License & Deployment Mix: 16 tools – 2 OSS, 1 SaaS. (OSS and SaaS counts can overlap when an open-source tool also offers a vendor-hosted edition.)
What Is File Sharing & Collaboration?
Enterprise File Sync and Share (EFSS) platforms enable staff to store, sync, and share files across devices and with external collaborators. Unlike traditional network file shares (SMB/NFS), EFSS platforms provide:
- Sync clients – desktop and mobile apps that keep local copies in sync with the server
- Web access – browser-based file management and preview without installing software
- Mobile apps – native iOS and Android clients for on-the-go access
- Sharing links – password-protected, expiration-dated links for external sharing
- Real-time co-editing – multiple users editing the same document simultaneously in the browser
- Versioning – automatic file version history with restore capability
- Guest / external sharing – controlled access for people outside the organization
The focus of this directory is staff sharing files and collaborating on documents together – the “shared drive replacement” use case.
The information on these pages was researched by a combination of human review and large language models. To suggest an addition or correction, please contact us. Prepared by Rhodium Systems Inc., author of the ResorsIT platform — a unified IT operations management platform for IT teams and MSPs that integrates a curated suite of open-source, commercial, and SaaS applications into a single system with shared identity, single sign-on, access control, and a common audit trail. Use this catalogue only as a starting point for your own research, and review any tool carefully against your own requirements before relying on it. Catalogue data version 2026.197.
Comparison
Two cross-cutting notes:
- Office editing: the “Collabora / ONLYOFFICE” entries below now also include Euro-Office, the EU sovereign OnlyOffice fork bundled in Nextcloud Hub 26. Ascensio suspended its Nextcloud partnership over the fork, so prefer Euro-Office or Collabora for new Nextcloud deployments.
- Zero Trust: intra-instance ACLs in every tool here are too weak for strict need-to-know. For sizeable orgs, run multiple scoped instances (one per department / trust boundary) so isolation is structural and verifiable, bridging with OCM federation where collaboration must cross a boundary.
SSO / OIDC Comparison
OIDC is the preferred SSO protocol.
| Tool | OIDC | SAML | LDAP | Authentik Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nextcloud | Yes | Yes | Yes | Native OIDC (best in class); officially documented with Authentik |
| ownCloud | Yes | No | Yes | Native OIDC (LibreGraph); officially documented with Authentik |
| Seafile | Yes | Yes | Yes | OIDC via OAuth2; SAML via Shibboleth; LDAP sync |
| Pydio Cells | Yes | No | Yes | Native OIDC (built-in IdP connector) |
| CryptPad | Yes* | No | Yes* | OIDC via external auth proxy; LDAP via plugin |
| Syncthing | No | No | No | No user accounts; device-based auth only |
| ONLYOFFICE DocSpace | Yes | Yes | Yes | Native OIDC and SAML |
| FileRun | Yes | No | Yes | OIDC via OAuth2 provider config |
| FileCloud | Yes | Yes | Yes | Native OIDC and SAML |
| Egnyte | Yes | Yes | Yes | Native OIDC and SAML |
| Kiteworks | Yes | Yes | Yes | Native OIDC and SAML; FIPS 140-2 |
| Google Drive | Yes | Yes | Yes | Google Workspace OIDC/SAML with Authentik as IdP |
| OneDrive | Yes | Yes | Yes | Azure AD / Entra ID; SAML federation with Authentik |
| Dropbox | Yes | Yes | Yes* | SAML SSO (Business+); OIDC via custom app |
| Box | Yes | Yes | Yes* | Native OIDC and SAML; SCIM provisioning |
| Zoho WorkDrive | Yes | Yes | Yes | SAML SSO; OIDC via Zoho accounts |
* = requires specific configuration or plugin
Best SSO support: Nextcloud (native OIDC, SAML, LDAP), ownCloud (native OIDC, LDAP), ONLYOFFICE DocSpace (native OIDC, SAML, LDAP)
No SSO: Syncthing (P2P, no user accounts)
API Comparison
