Alternatives to Rclone
A command line tool that syncs, copies and mounts files across more than seventy cloud storage services. The listings below can replace it for an important use case. Each note says what changes if you switch.
The original
Rclone
A command line tool that syncs, copies and mounts files across more than seventy cloud storage services.
Replacements
Listings that take over the same core job as Rclone.
rsync
The classic delta-transfer tool for copying and mirroring files.
rsync is the classic GPL-3.0 delta-transfer command line tool that preserves permissions and links, but it works between filesystems and hosts rather than seventy cloud services.
GoodSync
Block-level file sync and backup with versioning and many back ends.
GoodSync offers block-level sync and backup with versioning across many back ends and mobile apps, but it is a paid, closed-source product instead of free MIT software.
FreeFileSync
Compares two folders, shows exactly what differs, and copies only what changed.
FreeFileSync gives a graphical folder comparison with saved batch jobs for scheduled backups, but it targets drives and network shares rather than cloud storage APIs.
Unison
Synchronize two file collections while preserving changes from both sides.
Unison synchronizes two file collections while keeping changes made on both sides, but it lacks rclone's cloud provider support, mounting and client-side encryption.
RcloneView
A graphical file manager built on rclone for browsing, syncing and mounting cloud storage.
RcloneView puts a graphical interface over rclone's 70+ providers with mounting and Crypt encryption, but it is closed source and some features need the paid Plus upgrade.
Air Explorer
Desktop app for managing, transferring, syncing and encrypting files across many cloud storage accounts.
Air Explorer is a desktop app for over 50 cloud services with encryption and a CLI for scripting, but it is closed source and runs on Windows and macOS only.
Syncovery
A file sync, backup and migration tool for local drives, network shares and cloud storage.
Syncovery handles sync and backup jobs across local, network and cloud storage on Windows, Mac and Linux with a graphical tool, but it is paid, closed-source software.
MultCloud
Web service that transfers, syncs and backs up files between different cloud storage accounts.
MultCloud runs cloud-to-cloud transfers and scheduled sync as a hosted web service, which means granting a third party access to your cloud accounts.
Also worth comparing
These listings name Rclone as their own alternative, so the relationship runs both ways.
CloudMounter
A desktop app that mounts cloud storage accounts as local drives in Finder and Explorer.
Rclone is free and open source under MIT and mounts over seventy services, but it is command-line only and needs WinFsp or FUSE for mounting.
FolderSync
A folder sync app for Android and desktop that works with over 20 cloud providers.
Rclone is free and open source and syncs with over seventy cloud services, but runs as a command-line tool without an Android app.
git-annex
A command-line tool that manages and syncs large files with git without storing their contents in git.
Rclone is MIT open source and syncs files to over seventy cloud services with checksums and encryption, but has no git integration or location tracking.
Insync
A desktop sync client for Google Drive, OneDrive and Dropbox on Linux, Windows and macOS.
Rclone is free, open-source MIT software supporting over seventy cloud services with encryption and mounting, but it is command line only.
StableBit CloudDrive
A Windows app that creates encrypted virtual hard drives whose data is stored with a cloud provider.
Rclone is free, open source and cross-platform, mounting remotes with client-side encryption, but it works from the command line and needs WinFsp on Windows.
Similar software
Related functionality, not a direct replacement.
Syncthing
Keeps folders identical across your own machines, directly between them, with no cloud account in the middle.
restic
A single-executable backup program that makes encrypted, deduplicated snapshots and can send them almost anywhere.
BorgBackup
A deduplicating archiver for Linux, macOS and BSD that makes daily backups cost almost nothing beyond the day’s changes.
Cyberduck
A server and cloud storage browser for Mac and Windows that speaks FTP, SFTP, WebDAV, SMB and every major object store.
Garage
Distributed S3-compatible object store built for unreliable hardware.
Dropbox
The original file sync service, with clients on every platform.
