SeaweedFS vs Snapdrop

A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted file sync & storage options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.

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FeatureSeaweedFSSnapdrop
CategoryFile Sync & StorageFile Sync & Storage
LicenseApache-2.0GPL-3.0
LanguageGoJavaScript
Setup difficultyHardEasy
Min. RAM512 MB64 MB
Deploymentdocker, kubernetes, binarydocker, bare-metal
GitHub stars★ 33,952★ 19,707
First released20152017
ReplacesAmazon S3AirDrop

Why pick each one

Choose SeaweedFS if…

  • Released under the Apache-2.0 license
  • First-class Docker support for quick deployment
  • Kubernetes-ready with Helm charts available
  • Mature project with 34k GitHub stars
SeaweedFS details

Choose Snapdrop if…

  • Released under the GPL-3.0 license
  • Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
  • First-class Docker support for quick deployment
  • Mature project with 19.7k GitHub stars
Snapdrop details

Frequently asked questions

Is SeaweedFS or Snapdrop better?

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

Are SeaweedFS and Snapdrop free and open-source?

Yes. SeaweedFS is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Snapdrop under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run SeaweedFS and Snapdrop with Docker?

SeaweedFS: yes. Snapdrop: yes.

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