Copyparty vs Google Drive
Copyparty and Google Drive are both file sync and storage software. Copyparty is open source under MIT, with 47k GitHub stars. Google Drive is a commercial product from Google.
Which to pick
- Pick Copyparty when
- You want to turn a NAS, PC or Raspberry Pi into a browser-accessible file drop and share point in minutes.
- Pick Google Drive when
- You use Google accounts or Workspace and want storage that works with Google's editors and sharing.
Side by side
A single-file Python file server with resumable uploads, deduplication, thumbnails, media indexing and access over HTTP, WebDAV, SFTP, FTP, TFTP and SMB.
Google's cloud file storage and sync, shared with Gmail and Photos storage, and the home for Docs, Sheets and Slides files.
Mostly one developer's work, and its many protocols and options need careful permission configuration before exposing it to the internet.
Sharing permissions get tangled in organisations, and storage is shared with Gmail and Photos.
Production-ready (both)
Self-hosted server and command line
Cloud service, desktop app and mobile app
Python and JavaScript
Not published
Open source, MIT (permissive)
Closed source, sold by Google
You can build it into a product you sell, as long as you keep its copyright notice.
Closed source: you use it under the maker's terms and cannot change or resell the code.
47k GitHub stars
61k Wikipedia readers a month on phones
Established: started 7 years ago, latest release v1.20.26.
Not known
Other comparisons
More file sync and cloud storage software
Both sides were judged on 2026-11-03 from makers' descriptions, Wikipedia, READMEs and GitHub data. License, age and popularity lines are worked out directly.