If you want Dropbox on your own server, Nextcloud is the safest default: it syncs files on every platform and adds calendars, contacts and office editing if you want them. OpenCloud is the leaner pick when you only care about files, and Seafile is the one to look at for large libraries with many small files. If you don't want a server at all, Syncthing syncs your devices directly with each other.
The rest of this guide goes through each option, what it is good at and where it gets annoying.
What to look for in a Dropbox replacement
Dropbox does three things most people rely on without thinking about it. It keeps a folder in sync across computers, it uploads photos from your phone, and it gives you share links for people who don't have an account. Any replacement should cover the ones you actually use.
Before picking a tool, answer a few questions for yourself:
- Do you need share links for outsiders, or only sync between your own devices?
- Do you want to edit Word and Excel files in the browser?
- Will a family or a team use it, with their own logins?
- How much server can you spare? A Raspberry Pi and a rented VPS with 8 GB of RAM lead to different answers.
Nextcloud
Nextcloud is the big one, with about 37,000 GitHub stars (October 2026) and a commit history that has not slowed down. It is licensed under the AGPL-3.0 and written in PHP.
Files are the core, but Nextcloud is closer to a self-hosted Google Workspace than to Dropbox. There are apps for calendars, contacts, mail, chat and video calls (Nextcloud Talk), plus hundreds more in its app store. The desktop and mobile clients handle several accounts, and the mobile apps can upload photos and videos automatically. Nextcloud Office lets you edit documents in the browser, and you can connect Collabora Online instead if you prefer.
The official installation method is Nextcloud All-in-One, a single Docker command that starts a "mastercontainer" and lets you switch on Nextcloud Office, Talk and BorgBackup-based backups from a web interface.
What it needs: the admin manual asks for at least 128 MB of RAM per PHP process and recommends 512 MB, plus MariaDB or PostgreSQL (SQLite only for tests and very small setups). In practice, Nextcloud with Office and a few active users wants a real server, not a leftover Pi.
The downside is that size. Nextcloud has many moving parts, and upgrades across major versions need some care. If you only want sync, it may be more than you need.
OpenCloud
OpenCloud is a fork of ownCloud Infinite Scale, the Go rewrite of ownCloud. The Heinlein Group in Berlin took over development in early 2025 after many of the oCIS developers left ownCloud. It has about 6,100 GitHub stars (October 2026), released v8.1.0 on 5 October 2026 and is licensed under Apache 2.0.
The interesting part is the architecture. The README says plainly: "The OpenCloud backend does not use a database. It stores all data in the filesystem." That makes backups simpler, because you copy a folder instead of coordinating a database dump with the file store.
It is also light. The documented minimum for up to 10 users is a 1 GHz single-core CPU and 512 MB of RAM, the class of a Raspberry Pi 3. For up to 1,000 users the docs list a 2 GHz dual-core CPU and 8 GB of RAM.
OpenCloud has a desktop sync client and apps for Android and iOS, Spaces for team folders, public links and a File Drop for uploads from outsiders. Office editing works through Collabora, and the admin docs also cover calendars and contacts through Radicale.
It does fewer things than Nextcloud, and that is the point. If you want a file cloud and nothing else, OpenCloud is worth a test run.
Seafile
Seafile has about 15,000 GitHub stars (October 2026). The server core is AGPL-3.0, the web interface (Seahub) is Apache 2.0.
Seafile organizes files into libraries and stores them in a data model similar to Git: commits, file objects and blocks. Files are cut into content-defined chunks, so unchanged parts are reused between versions and only the changed blocks need storing. The trade-off is that your files on the server are not plain files you can browse with ls. You get them out through Seafile.
Libraries can be encrypted with a password. With the desktop client, encryption and decryption happen on your computer, so the server admin cannot read file contents. The manual is honest about the limits: file names and sizes stay visible, and when you open an encrypted library in the browser, the server does the decryption.
Clients exist for Windows, macOS and Linux, plus a drive client called SeaDrive that shows server files like a network drive without syncing everything to disk. The Android and iOS apps are in the usual stores, and the Android app is also on F-Droid. Collabora Online and OnlyOffice integrations are documented, and SeaDoc adds collaborative documents.
The Community Edition asks for 2 CPU cores and 2 GB of RAM. A Professional Edition with extra features such as full-text search is sold separately.
