head to head · open source
Seafile vs Firefiles
Seafile has 15,254 GitHub stars, 1,677 forks, 94 open issues and last shipped 21 days ago. Firefiles has 371 stars, 57 forks, 14 open issues and last shipped 11 months ago. Seafile leads on adoption by 4,012% (15,254 vs 371 stars). Seafile is written in C under a custom or non-standard licence; Firefiles is written in TypeScript under AGPL-3.0. Seafile has attracted 11% as many forks as stars, Firefiles 15%. Seafile was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (cloud-storage), 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 | Firefiles | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 15K | ★ 371 |
| License | Custom / other | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | C | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-08-28 | 2025-11-03 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.7K | ⑂ 57 |
| 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 Firefiles if
- You want the Firefiles feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and Firefiles 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 Firefiles
Firefiles is an open source, self hosted alternative to Dropbox: a TypeScript and Next.js web application that turns your own cloud storage buckets — such as AWS S3, Backblaze, or Firebase Cloud Storage — into a single browser based drive with a familiar file system interface, built for people who want Dropbox style file management while keeping their files in storage they already own.
read the full Firefiles overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Seafile or Firefiles more popular?
Seafile has 15,254 GitHub stars and Firefiles has 371. Seafile has the larger community by that measure.
Are Seafile and Firefiles free?
Both are open source. Seafile has no licence declared in this registry, and Firefiles is licensed under AGPL-3.0. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between Seafile and Firefiles?
Seafile is written in C and Firefiles in TypeScript. 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 Firefiles?
Choose Seafile if you want the larger community (15,254 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose Firefiles if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.