Alternatives / Google Drive
Open-source alternatives to Google Drive
12 alternatives are compared by license, workflow, self-hosting, pricing, and fit for different use cases.
Written by Maxime DERAME
Last updated:
Why look for a Google Drive alternative?
Google Drive combines cloud storage, synchronization, sharing, previews, and collaboration with Google's productivity ecosystem. People look for alternatives when they want self-hosting, data residency on infrastructure they control, open-source licensing, end-to-end encryption, private file sharing, desktop synchronization, or less dependence on a Google account.
Puter is an AGPL-3.0 web-based operating environment with cloud storage, file management, applications, developer APIs, and a desktop-like interface.
Pricing: Free and self-hostable under AGPL-3.0; hosted services may be offered separately.
- Cloud file storage and web file manager
- Desktop-style interface and APIs
- Application ecosystem
- Broader than a simple cloud drive
- Less focused on traditional desktop synchronization
Spacedrive is a cross-platform distributed file manager that unifies files across devices and storage locations. Its current Functional Source License is source available rather than OSI-approved open source.
Pricing: Source available under FSL-1.1 with Apache-2.0 future relicensing; verify current hosted terms.
- Local-first and cross-platform
- Distributed file library
- Encrypted device communication
- Not currently OSI-approved open source
- Different model from a traditional cloud drive
- Synchronization is still evolving
Nextcloud is an AGPL-3.0-or-later collaboration platform with file synchronization, sharing, version history, permissions, mobile access, WebDAV, office integrations, and a large application ecosystem.
Pricing: Free and self-hostable under AGPL-3.0-or-later; hosted and enterprise services may be paid.
- Mature ecosystem
- Desktop/mobile sync, sharing, versioning, and WebDAV
- Office and app integrations
- Heavier infrastructure than simple file servers
- Larger deployments require careful administration
Ente is an AGPL-3.0 encrypted cloud platform focused on private photo and video storage, automatic backup, albums, sharing, cross-platform clients, and self-hosting.
Pricing: Open-source clients and server; hosted storage plans may be paid.
- End-to-end encryption
- Automatic photo backup and albums
- Cross-platform and self-hostable
- Primarily focused on photos and videos
- Not a general-purpose team file suite
Seafile is a self-hosted file synchronization and sharing platform with desktop and mobile clients, libraries, version history, permissions, and collaborative file workflows. Components use different open-source licenses.
Pricing: Open-source components are self-hostable; commercial editions and hosted services may be paid.
- Fast synchronization
- Strong performance with large libraries
- Mature file sharing and versioning
- Licensing differs across components
- Less extensible than a broad collaboration suite
Filestash is an AGPL-3.0 web file manager that connects to S3, SFTP, FTP, WebDAV, Samba, and other existing storage systems, providing previews and a unified browser interface.
Pricing: Free and self-hostable; requires an existing storage backend and optional commercial services may exist.
- S3, SFTP, FTP, WebDAV, and SMB support
- File previews and browser access
- Self-hosted and extensible
- Does not provide storage itself
- Less turnkey than Google Drive
OpenCloud combines file management, synchronization, sharing, spaces, search, permissions, WebDAV, office integrations, and cloud-native infrastructure. Its backend and web components use different licenses.
Pricing: Open source and self-hostable; commercial support or hosted services may be available.
- Data sovereignty focus
- Modern cloud-native architecture
- Sync, sharing, spaces, and office integrations
- Multiple licenses across components
- Younger ecosystem than Nextcloud
Papra is an AGPL-3.0 document archiving platform for securely storing, searching, tagging, and organizing invoices, contracts, receipts, and administrative files.
Pricing: Free and self-hostable under AGPL-3.0; hosted services may be offered separately.
- Simple self-hosting
- Search, tags, and metadata
- Useful for administrative archives
- Not a complete Drive replacement
- No broad desktop synchronization
- Limited collaboration
ownCloud Infinite Scale is a self-hosted file synchronization and sharing platform with spaces, permissions, sharing, and collaborative integrations. Its backend and frontend components use different licenses.
Pricing: Open-source components are self-hostable; commercial offerings and support are available.
