Puter vs Syncthing

Two self-hosted File Transfer & Synchronization apps, compared on the facts we track: GitHub popularity and activity, license, language, Docker images and a rough hosting estimate.

Side by side

PuterSyncthing
DescriptionWeb-based operating system designed to be feature-rich, exceptionally fast, and highly extensible.Peer-to-peer file synchronisation tool.
GitHub stars44,09790,105
Forks4.1k5.6k
Open issues (incl. PRs)46398
Commits (12 months)2.7k235
Last activity2026-11-052026-11-02
Latest release26.11 (2026-11-02)v2.1.7 (2026-10-21)
Maintenance healthActiveActive
LicenseAGPL-3.0MPL-2.0
Language / platformNodejs, DockerGo, Docker, deb
Docker Hub image––
Docker pulls––
Est. server size~1 GB, 1 vCPU~1 GB, 1 vCPU
Est. hosting from$5/mo$5/mo
CategoriesFile Transfer & Synchronization, Remote AccessFile Transfer & Synchronization
LinksWebsite · SourceWebsite · Source

What the numbers say

Summary: Puter leads on commit activity; Syncthing leads on GitHub popularity. The right choice depends on the features you need — read both project descriptions and docs.

This summary is generated from GitHub, Docker Hub and awesome-selfhosted data as of 2026-11-05. It does not rate features or quality.

Frequently asked questions

Is Puter or Syncthing more popular?

Syncthing has more GitHub stars (90,105 vs 44,097 for Puter, as of 2026-11-05). Stars measure interest, not quality.

Which is more actively maintained, Puter or Syncthing?

Puter had more commits over the last 12 months (2,703 vs 235). The last recorded activity was 2026-11-05 for Puter and 2026-11-02 for Syncthing. Our health labels: Puter is “Active”, Syncthing is “Active”.

What licenses do Puter and Syncthing use?

Puter: AGPL-3.0. Syncthing: MPL-2.0.

Can I run Puter and Syncthing with Docker?

We did not detect a Docker Hub image for either app. The upstream listing mentions Docker as a deployment option for Puter and Syncthing. Check each project's documentation for install options.

Read more

Puter

Web-based operating system designed to be feature-rich, exceptionally fast, and highly extensible.

Active ★ 44.1k AGPL-3.0 🐳 Docker~$5/mo

Syncthing

Peer-to-peer file synchronisation tool.

Active ★ 90.1k MPL-2.0 🐳 Docker~$5/mo

Browse all self-hosted File Transfer & Synchronization apps.

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