Rclone vs Unison (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Rclone grades higher than Unison: 2.8 against 2.6 out of 4.0.
Checked Nov 13, 2026 · graded Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
Rclone grades higher on features. They get the same grade on value for money, the free plan, ease of use and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Unison
Open-source two-way file synchronizer for Unix, macOS and Windows
Free
Which one is for you
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
Pick Unison if
- Fits if you are happy in a terminal and want conflict-aware sync between two machines
- Works for people syncing a laptop with a Unix server over ssh
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want a point-and-click app, as it is run from the command line
- Watch out: the project releases source, and pre-built binaries come from other sources
- Tight if you need help: the README says not to ask in GitHub issues
- Watch out: the maintainers say very few people work on it, so fixes are slow
- Not for you if you want cloud storage sync, as it is two-folder sync
How we grade them
| 2.8GPARcloneGood | 2.6GPAUnisonGood | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | AFree under the MIT licence, with no paid plans. Anyone can download and run it, and you pay only the storage providers you connect. | AFree under the GPL-3.0 licence, with no paid editions. Anyone can download and run it. |
| Free plan and trial | AThe whole program is free with no caps. You do need an account with a provider, as it hosts nothing. | AThe whole program is free with no limits, and you only need the two places to sync. |
| Features | 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. | CTwo-way sync, conflict detection, rsync-style transfers and repeat mode. It does that one job fully, and it is a smaller job: no cloud services or mobile. |
| Ease of use | DIt is run from the command line and set up with configuration files. The web GUI is labelled experimental. | DA command-line program released as source, with pre-built binaries from packaging systems. Help comes from a wiki and mailing lists. |
| Platforms and integrations | 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. | CA program for computers alone: Mac, Windows and Linux. No phone, web or cloud integrations are listed. |
| Best for | syncing and mounting cloud storage from the command line | two-way file sync, free and open source |
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: Rclone and Unison. How we grade
Price against what you get
Rclone has no paid plan and scores 2.0 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Unison has no paid plan and scores 1.7.
Rclone scores higher for the same starting price. Of the other file storage and sync services on the chart, none scores higher than Rclone for less, and none scores higher than Unison 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
- Rclone is end-to-end encrypted, according to its own site.
- Rclone also covers file management.
In commonFree planmacOSWindowsLinuxOpen sourceFile sync
At a glance
| Rclone | Unison | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free | Free |
| Starts at | Free | Free |
| Free plan | Free and open source under the MIT license; no paid plans. | None |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| Linux | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Nick Craig-Wood and contributors | Unison open-source project |
| Price read from | rclone.org | github.com |
| Checked | Nov 13, 2026 | Nov 13, 2026 |
Worth knowing
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.
Unison
- The project releases source code; pre-built binaries come from packaging systems or CI builds.
- The README says not to ask for help in GitHub issues; questions go to the wiki and mailing lists.
- The maintainers say very few people work on it, so bug and feature handling is slow.
- The old project website is archival; development and issues are on GitHub.
Key features
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.
Unison
- Two-way synchronization
- Changes made on either replica are propagated to the other, and updates that do not conflict are applied automatically.
- Conflict detection
- When both sides changed the same file, Unison shows the conflict instead of silently picking a winner.
- Cross-platform pairs
- It can synchronize a Windows laptop with a Unix server, for example, over ssh or directly over TCP.
- Efficient transfers
- Small edits to large files use a compression protocol similar to rsync's, which suits slow links.
- Repeat mode
- With a filesystem monitor, repeat mode propagates changes soon after they happen.
- No special privileges
- It is a user-level program: no kernel changes, superuser rights or FUSE are needed on either host.
Plans
Rclone
Rclone$0
Free MIT-licensed software; you pay only the storage providers you connect it to.
Unison
Free$0
Full source code under the GNU General Public License, version 3; there are no paid editions.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Rclone or Unison?
As of Nov 13, 2026, both Rclone and Unison are free to use.
Which has a free plan, Rclone or Unison?
As of Nov 13, 2026, both Rclone and Unison have a free plan.
Which platforms do Rclone and Unison run on?
As of Nov 13, 2026, only Rclone lists an Android app. Both list macOS, Windows and Linux 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.