High performance self-hosted photo and video backup solution with on-device machine learning
Best Open-Source & Self-Hosted Storage & File Sharing Software
S3 compatible storage and distributed object stores Compare GitHub star velocity, open-source licenses, self-hosting difficulty, and deploy with 1-click Docker Compose templates.
Commercial Storage & File Sharing SaaS You Can Replace Today
Storage & File Sharing Open-Source Comparison Matrix (2026)
| Open-Source Project | Replaces SaaS | GitHub Stars | License | Tech Stack | Difficulty | Deploy |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Immich | Google Photos / Apple Photos | ★ 116,112 | AGPL-3.0 | TypeScript, Flutter, Python, PostgreSQL with pgvector, Redis | Medium | Docker |
| Syncthing | Resilio Sync / Box Sync | ★ 89,336 | MPL-2.0 | Go | Easy | Docker |
| MinIO | Amazon S3 | ★ 61,321 | AGPL-3.0 | Go | Easy | Docker |
| Nextcloud | Google Drive / Dropbox | ★ 37,078 | AGPL-3.0 | PHP, Vue.js, PostgreSQL/MariaDB | Easy | Docker |
| Seafile | Google Drive / Dropbox | ★ 15,321 | GPL-2.0 | C, Python, Django, MySQL | Medium | Docker |
All Verified Storage & File Sharing Projects (5)
Continuous decentralized peer-to-peer file synchronization program
High-performance S3-compatible object storage for cloud and edge
The most deployed self-hosted file sync, share, and team collaboration platform
High-performance enterprise file sync and share solution with client-side block encryption
1-Click Docker Compose Generator for Storage & File Sharing
Select any storage & file sharing service below to customize ports, volumes, and environment secrets:
1-Click Docker Compose Generator
Generate production-ready container definitions with customizable ports and volumes.
High performance self-hosted photo and video backup solution with on-device machine learning
version: '3.8'
services:
immich-server:
container_name: immich_server
image: ghcr.io/immich-app/immich-server:release
command: [ "start.sh" ]
volumes:
- ${UPLOAD_LOCATION:-./library}:/usr/src/app/upload
- /etc/localtime:/etc/localtime:ro
environment:
- NODE_ENV=production
- DB_HOSTNAME=immich-database
- DB_USERNAME=${DB_USERNAME:-postgres}
- DB_PASSWORD=${DB_PASSWORD:-postgres_password}
- DB_DATABASE_NAME=${DB_DATABASE_NAME:-immich}
- REDIS_HOSTNAME=immich-redis
ports:
- "${SERVER_PORT:-2283}:2283"
depends_on:
- immich-redis
- immich-database
restart: always
immich-machine-learning:
container_name: immich_machine_learning
image: ghcr.io/immich-app/immich-machine-learning:release
volumes:
- model-cache:/cache
restart: always
immich-redis:
container_name: immich_redis
image: redis:6.2-alpine
restart: always
immich-database:
container_name: immich_database
image: tensorchord/pgvecto-rs:pg14-v0.2.1
environment:
POSTGRES_PASSWORD: ${DB_PASSWORD:-postgres_password}
POSTGRES_USER: ${DB_USERNAME:-postgres}
POSTGRES_DB: ${DB_DATABASE_NAME:-immich}
volumes:
- pgdata:/var/lib/postgresql/data
restart: always
volumes:
model-cache:
pgdata:Frequently Asked Questions: Self-Hosted Storage & File Sharing
What is the best open-source Storage & File Sharing software to self-host in 2026?
Based on community adoption and GitHub velocity, Immich (116,112 GitHub stars) is the leading open-source storage & file sharing solution. It replaces Google Photos / Apple Photos and is distributed under the AGPL-3.0 license.
Can I deploy self-hosted Storage & File Sharing tools using Docker Compose?
Yes. All 5 open-source storage & file sharing projects listed on this page include production-tested Docker Compose configurations with persistent volume mounts and environment variable customization.
Which commercial SaaS products in Storage & File Sharing can be replaced with open source?
You can replace proprietary tools including Amazon S3, Google Drive / Dropbox, Google Photos / Apple Photos, Resilio Sync / Box Sync with self-hosted open-source equivalents, eliminating per-seat subscription costs while retaining 100% data sovereignty.
What server specs are needed to self-host Storage & File Sharing software?
Most storage & file sharing applications run smoothly on a standard Linux VPS with 2 vCPU and 2GB–4GB RAM ($6–$12/month on Hetzner, DigitalOcean, or Linode).