Kopia vs Syncthing

A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted apps from related categories — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.

Not the right match-up?
FeatureKopiaSyncthing
CategoryBackup & RecoveryFile Sync & Storage
LicenseApache-2.0MPL-2.0
LanguageGoGo
Setup difficultyEasyEasy
Min. RAM256 MB128 MB
Deploymentbinary, dockerdocker, binary, bare-metal
GitHub stars★ 13,798★ 87,439
First released20192014
ReplacesBackblaze, CarboniteDropbox, Resilio Sync

Why pick each one

Choose Kopia if…

  • GUI and CLI both available
  • Fast and efficient
  • Modern design
Kopia details

Choose Syncthing if…

  • No central server needed
  • Very private by design
  • Lightweight and reliable
Syncthing details

Frequently asked questions

Is Kopia or Syncthing better?

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

Are Kopia and Syncthing free and open-source?

Yes. Kopia is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Syncthing under MPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Kopia and Syncthing with Docker?

Kopia: yes. Syncthing: yes.

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