head to head · open source
syncthing vs zrok
syncthing has 90,102 GitHub stars, 5,578 forks, 388 open issues and last shipped yesterday. zrok has 4,798 stars, 229 forks, 125 open issues and last shipped 5 days ago. syncthing leads on adoption by 1,778% (90,102 vs 4,798 stars). syncthing is written in Go under MPL-2.0; zrok is written in Go under Apache-2.0. syncthing has attracted 6% as many forks as stars, zrok 5%. syncthing was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (peer-to-peer), 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
| syncthing | zrok | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 90K | ★ 4.8K |
| License | MPL-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Go | Go |
| Last push | 2026-11-04 | 2026-10-31 |
| Forks | ⑂ 5.6K | ⑂ 229 |
| 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 zrok if
- You want the zrok 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 zrok 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 zrok
zrok Secure internet sharing made simple Share anything, anywhere, instantly. Enterprise reliability. No firewall changes. No port forwarding. No hassle. zrok lets you securely share web services, files, and network resources with anyone—whether they're across the internet or your private network. Built on zero trust networking, it works through firewalls and NAT without requiring any network configuration changes. Quick start Get sharing in under 2 minutes: 1. Install zrok for your platform 2. Get an account : zrok invite (use the free zrok.io service) 3. Enable sharing : zrok enable That's it! Now you can…
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Frequently asked questions
Is syncthing or zrok more popular?
syncthing has 90,102 GitHub stars and zrok has 4,798. syncthing has the larger community by that measure.
Are syncthing and zrok free?
Both are open source. syncthing is licensed under MPL-2.0 and zrok under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between syncthing and zrok?
syncthing is written in Go and zrok 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, syncthing or zrok?
Choose syncthing if you want the larger community (90,102 stars) or its MPL-2.0 licence terms. Choose zrok if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.