MinIO vs SeaweedFS

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?
FeatureMinIOSeaweedFS
CategoryFile Sync & StorageFile Sync & Storage
LicenseAGPL-3.0Apache-2.0
LanguageGoGo
Setup difficultyMediumHard
Min. RAM256 MB512 MB
Deploymentdocker, kubernetes, binarydocker, kubernetes, binary
GitHub stars★ 61,387★ 33,952
First released20152015
ReplacesAmazon S3Amazon S3

Why pick each one

Choose MinIO if…

  • Excellent performance
  • Drop-in S3 replacement
  • Scales horizontally
MinIO details

Choose SeaweedFS if…

  • Released under the Apache-2.0 license
  • First-class Docker support for quick deployment
  • Kubernetes-ready with Helm charts available
  • Mature project with 34k GitHub stars
SeaweedFS details

Frequently asked questions

Is MinIO or SeaweedFS better?

MinIO is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler medium setup. Consider SeaweedFS if its specific feature set fits your needs better.

Are MinIO and SeaweedFS free and open-source?

Yes. MinIO is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and SeaweedFS under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run MinIO and SeaweedFS with Docker?

MinIO: yes. SeaweedFS: yes.

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