head to head · open source
syncthing vs cyberduck
syncthing has 89,712 GitHub stars, 5,539 forks, 388 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. cyberduck has 4,872 stars, 379 forks, 506 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. syncthing leads on adoption by 1,741% (89,712 vs 4,872 stars). syncthing is written in Go under MPL-2.0; cyberduck is written in Java under GPL-3.0. syncthing has attracted 6% as many forks as stars, cyberduck 8%. cyberduck was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
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
| syncthing | cyberduck | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 90K | ★ 4.9K |
| License | MPL-2.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Go | Java |
| Last push | 2026-10-24 | 2026-10-24 |
| Forks | ⑂ 5.5K | ⑂ 379 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick syncthing if
- You weight community size — 90K stars and counting
- You want the MPL-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick cyberduck if
- You want the cyberduck feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Java
- You evaluated both and cyberduck fits your workflow better
About syncthing
[![Syncthing][14]][15] Goals Syncthing is a continuous file synchronization program . It synchronizes files between two or more computers. We strive to fulfill the goals below. The goals are listed in order of importance, the most important ones first. This is the summary version of the goal list for more commentary, see the full [Goals document][13]. Syncthing should be: 1. Safe From Data Loss Protecting the user's data is paramount. We take every reasonable precaution to avoid corrupting the user's files. 2. Secure Against Attackers Again, protecting the user's data is paramount. Regardless of our other goals…
read the full syncthing overview →
About cyberduck
Cyberduck This is the development home for Cyberduck, a libre file transfer client for macOS and Windows. Command line interface (CLI) for Linux, macOS and Windows. The core libraries are used in Mountain Duck. Mailing Lists There is a Google Groups Cyberduck discussion mailing list. The following additional mailing lists are hosted: News Announcements of new releases Localization Notifications about changes to the translations needed Source Source code is available licensed under the GNU General Public License Version 3. Pull requests welcome! Localizations Translations to new languages are welcome. We use…
read the full cyberduck overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is syncthing or cyberduck more popular?
syncthing has 89,712 GitHub stars and cyberduck has 4,872. syncthing has the larger community by that measure.
Are syncthing and cyberduck free?
Both are open source. syncthing is licensed under MPL-2.0 and cyberduck under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between syncthing and cyberduck?
syncthing is written in Go and cyberduck in Java. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, syncthing or cyberduck?
Choose syncthing if you want the larger community (89,712 stars) or its MPL-2.0 licence terms. Choose cyberduck if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.