head to head · open source
syncthing vs ffsend
syncthing has 90,076 GitHub stars, 5,579 forks, 388 open issues and last shipped yesterday. ffsend has 7,423 stars, 207 forks, 33 open issues and last shipped 12 months ago. syncthing leads on adoption by 1,113% (90,076 vs 7,423 stars). syncthing is written in Go under MPL-2.0; ffsend is written in Rust under GPL-3.0. syncthing has attracted 6% as many forks as stars, ffsend 3%. syncthing 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
| syncthing | ffsend | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 90K | ★ 7.4K |
| License | MPL-2.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Go | Rust |
| Last push | 2026-11-04 | 2025-11-20 |
| Forks | ⑂ 5.6K | ⑂ 207 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick syncthing if
- You weight community size — 90K stars and counting
- You want the MPL-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick ffsend if
- You want the ffsend feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Rust
- You evaluated both and ffsend fits your workflow better
About syncthing
[![Syncthing][14]][15] Goals Syncthing is a continuous file synchronization program . It synchronizes files between two or more computers. We strive to fulfill the goals below. The goals are listed in order of importance, the most important ones first. This is the summary version of the goal list for more commentary, see the full [Goals document][13]. Syncthing should be: 1. Safe From Data Loss Protecting the user's data is paramount. We take every reasonable precaution to avoid corrupting the user's files. 2. Secure Against Attackers Again, protecting the user's data is paramount. Regardless of our other goals…
read the full syncthing overview →
About ffsend
[![Build status on GitLab CI][gitlab ci master badge]][gitlab ci link] [![Newest release on crates.io][crate version badge]][crate link] [![Project license][crate license badge]](LICENSE) [crate license badge]: [crate link]: [crate version badge]: [gitlab ci link]: [gitlab ci master badge]: Notice: the default Send host is provided by [@timvisee][timvisee] (info). Please consider to [donate] and help keep it running. ffsend Easily and securely share files from the command line. A [Send][send] client. Easily and securely share files and directories from the command line through a safe, private and encrypted link…
read the full ffsend overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is syncthing or ffsend more popular?
syncthing has 90,076 GitHub stars and ffsend has 7,423. syncthing has the larger community by that measure.
Are syncthing and ffsend free?
Both are open source. syncthing is licensed under MPL-2.0 and ffsend under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between syncthing and ffsend?
syncthing is written in Go and ffsend in Rust. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, syncthing or ffsend?
Choose syncthing if you want the larger community (90,076 stars) or its MPL-2.0 licence terms. Choose ffsend if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.