Updated August 2026
    Actively maintained
    Real momentum
    1.6k

    Sync-in: Maintenance, Licence and Alternatives

    File storage, syncing, sharing, and collaboration with real-time editing, permission management, and desktop/CLI clients.

    TL;DR • Sync-in • as of August 2026

    Sync-in is an open-source file transfer & synchronization project, with 1.6k GitHub stars and a health score of 92/100. It committed 696 times in the last twelve months across 12 of those months, and its status is actively maintained. Licence: AGPL-3.0. It has real momentum, so treat it as a live competitor rather than a stale repository.

    1.6k
    GitHub stars
    92/100
    Health score
    696
    Commits (12 mo)
    12/12
    Active months

    Maintenance health

    Status Actively maintained — Committed within the last 45 days.
    Last commit 2026-08-06
    Days since last commit 11
    Commits, last 3 months 163
    Commits, last 12 months 696
    Months with activity 12 of 12
    Last release 2026-07-25
    Archived No
    Licence AGPL-3.0
    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

    AGPL-3.0

    Copyleft (GPL, AGPL, MPL): derivative work must stay open. AGPL also covers software offered over a network, which blocks most closed SaaS wrappers.

    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 Sync-in means for your idea

    Sync-in 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.

    Sync-in: common questions

    Is Sync-in still maintained in 2026?

    Actively maintained. Sync-in recorded 696 commits over the last twelve months, with activity in 12 of those months and 163 commits in the last quarter. Last commit: 2026-08-06. Last release: 2026-07-25. Committed within the last 45 days.

    Can I use Sync-in commercially?

    Sync-in is published under AGPL-3.0. Copyleft (GPL, AGPL, MPL): derivative work must stay open. AGPL also covers software offered over a network, which blocks most closed SaaS wrappers.

    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.

    Sync-in 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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