Nephele vs Pydio Cells Client
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted file sync & storage options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Nephele | Pydio Cells Client |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Read-the-docs project |
| Health score | 46 · Fair | 52 · Fair |
| Category | File Sync & Storage | File Sync & Storage |
| License | Apache-2.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | TypeScript | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 64 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal, binary, source | binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 108 | ★ 32 |
| First released | 2022 | 2019 |
| Replaces | ownCloud, Box | Dropbox, Box |
What are Nephele and Pydio Cells Client?
Nephele
Nephele is a WebDAV server for Node.js that supports file system and other storage backends through an extensible adapter system. It can run standalone or be embedded in an Express application to provide standards-compliant file sync and sharing.
- Standards-compliant WebDAV
- Pluggable storage adapters
- Embeddable in Express apps
- Authentication and locking support
Pydio Cells Client
The Pydio Cells Client is a command-line tool for transferring and synchronizing files with a Pydio Cells server. It enables scripted and headless file operations against the platform.
- CLI file transfers
- Scriptable sync
- Headless operation
- Pydio Cells integration
Nephele vs Pydio Cells Client: key differences
Nephele is written in TypeScript, while Pydio Cells Client is built with Go. Licensing differs — Apache-2.0 for Nephele versus AGPL-3.0 for Pydio Cells Client. Pydio Cells Client is the lighter option, starting around 64 MB of RAM against 128 MB for Nephele. Pydio Cells Client is the more established project (first released 2019), while Nephele arrived in 2022. Nephele has the considerably larger community, at 108 GitHub stars versus 32.
Why pick each one
Choose Nephele if…
- Flexible adapter system
- Lightweight Node.js stack
Watch out for
- No bundled web client
- Smaller community
Choose Pydio Cells Client if…
- Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
- Written in Go
- Tiny footprint — runs in 64 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is Nephele or Pydio Cells Client better?
Neither is universally better. Nephele has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Nephele and Pydio Cells Client free and open-source?
Yes. Nephele is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Pydio Cells Client under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Nephele and Pydio Cells Client with Docker?
Nephele: check the project docs for container support. Pydio Cells Client: check the project docs for container support.
Which is lighter on resources, Nephele or Pydio Cells Client?
Pydio Cells Client has the smaller minimum footprint at 64 MB of RAM, compared to about 128 MB for Nephele. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.