Dropbox is the 800-pound gorilla of filesharing applications. Even though it's a massively popular tool, you may choose to use an alternative.
Maybe that's because you're dedicated to the open source way[1] for all the good reasons, including security and freedom, or possibly you've been spooked by data breaches. Or perhaps the pricing plan doesn't work out in your favor for the amount of storage you actually need.
Fortunately, there are a variety of open source filesharing applications out there that give you more storage, security, and control over your data at a far lower price than Dropbox charges. How much lower? Try free, if you're a bit tech savvy and have a Linux server to use.
Here are five of the best open source alternatives to Dropbox, plus a few others that you might want to consider.
ownCloud
ownCloud[2], launched in 2010, is the oldest application on this list, but don't let that fool you: It's still very popular (with over 1.5 million users, according to the company) and actively maintained by a community of 1,100 contributors, with updates released regularly.
Its primary features—file and folding sharing, document collaboration—are similar to Dropbox's. Its primary difference (aside from its open source license[3]) is that your files are hosted on your private Linux server or cloud, giving users complete control over your data. (Self-hosting is a common thread among the apps on this list.)
With ownCloud, you can sync and access files through clients for Linux, MacOS, or Windows computers or mobile apps for Android and iOS devices, and provide password-protected links to others for collaboration or file upload/download. Data transfers are secured by end-to-end encryption (E2EE) and SSL encryption.