Pydio Cells 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.
| Feature | Pydio Cells | Spacedrive |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Read-the-docs project |
| Health score | 86 · Excellent | 83 · Excellent |
| Category | File Sync & Storage | File Sync & Storage |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | Go | Rust |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary | binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 2,252 | ★ 39,022 |
| First released | 2018 | 2022 |
| Replaces | Dropbox, Box, Google Drive | Google Drive, Dropbox |
What are Pydio Cells and Spacedrive?
Pydio Cells
Pydio Cells is a content collaboration platform for organizations, offering file sharing, workspaces, and access controls. It is designed for teams and enterprises needing governed document collaboration. It is deployed via Docker or native binaries.
- Workspace-based collaboration
- Granular access control
- Built-in search and metadata
- Mobile and desktop clients
Spacedrive
Spacedrive is an open-source, cross-platform file manager written in Rust, built around a virtual distributed filesystem (VDFS). It indexes and organizes files across multiple devices and storage locations from a single native app.
- Virtual distributed filesystem
- Indexes files across devices
- Cross-platform native app
Pydio Cells vs Spacedrive: key differences
Pydio Cells is written in Go, while Spacedrive is built with Rust. Pydio Cells is the more established project (first released 2018), while Spacedrive arrived in 2022. Spacedrive has the considerably larger community, at 39,022 GitHub stars versus 2,252. Pydio Cells lists first-class Docker deployment; Spacedrive does not.
Why pick each one
Choose Pydio Cells if…
- Strong enterprise features
- Modern Go codebase
- Good access governance
Watch out for
- Heavier than simple tools
- Smaller community
Choose Spacedrive if…
- Unified multi-device view
- Modern Rust core
- Cross-platform clients
Watch out for
- Still beta quality
- Sync features incomplete
Frequently asked questions
Is Pydio Cells or Spacedrive better?
Neither is universally better. Spacedrive has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Pydio Cells and Spacedrive free and open-source?
Yes. Pydio Cells is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Spacedrive under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Pydio Cells and Spacedrive with Docker?
Pydio Cells: yes. Spacedrive: check the project docs for container support.