PsiTransfer vs Spacedrive

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?
FeaturePsiTransferSpacedrive
CategoryFile Sync & StorageFile Sync & Storage
LicenseMITAGPL-3.0
LanguageJavaScriptRust
Setup difficultyEasyMedium
Min. RAM128 MB512 MB
Deploymentdocker, binarybinary
GitHub stars★ 1,920★ 38,732
First released20172022
ReplacesWeTransferGoogle Drive, Dropbox

Why pick each one

Choose PsiTransfer if…

  • Released under the MIT license
  • Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
  • First-class Docker support for quick deployment
  • Active community (1.9k GitHub stars)
PsiTransfer details

Choose Spacedrive if…

  • Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
  • Mature project with 38.7k GitHub stars
  • Written in Rust
  • Lightweight — runs in 512 MB RAM
Spacedrive details

Frequently asked questions

Is PsiTransfer or Spacedrive better?

Neither is universally better. Spacedrive has the larger community, while PsiTransfer is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.

Are PsiTransfer and Spacedrive free and open-source?

Yes. PsiTransfer is licensed under MIT and Spacedrive under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run PsiTransfer and Spacedrive with Docker?

PsiTransfer: yes. Spacedrive: check the project docs for container support.

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