SFTPGo vs elFinder
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?
SFTPGo
Full-featured SFTP, FTP and WebDAV server
VS
elFinder
Web file manager with a desktop-style interface
| Feature | SFTPGo | elFinder |
|---|---|---|
| Category | File Sync & Storage | File Sync & Storage |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | BSD-3-Clause |
| Language | Go | JavaScript |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary | bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 12,371 | ★ 4,800 |
| First released | 2019 | 2010 |
| Replaces | Dropbox | Google Drive, Dropbox |
Why pick each one
Choose SFTPGo if…
- Multi-protocol in one binary
- Flexible storage backends
- Strong access controls
Choose elFinder if…
- Released under the BSD-3-Clause license
- Active community (4.8k GitHub stars)
- Written in JavaScript
- Tiny footprint — runs in 128 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is SFTPGo or elFinder better?
Neither is universally better. SFTPGo has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are SFTPGo and elFinder free and open-source?
Yes. SFTPGo is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and elFinder under BSD-3-Clause. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run SFTPGo and elFinder with Docker?
SFTPGo: yes. elFinder: check the project docs for container support.