Nephele vs Puter

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?
FeatureNephelePuter
CategoryFile Sync & StorageFile Sync & Storage
LicenseApache-2.0AGPL-3.0
LanguageTypeScriptTypeScript
Setup difficultyMediumMedium
Min. RAM128 MB512 MB
Deploymentbare-metal, binary, sourcedocker
GitHub stars★ 108★ 43,003
First released20222026
ReplacesownCloud, Box

Why pick each one

Choose Nephele if…

  • Flexible adapter system
  • Lightweight Node.js stack
Nephele details

Choose Puter if…

  • Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
  • First-class Docker support for quick deployment
  • Mature project with 43k GitHub stars
  • Written in TypeScript
Puter details

Frequently asked questions

Is Nephele or Puter better?

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

Are Nephele and Puter free and open-source?

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

Can I run Nephele and Puter with Docker?

Nephele: check the project docs for container support. Puter: yes.

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