Syncthing
Syncthing works differently from everything else here. "There is no central server that might be compromised," as its website puts it. Your devices connect to each other directly, encrypted with TLS, and each device is identified by a certificate.
It has about 89,000 GitHub stars (October 2026), uses the MPL-2.0 license and runs on Windows, macOS, Linux, the BSDs and more. On Android you use a community-built app.
What you lose is the web part. There are no share links and no browser interface for your files, only a local admin page. If you mostly want your laptop, desktop and phone to have the same folders, Syncthing is the simplest and most private option on this list. It helps to run it on one always-on machine too, so there is a copy online when your other devices are off.
Pydio Cells
Pydio Cells is a file sharing platform written in Go, with about 2,300 GitHub stars (October 2026) and an AGPL-3.0 license. It describes itself as "open-core": the free Cells Home edition covers file sharing and collaboration, and the paid Connect and Enterprise tiers add enterprise SSO, compliance tooling and multi-tenancy. In the browser you can co-edit documents with Collabora Online or OnlyOffice.
Pydio is aimed at companies more than at households. If you run it for a team and might later pay for support, it fits. For a family cloud, Nextcloud or OpenCloud will feel more at home.
FileBrowser Quantum
Sometimes you don't need sync at all, only a web page where you can upload, download and share files on a server. FileBrowser Quantum does that. It is a large fork of the original File Browser, which was archived on 1 September 2026 and no longer gets security fixes, so use the fork for new setups.
It supports share links with expiry and permissions, OIDC and LDAP logins, two-factor authentication and fast search. There is no desktop sync client. It is licensed under Apache 2.0.
If you need it next to other apps, it is a good companion to Syncthing: Syncthing keeps the folder in sync, FileBrowser Quantum gives you a browser view and links.
Comparison table
| Nextcloud | OpenCloud | Seafile | Syncthing | Pydio Cells | FileBrowser Quantum | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sync client | Desktop + mobile | Desktop + mobile | Desktop, SeaDrive, mobile | Every device runs Syncthing | Native + mobile apps | None (web only) |
| Share links | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
| Office in browser | Nextcloud Office, Collabora | Collabora | Collabora, OnlyOffice | No | Collabora, OnlyOffice | No |
| Database | MariaDB or PostgreSQL | None | Yes, for metadata | None | See docs | See docs |
| Documented minimum | 128 MB RAM per PHP process | 512 MB RAM (up to 10 users) | 2 cores, 2 GB RAM | Runs on desktops and phones | See docs | Small |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | Apache 2.0 | AGPL-3.0 / Apache 2.0 | MPL-2.0 | AGPL-3.0 | Apache 2.0 |
How to run them
The usual way is on your own server with Docker. All of these projects publish Docker images or a Docker Compose setup, and a small VPS or a home server is enough for most of them. You then look after updates, backups and HTTPS yourself. For a file cloud, backups matter more than anything else: a sync tool happily syncs a deletion to every device.
If you'd rather not run a server, a managed host takes that part off your hands. On blitz.cloud, Nextcloud, OpenCloud, Syncthing and FileBrowser Quantum install in one click from its App Store, hosted in the EU with HTTPS included. There is a free plan without a credit card, where apps sleep after 30 minutes without visitors. That is fine for trying things out, less so for a sync server your phone talks to all day.
New to running your own apps? Start with self-hosting for beginners. For photo backup specifically, see Google Photos alternatives. For a closer look at the three main contenders, read Nextcloud vs OpenCloud vs Seafile, and the full list lives under Dropbox alternatives.
FAQ
What is the best free Dropbox alternative?
For most people Nextcloud, because it covers sync, sharing, mobile photo upload and office editing in one place. If you only need files and want a lighter server, try OpenCloud. If you don't want a server at all, use Syncthing.
Can I self-host Dropbox?
No, Dropbox is not available for self-hosting. The tools in this guide replace it with software you run yourself.
Is Syncthing a replacement for Dropbox?
For syncing your own devices, yes. It has no share links and no web file view, so it does not replace Dropbox for sending files to other people.
Which one runs on a Raspberry Pi?
OpenCloud documents a Raspberry Pi 3 class machine for up to 10 users. Syncthing runs on almost anything. Nextcloud works on a Pi too, but it gets slow once you add office editing and several users.
What happened to File Browser?
The original File Browser project was archived on 1 September 2026 and gets no more bug or security fixes. FileBrowser Quantum is an actively developed fork.