head to head · open source
Files vs ownCloud
Files has 45,547 GitHub stars, 2,920 forks, 458 open issues and last shipped today. ownCloud has 2,124 stars, 274 forks, 628 open issues and last shipped today. Files leads on adoption by 2,044% (45,547 vs 2,124 stars). Files is written in C# under MIT; ownCloud is written in Go under Apache-2.0. Files has attracted 6% as many forks as stars, ownCloud 13%. ownCloud 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
| Files | ownCloud | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 46K | ★ 2.1K |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | C# | Go |
| Last push | 2026-09-20 | 2026-09-20 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.9K | ⑂ 274 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Files if
- You weight community size — 46K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches C#
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick ownCloud if
- You want the ownCloud feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You evaluated both and ownCloud fits your workflow better
About Files
Files is a modern, MIT licensed file manager for Windows, written in C and maintained by an open source community, for Windows users who want a customizable, actively developed alternative for organising files and folders.
read the full Files overview →
About ownCloud
ownCloud Infinite Scale (oCIS) is a self hosted file sync and share server written in Go under the Apache 2.0 license. It lives in the ownCloud ecosystem and uses reva as a scalable backend with open APIs such as WebDAV and CS3. It presents itself as the foundation for a data management platform and as an open alternative to Google Workspace and Google Drive.
read the full ownCloud overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Files or ownCloud more popular?
Files has 45,547 GitHub stars and ownCloud has 2,124. Files has the larger community by that measure.
Are Files and ownCloud free?
Both are open source. Files is licensed under MIT and ownCloud under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Files and ownCloud?
Files is written in C# and ownCloud in Go. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, Files or ownCloud?
Choose Files if you want the larger community (45,547 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose ownCloud if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.