Gokapi vs MinIO
| Tagline | Lightweight self-hosted file sharing with expiry links and password protection | High-performance S3-compatible object storage (now archived/commercialized) |
| Category | File Storage & Sync | File Storage & Sync |
| Replaces | Dropbox, Google Drive | Dropbox, Google Drive, Box |
| GitHub stars | 2.9k | 61k |
| Language | Go | Go |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Self-host difficulty | 1/5 Minimal | 2/5 Simple |
| Deploy options | Docker Docker Compose Manual | Docker Docker Compose Kubernetes Manual |
| Managed hosting | ||
| Last updated | 17 days ago | 5 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.
Gokapi
- Not designed for persistent cloud storage; files are meant to be temporary
- No mobile sync client
- Single admin account only; no per-user quotas or teams
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
Choose Gokapi if you want the lower-effort setup; choose MinIO for the larger community and ecosystem. Gokapi has seen more recent development. Open each guide below for deploy steps and the full feature gap.
Gokapi
Lightweight self-hosted file sharing with expiry links and password protection