head to head · open source
Seafile vs projectsend
Seafile has 15,313 GitHub stars, 1,674 forks, 94 open issues and last shipped 20 days ago. projectsend has 2,027 stars, 360 forks, 9 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Seafile leads on adoption by 655% (15,313 vs 2,027 stars). Seafile is written in C under a custom or non-standard licence; projectsend is written in PHP under GPL-2.0. Seafile has attracted 11% as many forks as stars, projectsend 18%. projectsend 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 | projectsend | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 15K | ★ 2.0K |
| License | Custom / other | GPL-2.0 |
| Written in | C | PHP |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-10-07 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.7K | ⑂ 360 |
| 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 projectsend if
- You want the projectsend feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches PHP
- You evaluated both and projectsend 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 projectsend
ProjectSend is a self hosted, GPLv2 licensed PHP and MySQL application that lets you share files with clients from your own server, with each client signing in to a private page, and it is aimed at freelancers, agencies and teams who would rather not hand client documents to a third party service.
read the full projectsend overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Seafile or projectsend more popular?
Seafile has 15,313 GitHub stars and projectsend has 2,027. Seafile has the larger community by that measure.
Are Seafile and projectsend free?
Both are open source. Seafile has no licence declared in this registry, and projectsend is licensed under GPL-2.0. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between Seafile and projectsend?
Seafile is written in C and projectsend in PHP. 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 projectsend?
Choose Seafile if you want the larger community (15,313 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose projectsend if its feature set, stack or GPL-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.