MinIO vs slcl

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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FeatureMinIOslcl
CategoryFile Sync & StorageFile Sync & Storage
LicenseAGPL-3.0AGPL-3.0
LanguageGoC
Setup difficultyMediumMedium
Min. RAM256 MB512 MB
Deploymentdocker, kubernetes, binarybare-metal
GitHub stars★ 61,387
First released20152020
ReplacesAmazon S3

Why pick each one

Choose MinIO if…

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

Choose slcl if…

  • Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
  • Written in C
  • Lightweight — runs in 512 MB RAM
slcl details

Frequently asked questions

Is MinIO or slcl better?

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

Are MinIO and slcl free and open-source?

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

Can I run MinIO and slcl with Docker?

MinIO: yes. slcl: check the project docs for container support.

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