head to head · open source
Seafile vs OpenCloud
Seafile has 15,254 GitHub stars, 1,677 forks, 94 open issues and last shipped 21 days ago. OpenCloud has 6,003 stars, 242 forks, 449 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Seafile leads on adoption by 154% (15,254 vs 6,003 stars). Seafile is written in C under a custom or non-standard licence; OpenCloud is written in Go under Apache-2.0. Seafile has attracted 11% as many forks as stars, OpenCloud 4%. OpenCloud 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
| Seafile | OpenCloud | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 15K | ★ 6.0K |
| License | Custom / other | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | C | Go |
| Last push | 2026-08-28 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.7K | ⑂ 242 |
| 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 OpenCloud if
- You want the OpenCloud 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 OpenCloud 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 OpenCloud
OpenCloud is an open source platform for file management, sharing and collaboration, positioned as a self hosted alternative built for digital sovereignty. The project lives in the Productivity & Utilities / File Management & Sync category of the open source ecosystem, and the repository in question is the main repository of the OpenCloud server: it contains the Go codebase for the backend services that the rest of the platform is built on. The server is released under the Apache 2.0 licence, and the wider project is backed by OpenCloud GmbH, with documentation and installation guidance published at opencloud.eu …
read the full OpenCloud overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Seafile or OpenCloud more popular?
Seafile has 15,254 GitHub stars and OpenCloud has 6,003. Seafile has the larger community by that measure.
Are Seafile and OpenCloud free?
Both are open source. Seafile has no licence declared in this registry, and OpenCloud is licensed under Apache-2.0. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between Seafile and OpenCloud?
Seafile is written in C and OpenCloud 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, Seafile or OpenCloud?
Choose Seafile if you want the larger community (15,254 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose OpenCloud if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.