AList vs MinIO
| Tagline | File list program supporting multiple storages, with WebDAV and web UI | High-performance S3-compatible object storage (now archived/commercialized) |
| Category | File Storage & Sync | File Storage & Sync |
| Replaces | Google Drive, Dropbox | Dropbox, Google Drive, Box |
| GitHub stars | 50k | 61k |
| Language | Go | Go |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Self-host difficulty | 2/5 Easy | 2/5 Easy |
| Deploy options | Docker Manual | Docker Docker Compose Kubernetes Manual |
| Managed hosting | ||
| Last updated | 15 days ago | 3 months ago |
| View repo | View repo |
Where each falls short
The honest trade-offs — what you give up with each, versus the proprietary tools they replace.
AList
- Primarily a read/list and aggregation layer; not a true two-way sync engine like Dropbox
- No native desktop/mobile sync clients (relies on WebDAV)
- Limited collaboration, versioning, and team permission features
- Documentation is partly Chinese-first and can lag for some backends
MinIO
- Community open-source repo was archived in April 2026; development moved to the commercial AIStor product
- Object storage only — no end-user file sync clients, sharing UI, or document collaboration
- Recent releases stripped the admin web console features, pushing users toward paid offerings
- Requires building app layers on top to behave like Dropbox/Drive
Bottom line
Both are a similar lift to self-host; choose MinIO for the larger community and ecosystem. AList has seen more recent development. Open each guide below for deploy steps and the full feature gap.