Filestash vs Rclone (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Rclone grades higher than Filestash: 2.8 against 2.4 out of 4.0.
Checked Nov 13, 2026 · graded Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
Filestash grades higher on platforms. Rclone grades higher on value for money, the free plan and features. They get the same grade on ease of use.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Filestash
Web file manager that fronts S3, SFTP, WebDAV and other storage
Which one is for you
Pick Filestash if
- Fits if you already have S3 or SFTP storage and want a friendly web layer
- Works for a developer who wants it free for up to 3 users
Look elsewhere if
- Not for you if you need storage itself, since Filestash does not provide any
- Skip it if you are a company on the free edition, as it is for 3 users under the AGPL terms
- Watch out: SSO and role control start at $50 a month
- Watch out: the pricing FAQ mentions plans from $750 a month that do not match the table
Pick Rclone if
- Fits if you are comfortable in a terminal and want to move files between many providers
- Works for people who want to mount cloud storage as a drive
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want a point-and-click app, as it is a command-line program
- Not for you if you need hosting, because it does not store files itself
- Too light for people wanting a polished GUI, since the web interface is labelled experimental
- Watch out: Android is only available as separate builds
- Tight if you want vendor support: it is a free open-source project
How we grade them
| 2.4GPAFilestashFair | 2.8GPARcloneGood | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | CHobby cloud is $6 a month, just over the cheapest quarter's $4.75. Self-served is $50 for 3 seats and Enterprise $290. | AFree under the MIT licence, with no paid plans. Anyone can download and run it, and you pay only the storage providers you connect. |
| Free plan and trial | BSelf-hosted Hobby is free for up to 3 users, with a trial on paid plans. You host it yourself. | AThe whole program is free with no caps. You do need an account with a provider, as it hosts nothing. |
| Features | CA front end and gateways over other storage, with no storage of its own. SSO and roles are paid. | BCopy, sync, bisync, mount as a drive, encryption, compression, hash checks and serving files, across 70+ providers. Nothing in the listing is missing from the job. |
| Ease of use | DThe free version is self-hosted. No store rating on record. | DIt is run from the command line and set up with configuration files. The web GUI is labelled experimental. |
| Platforms and integrations | AWeb, Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS and Android, with S3, SFTP, WebDAV, Dropbox, Google Drive and SSO. | CA program for computers: Mac, Windows and Linux, with Android only as separate builds. Many storage backends but no phone or web app of its own. |
| Best for | one web front end over S3, SFTP and SMB storage | syncing and mounting cloud storage from the command line |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Filestash and Rclone. How we grade
Price against what you get
Filestash starts at $6 a month and scores 2.3 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Rclone has no paid plan and scores 2.0.
Filestash scores higher, and starts $6 a month higher: the question is whether the extra is worth that to you. Of the other file storage and sync services on the chart, 17 score higher than Filestash for less, and none scores higher than Rclone for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- Filestash is self-hostable, according to its own site.
- Rclone is end-to-end encrypted, according to its own site.
- Filestash also covers workflow automation and file sharing.
- Rclone also covers file management.
At a glance
| Filestash | Rclone | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Free |
| Starts at | $6 per month (Hobby, cloud-hosted) | Free |
| Free plan | Hobby self-hosted under AGPL v3 is free, for up to 3 users. | Free and open source under the MIT license; no paid plans. |
| Free trial | Free trial offered on paid plans | None listed |
| Web | ||
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| Linux | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Filestash | Nick Craig-Wood and contributors |
| Price read from | filestash.app | rclone.org |
| Checked | Nov 13, 2026 | Nov 13, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Filestash
- It is a front end to other storage; Filestash does not provide the storage itself.
- The free Hobby edition is limited to 3 users and needs commercial licensing for company use beyond AGPL terms.
- The pricing page's FAQ also mentions plans starting at $750 per month, which does not match the table.
Rclone
- It is a command-line program; the web GUI is labeled experimental.
- Android is mentioned only as separate builds, not as a main download.
- It does not host storage itself: you need an account with a supported provider.
- The site points third-party developers to the command line and API for GUI and backup front ends.
Key features
Filestash
- Bring your own storage
- Connects to S3, SFTP, FTP, WebDAV, SMB, NFS, Azure Blob, Dropbox, Google Drive, Storj and others through one interface.
- Gateways
- Exposes stored files through SFTP, S3, WebDAV, FTP or MCP so existing tools can reach them.
- On-demand sync
- Desktop and mobile apps create a folder that syncs to your storage and other devices.
- Workflow engine and plugins
- Chains actions on events, with more than 150 plugins listed by the vendor.
- SSO and access control
- Supports LDAP, SAML and OIDC sign-in, with role-based access on paid plans.
- Audit and white-labeling
- Audit logs and white-label branding are listed on the Enterprise plan.
Rclone
- Copy, sync and bisync
- One-way sync makes a destination match a source; bisync keeps two directories matching in both directions.
- Wide provider support
- The site says over 70 cloud storage products support it, including S3 object stores, plus SFTP, WebDAV, FTP and HTTP.
- Mount as a disk
- Mounts local, cloud or virtual filesystems as a drive on Windows, macOS, Linux and FreeBSD.
- Crypt, compress and chunk backends
- Virtual backends wrap another remote to encrypt, compress, chunk or merge it.
- Integrity checks
- Checks MD5 or SHA1 hashes and preserves timestamps, and interrupted transfers can be restarted.
- Serve and remote control
- Can serve files over HTTP, WebDAV, FTP, SFTP and DLNA; an experimental web GUI and a remote-control API are listed.
Plans
Filestash
Hobby (self-hosted)$0
Open source AGPL v3 edition you host yourself, for up to 3 users.
Hobby (cloud)$6
per month
Hosted version of the individual plan.
Self Served$50
per month and up, includes 3 seats
Commercial license, SSO (SAML, OIDC, LDAP) and RBAC on a single node, cloud or self-hosted.
Enterprise$290
per month and up
Unlimited users, audit and compliance, whitelabeling, high availability and 24/7 support.
Rclone
Rclone$0
Free MIT-licensed software; you pay only the storage providers you connect it to.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Filestash or Rclone?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Rclone is cheaper to start with: it is free, against $6 a month for Filestash. Filestash starts at $6 per month (Hobby, cloud-hosted), and Rclone is free.
Which has a free plan, Filestash or Rclone?
As of Nov 13, 2026, both Filestash and Rclone have a free plan.
Which platforms do Filestash and Rclone run on?
As of Nov 13, 2026, only Filestash lists a web app and an iOS app. Both list macOS, Windows, Linux and Android apps. A platform missing from a listing is one its maker's pages did not mention.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.