ownCloud 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?
FeatureownCloudPuter
CategoryFile Sync & StorageFile Sync & Storage
LicenseAGPL-3.0AGPL-3.0
LanguagePHPTypeScript
Setup difficultyMediumMedium
Min. RAM512 MB512 MB
Deploymentdocker, bare-metaldocker
GitHub stars★ 8,831★ 43,003
First released20102026
ReplacesDropbox, Google Drive

Why pick each one

Choose ownCloud if…

  • Mature and stable
  • Enterprise features available
  • Good admin controls
ownCloud 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 ownCloud 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 ownCloud and Puter free and open-source?

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

Can I run ownCloud and Puter with Docker?

ownCloud: yes. Puter: yes.

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