Seafile vs SFTPGo
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?
Seafile
High-performance file sync and share with block storage
VS
SFTPGo
Full-featured SFTP, FTP and WebDAV server
| Feature | Seafile | SFTPGo |
|---|---|---|
| Category | File Sync & Storage | File Sync & Storage |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | C | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | docker, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 15,077 | ★ 12,371 |
| First released | 2012 | 2019 |
| Replaces | Dropbox, Google Drive | Dropbox |
Why pick each one
Choose Seafile if…
- Excellent sync performance
- Stable and battle-tested
- Good for large libraries
Choose SFTPGo if…
- Multi-protocol in one binary
- Flexible storage backends
- Strong access controls
Frequently asked questions
Is Seafile or SFTPGo better?
Neither is universally better. Seafile has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Seafile and SFTPGo free and open-source?
Yes. Seafile is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and SFTPGo under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Seafile and SFTPGo with Docker?
Seafile: yes. SFTPGo: yes.