Garage vs MinIO
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted file sync & storage options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Garage
Lightweight S3-compatible distributed object store
VS
MinIO
Archived
High-performance S3-compatible object storage
| Feature | Garage | MinIO |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Status | Actively maintained | Archived |
| Category | File Sync & Storage | File Sync & Storage |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | Rust | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary | docker, kubernetes, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 1,600 | ★ 61,355 |
| First released | 2021 | 2015 |
| Replaces | Amazon S3, Dropbox | Amazon S3 |
What are Garage and MinIO?
Garage
Garage is a distributed object storage service designed for self-hosting across multiple geographic locations. It implements the S3 API and prioritizes resilience over raw performance.
- S3-compatible API
- Geo-distributed replication
- Low resource footprint
MinIO
MinIO is a high-performance, S3-compatible object storage server for storing unstructured data such as backups, images, and logs. It targets developers and operators who need self-hosted object storage. It is deployed via Docker, Kubernetes, or binaries.
- Fully S3-compatible API
- High throughput and erasure coding
- Cloud-native and Kubernetes ready
- Web console included
Garage vs MinIO: key differences
The biggest difference is maintenance: MinIO's repository is archived and no longer developed, while Garage is actively maintained. Garage is written in Rust, while MinIO is built with Go. MinIO is the lighter option, starting around 256 MB of RAM against 512 MB for Garage. MinIO is the more established project (first released 2015), while Garage arrived in 2021. MinIO has the considerably larger community, at 61,355 GitHub stars versus 1,600.
Why pick each one
Choose Garage if…
- Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (1.6k GitHub stars)
- Written in Rust
Choose MinIO if…
- Excellent performance
- Drop-in S3 replacement
- Scales horizontally
Watch out for
- Not a consumer file sync tool
- Recent licensing and feature changes
Frequently asked questions
Is Garage or MinIO better?
MinIO is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler medium setup. Consider MinIO if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are Garage and MinIO free and open-source?
Yes. Garage is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and MinIO under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Garage and MinIO with Docker?
Garage: yes. MinIO: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Garage or MinIO?
MinIO has the smaller minimum footprint at 256 MB of RAM, compared to about 512 MB for Garage. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.