Updated August 2026
    Actively maintained
    Real momentum
    4.4k

    Kinto: Maintenance, Licence and Alternatives

    Minimalist JSON storage service with synchronisation and sharing abilities.

    TL;DR • Kinto • as of August 2026

    Kinto is an open-source file transfer & synchronization project, with 4.4k GitHub stars and a health score of 79/100. It committed 151 times in the last twelve months across 12 of those months, and its status is actively maintained. Licence: Apache-2.0. It has real momentum, so treat it as a live competitor rather than a stale repository.

    4.4k
    GitHub stars
    79/100
    Health score
    151
    Commits (12 mo)
    12/12
    Active months

    Maintenance health

    Status Actively maintained — Committed within the last 45 days.
    Last commit 2026-08-14
    Days since last commit 3
    Commits, last 3 months 42
    Commits, last 12 months 151
    Months with activity 12 of 12
    Last release 2026-08-10
    Archived No
    Licence Apache-2.0
    Category File Transfer & Synchronization

    Health score combines commit recency, twelve-month commit volume, months with activity, release recency and archive state. Metadata refreshed August 2026.

    What the licence lets you do

    Apache-2.0

    Permissive (MIT, Apache, BSD): you can fork it, close the source and sell it. Lowest legal friction for a commercial product.

    This matters most when you plan to sell a hosted version. A permissive licence means anyone — including a competitor with more capital — can do the same, so your defensibility has to come from distribution, support or data, not from the code.

    What Kinto means for your idea

    Kinto is shipping code consistently, so a buyer comparing your product will find a maintained free option. Price and position against the total cost of self-hosting it, not against the paid incumbent's list price.

    Winnable, but differentiation is not optional. Pick one underserved segment and be visibly better for it rather than competing feature-for-feature with a free tool.

    Kinto: common questions

    Is Kinto still maintained in 2026?

    Actively maintained. Kinto recorded 151 commits over the last twelve months, with activity in 12 of those months and 42 commits in the last quarter. Last commit: 2026-08-14. Last release: 2026-08-10. Committed within the last 45 days.

    Can I use Kinto commercially?

    Kinto is published under Apache-2.0. Permissive (MIT, Apache, BSD): you can fork it, close the source and sell it. Lowest legal friction for a commercial product.

    How crowded is the File Transfer & Synchronization category?

    20 open-source implementations, 14 of them actively maintained, led by Syncthing at 88k stars. Saturation score 52/100 — Contested. Several maintained alternatives exist, but no one owns the category.

    Kinto alternatives in File Transfer & Synchronization

    Syncthing

    File Transfer & Synchronization

    88k

    Syncthing is an open source peer-to-peer file synchronisation tool.

    Actively maintained
    Real momentum
    MPL-2.0

    Puter

    File Transfer & Synchronization

    43k

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

    Actively maintained
    Real momentum
    AGPL-3.0

    Nextcloud

    Alternative to Dropbox, Google Drive, Personal cloud

    36k

    Access and share your files, calendars, contacts, mail and [more](https://apps.nextcloud.com/) from any device, on your terms.

    Actively maintained
    Real momentum
    AGPL-3.0

    Cloudreve

    File Transfer & Synchronization

    29k

    File management and sharing system, supports multiple storage providers.

    Actively maintained
    Real momentum
    GPL-3.0

    Seafile

    File Transfer & Synchronization

    15k

    File hosting and sharing solution primary for teams and organizations.

    Actively maintained
    Real momentum
    GPL-2.0, GPL-3.0, AGPL-3.0, Apache-2.0

    ownCloud

    Alternative to Dropbox, Google Drive

    8.8k

    All-in-one solution for saving, synchronizing, viewing, editing and sharing files, calendars, address books and more.

    Actively maintained
    Real momentum
    AGPL-3.0

    Competing with free? Check the market first.

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