head to head · open source
syncthing vs Spacedrive
syncthing has 89,310 GitHub stars, 5,518 forks, 388 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. Spacedrive has 39,111 stars, 1,355 forks, 57 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. syncthing leads on adoption by 128% (89,310 vs 39,111 stars). syncthing is written in Go under MPL-2.0; Spacedrive is written in Rust under Apache-2.0. syncthing has attracted 6% as many forks as stars, Spacedrive 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 | Spacedrive | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 89K | ★ 39K |
| License | MPL-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Go | Rust |
| Last push | 2026-10-10 | 2026-10-09 |
| Forks | ⑂ 5.5K | ⑂ 1.4K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick syncthing if
- You weight community size — 89K 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 Spacedrive if
- You want the Spacedrive feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Rust
- You evaluated both and Spacedrive fits your workflow better
About syncthing
Syncthing is an open source continuous file synchronization program written in Go that keeps files identical across two or more computers, aimed at individual users who want to sync their own data without a third party service.
read the full syncthing overview →
About Spacedrive
Spacedrive is an open source, cross platform file explorer built on a virtual distributed filesystem written in Rust. It unifies local and remote storage—including cloud services like Dropbox, Google Drive, and S3—into a single interface, enabling unified search, browsing, and syncing across devices without centralized servers.
read the full Spacedrive overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is syncthing or Spacedrive more popular?
syncthing has 89,310 GitHub stars and Spacedrive has 39,111. syncthing has the larger community by that measure.
Are syncthing and Spacedrive free?
Both are open source. syncthing is licensed under MPL-2.0 and Spacedrive under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between syncthing and Spacedrive?
syncthing is written in Go and Spacedrive 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 Spacedrive?
Choose syncthing if you want the larger community (89,310 stars) or its MPL-2.0 licence terms. Choose Spacedrive if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.