Filestash vs Syncthing
| Tagline | Web file manager connecting to FTP, SFTP, WebDAV, S3, Git, Dropbox, and Google Drive | Continuous peer-to-peer file synchronization between your own devices |
| Category | File Storage & Sync | File Storage & Sync |
| Replaces | Dropbox, Google Drive, Box | Dropbox, Google Drive |
| GitHub stars | 14k | 85k |
| Language | Docker | Go |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | MPL-2.0 |
| Self-host difficulty | 2/5 Easy | 2/5 Easy |
| Deploy options | Docker Manual | Docker Manual |
| Managed hosting | ||
| Last updated | 3 days ago | 2 days 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.
Filestash
- Advanced features (video transcoding, full-text search) are locked behind a commercial license
- No real-time collaborative editing; file editing is single-user
- No desktop sync client; all interaction is through the web interface
- User and permission management is basic; not suitable as a primary cloud storage replacement for teams
Syncthing
- Pure peer-to-peer sync: no cloud copy, so files only exist where a device is online (no always-available server unless you run one)
- No web file browser, sharing links, or per-file access control like Dropbox
- No built-in versioning UI beyond simple file versioning options
- Not designed for multi-user team sharing; it's device-to-device for one owner
Bottom line
Both are a similar lift to self-host; choose Syncthing for the larger community and ecosystem. Syncthing has seen more recent development. Open each guide below for deploy steps and the full feature gap.
Filestash
Web file manager connecting to FTP, SFTP, WebDAV, S3, Git, Dropbox, and Google Drive