RAM128 MB512 MB
Deploymentdocker, bare-metalbinary
GitHub stars★ 3,048★ 38,732
First released20192022
ReplacesGoogle Drive, DropboxGoogle Drive, Dropbox

Why pick each one

Choose FileGator if…

  • Released under the MIT license
  • Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
  • First-class Docker support for quick deployment
  • Active community (3k GitHub stars)
FileGator details

Choose Spacedrive if…

  • Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
  • Mature project with 38.7k GitHub stars
  • Written in Rust
  • Lightweight — runs in 512 MB RAM
Spacedrive details

Frequently asked questions

Is FileGator or Spacedrive better?

Neither is universally better. Spacedrive has the larger community, while FileGator is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.

Are FileGator and Spacedrive free and open-source?

Yes. FileGator is licensed under MIT and Spacedrive under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run FileGator and Spacedrive with Docker?

FileGator: yes. Spacedrive: check the project docs for container support.

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