head to head · open source
copyparty vs syncthing-macos
copyparty has 46,765 GitHub stars, 1,905 forks, 252 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. syncthing-macos has 3,933 stars, 202 forks, 45 open issues and last shipped 5 days ago. copyparty leads on adoption by 1,089% (46,765 vs 3,933 stars). copyparty is written in Python under MIT; syncthing-macos is written in Objective-C under MIT. copyparty has attracted 4% as many forks as stars, syncthing-macos 5%. copyparty was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (file-sharing), so they are genuine substitutes rather than adjacent tools.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
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Side by side
| copyparty | syncthing-macos | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 47K | ★ 3.9K |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Written in | Python | Objective-C |
| Last push | 2026-09-20 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.9K | ⑂ 202 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick copyparty if
- You weight community size — 47K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick syncthing-macos if
- You want the syncthing-macos feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Objective-C
- You evaluated both and syncthing-macos fits your workflow better
About copyparty
copyparty is a portable file server that turns almost any device into a file server with resumable uploads and downloads through any web browser, built for self hosters, homelab operators, NAS owners and anyone who wants to share files directly from their own hardware.
read the full copyparty overview →
About syncthing-macos
Syncthing for macOS is the official frugal, native macOS tray application bundle for Syncthing, aimed at Mac users who want peer to peer file synchronisation to behave like a native application instead of a command line utility with a web browser interface.
read the full syncthing-macos overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is copyparty or syncthing-macos more popular?
copyparty has 46,765 GitHub stars and syncthing-macos has 3,933. copyparty has the larger community by that measure.
Are copyparty and syncthing-macos free?
Both are open source. copyparty is licensed under MIT and syncthing-macos under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between copyparty and syncthing-macos?
copyparty is written in Python and syncthing-macos in Objective-C. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, copyparty or syncthing-macos?
Choose copyparty if you want the larger community (46,765 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose syncthing-macos if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.