- Mature file-sync ecosystem
- Team spaces, sharing, and permissions
- Designed for organizational deployments
- Multiple licenses across components
- More enterprise-oriented than consumer cloud storage
Sync-in is an AGPL-3.0-or-later platform for file storage, synchronization, sharing, WebDAV, team spaces, search, permissions, and collaborative document integrations.
Pricing: Free and self-hostable; verify current hosted and deployment options.
- File sync and team spaces
- WebDAV, search, and permissions
- Collaborative editing integrations
- Younger ecosystem
- Smaller community and integration ecosystem
Twake Drive is an AGPL-3.0 file storage and sharing platform from LINAGORA, with browser-based file management, collaboration, sharing, Docker deployment, and self-hosting.
Pricing: Open source and self-hostable; hosted services may be offered separately.
- Designed directly around the cloud-drive use case
- Web file manager and sharing
- Docker deployment
- Smaller ecosystem than Nextcloud
- Less mature desktop synchronization ecosystem
Firefiles is an AGPL-3.0 web file manager that turns existing S3-compatible storage buckets into a browser-based cloud drive with previews and bulk uploads.
Pricing: Free and self-hostable; requires an external object-storage backend.
- S3 support and multiple buckets
- Browser previews and bulk uploads
- You control the underlying storage
- Requires external storage
- Not a complete synchronization platform
- Smaller project
Compare Google Drive alternatives
| Tool | Stars | License | Self-hosted | Pricing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Puter | 43.6K | AGPL-3.0 | Yes | Free and self-hostable under AGPL-3.0; hosted services may be offered separately. |
| Spacedrive | 39.1K | FSL-1.1-ALv2 | Yes | Source available under FSL-1.1 with Apache-2.0 future relicensing; verify current hosted terms. |
| Nextcloud | 37K | AGPL-3.0-or-later | Yes | Free and self-hostable under AGPL-3.0-or-later; hosted and enterprise services may be paid. |
| Ente | 29.2K | AGPL-3.0 | Yes | Open-source clients and server; hosted storage plans may be paid. |
| Seafile | 15.3K | AGPL-3.0 server / GPL-2.0 client / Apache-2.0 components | Yes | Open-source components are self-hostable; commercial editions and hosted services may be paid. |
| Filestash | 14.7K | AGPL-3.0 | Yes | Free and self-hostable; requires an existing storage backend and optional commercial services may exist. |
| OpenCloud | 6.1K | Apache-2.0 backend / AGPL-3.0 web components | Yes | Open source and self-hostable; commercial support or hosted services may be available. |
| Papra | 5.5K | AGPL-3.0 | Yes | Free and self-hostable under AGPL-3.0; hosted services may be offered separately. |
| ownCloud | 2.1K | Apache-2.0 backend / AGPL-3.0 web client | Yes | Open-source components are self-hostable; commercial offerings and support are available. |
| Sync-in | 1.8K | AGPL-3.0-or-later | Yes | Free and self-hostable; verify current hosted and deployment options. |
| Twake Drive | 987 | AGPL-3.0 | Yes | Open source and self-hostable; hosted services may be offered separately. |
| Firefiles | 371 | AGPL-3.0 | Yes | Free and self-hostable; requires an external object-storage backend. |
Which one should you choose?
Want the closest complete self-hosted replacement
Nextcloud combines file storage, synchronization, sharing, permissions, desktop and mobile clients, and document collaboration in a mature ecosystem.
Want fast and reliable file synchronization
Seafile focuses on efficient synchronization and file sharing, including large libraries and team workflows.
Want a modern sovereign file platform
OpenCloud focuses on data sovereignty, modern cloud infrastructure, sharing, spaces, permissions, and collaborative integrations.
Already have S3, SFTP, or WebDAV storage
Filestash provides a unified browser interface over existing storage backends instead of replacing them.
Want encrypted photo and video storage
Ente provides end-to-end encrypted photo backup, albums, sharing, and cross-platform clients.
Want local-first file organization
Spacedrive unifies files across devices and storage locations with a distributed, local-first architecture; its current license is source available.
Want a document archive
Papra is focused on searchable, organized archives for invoices, contracts, receipts, and administrative documents.