Nephele vs Pydio Cells
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?
Nephele
Modular WebDAV server for Node.js with pluggable backends
VS
Pydio Cells
Document sharing and collaboration for organizations
| Feature | Nephele | Pydio Cells |
|---|---|---|
| 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 | 512 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal, binary, source | docker, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 108 | ★ 2,241 |
| First released | 2022 | 2018 |
| Replaces | ownCloud, Box | Dropbox, Box, Google Drive |
Why pick each one
Choose Pydio Cells if…
- Strong enterprise features
- Modern Go codebase
- Good access governance
Frequently asked questions
Is Nephele or Pydio Cells better?
Neither is universally better. Pydio Cells has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Nephele and Pydio Cells free and open-source?
Yes. Nephele is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Pydio Cells under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Nephele and Pydio Cells with Docker?
Nephele: check the project docs for container support. Pydio Cells: yes.