Dropbox
Cloud file storage and sync for teams and individuals
Rclone
Sync, copy, and mount files across any cloud storage
Rclone is a command‑line utility that synchronizes, copies, and mounts files between local disks and over 200 cloud storage providers, offering encryption, compression, and multi‑threaded transfers.
Overview
Overview
Rclone is a powerful command‑line tool that lets you manage files across a vast array of cloud storage services and local filesystems. It supports more than 200 providers, from popular options like Amazon S3, Google Drive, and Dropbox to niche services such as 1Fichier and Zata.ai, enabling seamless data movement without leaving the terminal.
Capabilities
With multiple operation modes—copy, sync, bisync, and check—Rclone ensures data integrity using MD5/SHA‑1 hashes and preserves timestamps. Optional layers add encryption, compression, and chunking for large files, while the FUSE‑based rclone mount command exposes remote storage as a local directory. Multi‑threaded transfers boost performance, and the tool can serve files over HTTP, WebDAV, FTP, SFTP, or DLNA, making it suitable for backup, migration, and on‑demand access scenarios.
Highlights
Supports 200+ cloud storage providers
Multiple sync modes: copy, sync, bisync, check
Optional encryption, compression, and chunking
Mount remote storage via FUSE
Pros
- Extensive provider compatibility
- Robust integrity checks with MD5/SHA‑1
- Flexible data handling (encrypt, compress, chunk)
- High performance via multi‑threaded transfers
Considerations
- CLI‑only interface may deter non‑technical users
- Initial configuration can be complex
- Some features (Cache) are deprecated
- Performance limited by network latency
Managed products teams compare with
When teams consider Rclone, these hosted platforms usually appear on the same shortlist.
Looking for a hosted option? These are the services engineering teams benchmark against before choosing open source.
Fit guide
Great for
- System administrators managing backups
- DevOps engineers automating cloud migrations
- Developers needing scripted storage operations
- Power users requiring encrypted remote mounts
Not ideal when
- Casual users preferring graphical tools
- Environments with extremely low bandwidth
- Real‑time file synchronization needs
- Windows users requiring native UI integration
How teams use it
Cross‑cloud backup
Automate daily backups of local servers to Amazon S3, Backblaze B2, or Google Cloud with encryption and integrity verification.
Provider migration
Move large data sets from Dropbox to Azure Blob Storage without intermediate downloads, preserving timestamps and metadata.
Mount remote bucket as local drive
Use `rclone mount` to expose an S3 bucket as a filesystem on Linux, enabling standard file‑system tools to operate on cloud data.
Secure file sharing
Encrypt and compress files before uploading to Mega or OneDrive, ensuring privacy while reducing transfer size.
Tech snapshot
Go98%
Shell1%
Python1%
HTML1%
JavaScript1%
Makefile1%
Frequently asked questions
How do I install Rclone?
Download the appropriate binary from rclone.org/downloads or use package managers like Homebrew, apt, or snap; then place the executable in your PATH.
How can I configure a remote storage?
Run `rclone config`, follow the interactive prompts to add a new remote, select the provider, and supply credentials.
Does Rclone support encryption?
Yes, the `crypt` remote layer encrypts files client‑side before they are sent to the underlying storage.
What is the difference between `copy` and `sync`?
`copy` transfers new or changed files only, leaving extra files untouched; `sync` makes the destination identical to the source, deleting files not present in the source.
Can I mount a cloud storage as a local filesystem?
Yes, using `rclone mount` (requires FUSE) you can mount most remote types as a local directory.
Project at a glance
Active- Stars
- 55,085
- Watchers
- 55,085
- Forks
- 4,850
LicenseMIT
Repo age11 years old
Last commit3 days ago
Primary languageGo
Last synced 3 hours ago