Box vs Puter
Thinking of swapping Box for the open-source Puter? Here’s the honest trade-off.
42k Nodejs AGPL-3.0 today
What you give up vs Box
- Self-hosted setup is more complex than advertised; production hardening requires significant effort
- No native desktop sync client; all access is browser-based
- Third-party app ecosystem is nascent and lacks the breadth of Google Workspace or Office 365
- Enterprise features (SSO, audit logs, compliance) are not yet available in the self-hosted version
What you gain
- • Full data ownership — self-host Puter on your own infrastructure.
- • No per-seat SaaS bill (Box: enterprise per-user pricing).
- • Open-source code you can audit and extend (AGPL-3.0).