Pydio Cells vs Syncthing

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?
FeaturePydio CellsSyncthing
CategoryFile Sync & StorageFile Sync & Storage
LicenseAGPL-3.0MPL-2.0
LanguageGoGo
Setup difficultyMediumEasy
Min. RAM512 MB128 MB
Deploymentdocker, binarydocker, binary, bare-metal
GitHub stars★ 2,241★ 87,439
First released20182014
ReplacesDropbox, Box, Google DriveDropbox, Resilio Sync

Why pick each one

Choose Pydio Cells if…

  • Strong enterprise features
  • Modern Go codebase
  • Good access governance
Pydio Cells details

Choose Syncthing if…

  • No central server needed
  • Very private by design
  • Lightweight and reliable
Syncthing details

Frequently asked questions

Is Pydio Cells or Syncthing better?

Syncthing is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider Pydio Cells if its specific feature set fits your needs better.

Are Pydio Cells and Syncthing free and open-source?

Yes. Pydio Cells is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Syncthing under MPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Pydio Cells and Syncthing with Docker?

Pydio Cells: yes. Syncthing: yes.

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