| Tool | API Type | Auth | WebDAV | Webhooks | Sync Protocol | SDKs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nextcloud | OCS + REST | OAuth2, Basic | Yes | Yes (app) | WebDAV-based | JS, PHP, Python, Go |
| ownCloud | REST (Graph) | OAuth2, Basic | Yes | Yes | LibreGraph | Go, JS |
| Seafile | REST v2.1 | Token, OAuth2 | Yes | Yes | Proprietary | Python, JS |
| Pydio Cells | REST + gRPC | OAuth2 | Yes | Yes | Proprietary | Go, JS |
| CryptPad | Limited | Session | No | No | Custom (E2E) | None |
| Syncthing | REST | API key | No | Events API | BEP (P2P) | None official |
| ONLYOFFICE DocSpace | REST | Token, OAuth2 | No | Yes | Proprietary | C#, JS |
| FileRun | REST | OAuth2, Token | Yes | Yes | WebDAV-based | None official |
| FileCloud | REST | Token, OAuth2 | Yes | Yes | Proprietary | Python, JS |
| Egnyte | REST v1 | OAuth2 | Yes | Yes | Proprietary | Python, Java |
| Kiteworks | REST | OAuth2 | Yes | Yes | Proprietary | None official |
| Google Drive | REST v3 | OAuth2 | No | Push (webhooks) | Proprietary | All major |
| OneDrive | Graph API | OAuth2 | No | Webhooks | Proprietary | All major |
| Dropbox | REST v2 | OAuth2 | No | Webhooks | Proprietary | All major |
| Box | REST v2 | OAuth2, JWT | No | Webhooks | Proprietary | All major |
| Zoho WorkDrive | REST | OAuth2 | No | Webhooks | Proprietary | Java, Python, JS |
File Sharing Capabilities
| Tool | Sync Clients | Sharing Links | Versioning | Guest Access | Office Editing | Real-Time Collab | E2E Encryption |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nextcloud | L/M/W, iOS, Android | Yes (pw, expiry) | Yes | Yes | Collabora / ONLYOFFICE | Yes | Yes (app) |
| ownCloud | L/M/W, iOS, Android | Yes (pw, expiry) | Yes | Yes | Collabora / ONLYOFFICE | Yes | No |
| Seafile | L/M/W, iOS, Android | Yes (pw, expiry) | Yes | Yes | Collabora / ONLYOFFICE | Yes | Yes (built-in) |
| Pydio Cells | L/M/W, iOS, Android | Yes (pw, expiry) | Yes | Yes | Collabora / ONLYOFFICE | Yes | No |
| CryptPad | No | Yes (view/edit) | Yes | Yes | Built-in (native) | Yes | Yes (default) |
| Syncthing | L/M/W, Android | No | Yes (trash) | No | No | No | Yes (TLS) |
| ONLYOFFICE DocSpace | No native sync | Yes (pw, expiry) | Yes | Yes | Built-in (native) | Yes | No |
| FileRun | L/M/W (WebDAV) | Yes (pw, expiry) | Yes | Yes | Collabora / ONLYOFFICE | Yes | No |
| FileCloud | L/M/W, iOS, Android | Yes (pw, expiry) | Yes | Yes | Collabora / ONLYOFFICE | Yes | No |
| Egnyte | L/M/W, iOS, Android | Yes (pw, expiry) | Yes | Yes | Built-in + MS Office | Yes | No |
| Kiteworks | L/M/W, iOS, Android | Yes (pw, expiry) | Yes | Yes | Built-in viewer | Limited | Yes (FIPS) |
| Google Drive | L/M/W, iOS, Android | Yes (pw, expiry) | Yes | Yes | Google Docs (native) | Yes | Client-side (Workspace) |
| OneDrive | L/M/W, iOS, Android | Yes (pw, expiry) | Yes | Yes | Office for the web | Yes | Personal Vault |
| Dropbox | L/M/W, iOS, Android | Yes (pw, expiry) | Yes | Yes | Paper + MS Office | Yes | Vault (Business+) |
| Box | L/M/W, iOS, Android | Yes (pw, expiry) | Yes | Yes | Box Canvas + integrations | Yes | Box Shield |
| Zoho WorkDrive | L/M/W, iOS, Android | Yes (pw, expiry) | Yes | Yes | Zoho Office (native) | Yes | No |
L/M/W = Linux, macOS, Windows
Deployment and Licensing
| Tool | License | Self-Hosted | Storage Backends | Pricing Model |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nextcloud | AGPLv3 | Yes (Docker, bare metal) | Local, S3, SMB, WebDAV | Free; Enterprise from EUR 37/user/yr |
| ownCloud | Apache 2.0 | Yes (Docker, K8s) | Local, S3, NFS | Free; Enterprise contact sales |
| Seafile | GPLv2 (CE) | Yes (Docker, bare metal) | Local, S3, Ceph | Free (CE); Pro from $10/user/yr |
| Pydio Cells | AGPLv3 | Yes (Docker, bare metal) | Local, S3 | Free; Enterprise contact sales |
| CryptPad | AGPLv3 | Yes (Docker, npm) | Local only | Free; hosted from EUR 5/user/mo |
| Syncthing | MPLv2 | Yes (binary, Docker) | Local only (P2P) | Free |
| ONLYOFFICE DocSpace | AGPLv3 | Yes (Docker) | Local, S3 | Free; Enterprise contact sales |
| FileRun | Proprietary freeware | