head to head · open source
Seafile vs ffsend
Seafile has 15,257 GitHub stars, 1,677 forks, 94 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. ffsend has 7,414 stars, 205 forks, 33 open issues and last shipped 10 months ago. Seafile leads on adoption by 106% (15,257 vs 7,414 stars). Seafile is written in C under a custom or non-standard licence; ffsend is written in Rust under GPL-3.0. Seafile has attracted 11% as many forks as stars, ffsend 3%. Seafile 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
| Seafile | ffsend | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 15K | ★ 7.4K |
| License | Custom / other | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | C | Rust |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2025-11-20 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.7K | ⑂ 205 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Seafile if
- You weight community size — 15K stars and counting
- You want the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches C
- 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 Seafile
Seafile is an open source cloud storage system written in C and positioned as a self hosted alternative to Dropbox and Google Drive. It organizes files into libraries, each of which can be synced separately, encrypted with a user chosen password, and shared between users or groups. The project lives in the self hosted file sync and document management ecosystem, where it combines storage, collaboration, knowledge management, and metadata features.
read the full Seafile 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 Seafile or ffsend more popular?
Seafile has 15,257 GitHub stars and ffsend has 7,414. Seafile has the larger community by that measure.
Are Seafile and ffsend free?
Both are open source. Seafile has no licence declared in this registry, and ffsend is licensed under GPL-3.0. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between Seafile and ffsend?
Seafile is written in C 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, Seafile or ffsend?
Choose Seafile if you want the larger community (15,257 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose ffsend if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.