head to head · open source
PairDrop vs ownCloud
PairDrop has 11,422 GitHub stars, 691 forks, 111 open issues and last shipped 5 months ago. ownCloud has 2,122 stars, 274 forks, 628 open issues and last shipped yesterday. PairDrop leads on adoption by 438% (11,422 vs 2,122 stars). PairDrop is written in JavaScript under GPL-3.0; ownCloud is written in Go under Apache-2.0. PairDrop 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. 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
| PairDrop | ownCloud | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 11K | ★ 2.1K |
| License | GPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | JavaScript | Go |
| Last push | 2026-04-22 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 691 | ⑂ 274 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick PairDrop if
- You weight community size — 11K stars and counting
- You want the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- 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 PairDrop
PairDrop is open source JavaScript web app for file sharing. It lives in browser PWA ecosystem, using WebRTC, WebSockets, IndexedDB, Node.js. It is fork of Snapdrop. It is inspired by Apple AirDrop. It is listed as Productivity & Utilities / File Management & Sync. License is GPL 3.0. GitHub metadata lists 11390 stars and 690 forks.
read the full PairDrop 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 PairDrop or ownCloud more popular?
PairDrop has 11,422 GitHub stars and ownCloud has 2,122. PairDrop has the larger community by that measure.
Are PairDrop and ownCloud free?
Both are open source. PairDrop is licensed under GPL-3.0 and ownCloud under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between PairDrop and ownCloud?
PairDrop is written in JavaScript 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, PairDrop or ownCloud?
Choose PairDrop if you want the larger community (11,422 stars) or its GPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose ownCloud if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.