Storagedocker-ready1-click-deploypermissive-license

Syncthing: the best Open Source alternative to Dropbox in 2026

Syncthing syncs files directly between your devices over encrypted P2P, with no central cloud server involved, as a decentralized alternative to Dropbox.

License MPL-2.0 ~65k stars (estimated)Website GitHub Repository

Technical profile

License: MPL-2.0
Category: Storage
Replaces: Dropbox
Tech stack: Go

Key features

P2P sync with no central server
End-to-end encryption by design
File version control

Syncthing vs. Dropbox

Pros

Doesn't depend on any third-party cloud server

Things to consider

Not centralized storage: each device keeps its own copy

Quick Docker installation guide

Copy this docker-compose.yml, adjust the example passwords and run docker compose up -d on your server. See the full step-by-step guide →

docker-compose.yml

version: "3.9"
services:
  syncthing:
    image: syncthing/syncthing:latest
    restart: unless-stopped
    ports:
      - "8384:8384"
      - "22000:22000/tcp"
      - "22000:22000/udp"
    volumes:
      - syncthing_config:/var/syncthing/config
      - syncthing_data:/var/syncthing/data
volumes:
  syncthing_config:
  syncthing_data: