# Rclone review (2026): is it any good? > Command-line tool for syncing and mounting cloud storage Checked Nov 13, 2026 ยท graded Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA. Rclone is an open-source command-line program for copying, syncing, mounting and checking files on local disks and cloud storage. It supports more than 70 storage products, from S3-style object stores to consumer file services, and standard protocols such as SFTP and WebDAV. It is used from the terminal, in scripts, or through its remote-control API. - **Category:** File Storage & Sync - **Made by:** Nick Craig-Wood and contributors - **Website:** https://rclone.org - **Runs on:** macOS, Windows, Linux, Android - **Who should skip it:** Skip it if you want a point-and-click app, as it is a command-line program. - **Facts last checked:** Nov 13, 2026 ## Pricing As of Nov 13, 2026, Rclone is free to use. - **Pricing model:** Free - **Free plan:** Free and open source under the MIT license; no paid plans. - **Free trial:** None listed. | Plan | Price | What you get | | --- | --- | --- | | Rclone | $0 | Free MIT-licensed software; you pay only the storage providers you connect it to. | Read from https://rclone.org/licence/ on Nov 13, 2026. Prices change, so confirm with Rclone before buying. ## Key features - **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. ## Good for - Moving data between cloud providers without going through a local disk - Scripted backups to S3-style or other object storage - People comfortable working in a terminal ## Worth knowing - 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. ## ToolGPA grades **GPA: 2.8 out of 4**, graded Nov 13, 2026. Rclone is a free MIT-licensed command-line program that copies, syncs and mounts files across 70+ storage products. You pay only your storage providers. It is a command-line tool, and its web interface is labelled experimental. - **Value for money: A.** Free 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: A.** The whole program is free with no caps. You do need an account with a provider, as it hosts nothing. - **Features: B.** Copy, 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: D.** It is run from the command line and set up with configuration files. The web GUI is labelled experimental. - **Platforms and integrations: C.** A 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. These are ToolGPA's own grades. Graded from this listing, whose facts were read from Rclone's own pages on 13 November 2026. Not based on using the product, and shorter than our full reviews. ## Where it stands among file storage and sync services - Rclone's GPA of 2.8 is higher than 73 of the 91 other file storage and sync services we grade, and level with 9. - It stands best on free plan and trial (A, above 86 of 91) and worst on ease of use (D, above 0). - Rclone has no paid plan. - On features, ease of use and platforms it scores 2.0 out of 4. Nothing scores higher for less, though at least one tool matches that score at a lower price. The category's chart of price against score: https://toolgpa.com/charts/file-storage ## Keep it, or make your own? **Keep it.** Rclone is free, so making your own would save you nothing. And it is not the kind of software a weekend replaces. It is one of the better ones too: its GPA of 2.8 is higher than 73 of the 91 other file storage and sync services we grade. - You could not: Files kept in step across devices without losing one. - You could not: A file manager working directly on your disk. - You could not: Apps for macOS, Windows, Linux and Android that stay in step with each other. - You could not: It plugs into other products, Amazon S3, Google Drive and Dropbox among them, and has an API. - You could not: End-to-end encryption done properly. - You could not: The depth: we grade its features B, which means it covers the whole job. A judgement by ToolGPA from this listing, by rules that are the same for every tool. Nothing was built to test it. ## Works with Amazon S3, Google Drive, Dropbox, Microsoft OneDrive, Backblaze B2, Box, SFTP, WebDAV **Tags:** Open source, File sync, File management, Public API, End-to-end encrypted ## Alternatives - [Syncthing](https://toolgpa.com/tools/syncthing): Free, open source file sync directly between your own devices. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/rclone-vs-syncthing) - [FreeFileSync](https://toolgpa.com/tools/freefilesync): Open-source folder comparison and sync for desktops. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/freefilesync-vs-rclone) - [Unison](https://toolgpa.com/tools/unison): Open-source two-way file synchronizer for Unix, macOS and Windows. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/rclone-vs-unison) - [Duplicati](https://toolgpa.com/tools/duplicati): Encrypted backup to storage you choose, with a free open-source client. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/duplicati-vs-rclone) - [MultCloud](https://toolgpa.com/tools/multcloud): Web service for moving and syncing files between cloud drives. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/multcloud-vs-rclone) ## Sources The prices, plans, platforms and features above were read from these pages on Nov 13, 2026: - https://rclone.org/ - https://rclone.org/licence/ - https://rclone.org/downloads/ Page: https://toolgpa.com/tools/rclone Listed by ToolGPA (toolgpa.com).