head to head · open source
Nextcloud vs ffsend
Nextcloud has 36,863 GitHub stars, 5,232 forks, 3,657 open issues and last shipped today. ffsend has 7,414 stars, 205 forks, 33 open issues and last shipped 10 months ago. Nextcloud leads on adoption by 397% (36,863 vs 7,414 stars). Nextcloud is written in PHP under AGPL-3.0; ffsend is written in Rust under GPL-3.0. Nextcloud has attracted 14% as many forks as stars, ffsend 3%. Nextcloud was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (file-sharing, hacktoberfest), 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
| Nextcloud | ffsend | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 37K | ★ 7.4K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | PHP | Rust |
| Last push | 2026-09-20 | 2025-11-20 |
| Forks | ⑂ 5.2K | ⑂ 205 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Nextcloud if
- You weight community size — 37K stars and counting
- You want the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches PHP
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick ffsend if
- You want the ffsend feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Rust
- You evaluated both and ffsend fits your workflow better
About Nextcloud
Nextcloud is a self hosted cloud collaboration platform built in PHP, licensed under AGPL 3.0. It enables organizations and individuals to store, synchronize, and share files, contacts, calendars, and other data on infrastructure they control, replacing reliance on third party cloud services. The project lives in the open source cloud software ecosystem and serves as a decentralized alternative to proprietary suites like Dropbox, Google Workspace, and Microsoft 365.
read the full Nextcloud overview →
About ffsend
ffsend is a command line client for the Send file sharing service that uploads and downloads encrypted files and directories through a single terminal command, built for developers, system administrators and anyone who prefers a scriptable, privacy respecting alternative to a web upload form.
read the full ffsend overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Nextcloud or ffsend more popular?
Nextcloud has 36,863 GitHub stars and ffsend has 7,414. Nextcloud has the larger community by that measure.
Are Nextcloud and ffsend free?
Both are open source. Nextcloud is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and ffsend under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Nextcloud and ffsend?
Nextcloud is written in PHP and ffsend in Rust. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, Nextcloud or ffsend?
Choose Nextcloud if you want the larger community (36,863 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose ffsend if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.