gocryptfs 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.

Not the right match-up?
FeaturegocryptfsSpacedrive
CategoryFile Sync & StorageFile Sync & Storage
LicenseMITAGPL-3.0
LanguageGoRust
Setup difficultyMediumMedium
Min. RAM64 MB512 MB
Deploymentbare-metal, binarybinary
GitHub stars★ 4,549★ 38,732
First released20162022
ReplacesBoxcryptorGoogle Drive, Dropbox

Why pick each one

Choose gocryptfs if…

  • Efficient incremental sync
  • Well documented
gocryptfs 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 gocryptfs or Spacedrive better?

Neither is universally better. Spacedrive has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.

Are gocryptfs and Spacedrive free and open-source?

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

Can I run gocryptfs and Spacedrive with Docker?

gocryptfs: check the project docs for container support. Spacedrive: check the project docs for container support.

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