Open source alternative to Google Drive, Dropbox, Microsoft OneDrive and Box
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Host a self-hosted file management system with ten storage backends, direct client-to-storage transfers, and WebDAV access on any device.
IT teams and small businesses that want a shared file drive on their own servers get a fully-featured interface with user groups, permissions, and sharing links. Files stay on the team's own hardware with no recurring SaaS costs and no data leaving the organization's infrastructure.
Your team needs a first-party desktop sync client and cannot configure WebDAV mount points; Cloudreve ships no native sync app.
Engineers who already have S3 storage, an OneDrive account, and local NAS space can expose all of them through a single Cloudreve interface and access control system. The WebDAV layer means existing tooling that speaks WebDAV works without changes to those integrations.
Your storage is consolidated in one provider and you do not need a web-based file browser or unified access control over it.
Users who cannot place files on US-based cloud services for legal or compliance reasons can run Cloudreve on a VPS in their required jurisdiction and configure any compliant object storage as the backend. The direct transfer model means file bytes never pass through a foreign intermediary server.
Compliance requirements mandate a certified vendor with formal attestations; a self-hosted open source deployment alone does not satisfy those requirements.
Technical users who want browser-based file access, media preview, and sharing links without paying per month get a close functional equivalent to Google Drive on their own hardware. Online document and ePub preview reduces the need to download files for routine review.
You need real-time collaborative document editing comparable to Google Docs; Cloudreve's online editing is single-user, not multi-user collaborative.
Paid cloud storage services charge per seat or per gigabyte, store files on servers you do not control, and provide no clean exit that preserves folder structure. Teams with data residency requirements cannot place files on a third-party cloud; teams with large storage needs face subscription costs that grow linearly with data volume.
The usual workarounds fall short. FTP servers lack access control and sharing features. NAS file managers are limited to local networks. Other self-hosted options require separate databases and significant configuration before they reach feature parity with commercial drives.
Cloudreve connects to local disk, S3-compatible APIs (AWS S3, Minio, Backblaze B2), OneDrive, Aliyun OSS, Tencent COS, Huawei OBS, Qiniu Kodo, Kingsoft KS3, Upyun, and remote nodes. Files can span multiple backends simultaneously, and users see a unified file browser regardless of which backend holds each file.
Upload and download traffic flows directly between the browser and the storage provider, bypassing the Cloudreve server. For large files, this means a video upload goes straight to S3 or OneDrive without passing through your Cloudreve host, reducing server load and bandwidth costs at any storage volume.
Every storage provider Cloudreve manages is accessible over WebDAV, so desktop file manager clients on Windows, macOS, and Linux can mount the drive natively. Mobile clients that support WebDAV can also connect without an additional dedicated app.
Videos, images, audio, ePub, Markdown, diagrams, and Office-format documents open directly in the browser. Text files, Markdown, and images can be edited in-browser. This covers the most common file review and editing workflows without requiring a local download or desktop application.
Cloudreve integrates with Aria2 and qBittorrent servers to download files in the background from HTTP links or torrents. Multiple download nodes can share the load across servers. Downloaded files land directly in the user's configured storage backend without passing through the browser.
User accounts are organized into groups with configurable permissions. Files and folders can be shared via links with optional expiration dates, covering both team file sharing and controlled external access without exposing the full directory to recipients.
Both tools provide a web-based file browser with sharing, access control, and file preview. The choice comes down to where files live and what editing capabilities matter.
| Feature | Cloudreve | Google Drive |
|---|---|---|
| License | GPL-3.0 (open source) | Proprietary |
| Self-hosting | Yes | No |
| Storage pricing | Your own backend costs | Subscription-based |
| WebDAV | Yes, across all backends | No native WebDAV |
| Real-time collaborative editing | No | Yes (Docs, Sheets, Slides) |
| Storage backends | 10 providers | Google Cloud only |
Cloudreve is the better choice when files must stay on your own infrastructure, when per-seat SaaS pricing is too expensive for a large team, or when data residency requirements prevent using third-party servers. Google Drive is the stronger choice when real-time collaborative document editing matters: Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides have no equivalent in Cloudreve, which provides preview and limited in-browser editing but not multi-user collaboration on the same document.
Dropbox centers on desktop folder sync with a first-party client, while Cloudreve centers on a web-based file manager and WebDAV access. Both support sharing and access control, but their primary interface differs.
| Feature | Cloudreve | Dropbox |
|---|---|---|
| License | GPL-3.0 (open source) | Proprietary |
| Self-hosting | Yes | No |
| Desktop sync client | WebDAV only (no first-party app) | First-party apps for all platforms |
| Storage backends | 10 providers | Dropbox Cloud only |
| Pricing | Free (self-hosted) | Subscription-based |
Cloudreve is the stronger choice for teams with their own storage who need a web-based file manager and want no per-user subscription cost. Dropbox is the stronger choice when users need a first-party desktop sync client that installs and works without manual WebDAV configuration, which matters for less technical users who expect folder sync to work like a local drive.
OneDrive is bundled with Microsoft 365 at a per-user monthly rate; Box targets enterprise compliance use cases at higher per-user rates. Both are subscription services with no self-hosting option. Cloudreve has no recurring cost beyond the server and storage you already own. The main gap versus OneDrive is Microsoft Office integration. OneDrive opens Word and Excel documents in Office Online with live co-editing; Cloudreve previews Office documents but does not connect to Microsoft's editing stack. Teams already in the Microsoft 365 ecosystem will find OneDrive's integration hard to replace. Teams without that dependency will find Cloudreve a cost-effective file management layer with no per-seat billing.
Deploy Cloudreve using the official Docker image from Docker Hub.
```bash
docker run -d -p 5212:5212 cloudreve/cloudreve:latest
```Yes. Each storage policy in Cloudreve can point to a different backend: local disk, S3, OneDrive, Aliyun OSS, and others. Users or groups can be assigned to different storage policies, so some users store files in an S3 bucket while others use local disk, all through the same interface and access control system.
The recommended path is Docker, using the official cloudreve/cloudreve image from Docker Hub. For non-Docker deployments, Cloudreve also ships as a pre-built binary in the GitHub Releases at github.com/cloudreve/cloudreve/releases. The official documentation at docs.cloudreve.org covers database setup, reverse proxy configuration, and production deployment options.
No. Cloudreve does not ship a native desktop sync client. File access from the desktop uses WebDAV, which Windows, macOS, and Linux file managers support natively as a mount point. Third-party WebDAV sync clients can provide folder sync behavior, but this requires additional configuration beyond the base Cloudreve setup.
You can run Cloudreve on your own servers, use it for internal commercial team storage, and modify the source code. The restriction applies to distribution: if you offer a modified version of Cloudreve as a hosted service to other users, you must release the modified source under GPL-3.0. Running it privately for your own team imposes no such requirement.
Yes. Cloudreve connects to an existing Aria2 or qBittorrent instance and can queue downloads from HTTP links or torrents. Downloaded files land in the user's configured storage backend directly. Multiple download nodes can be added to share download load across servers, as documented in the README.
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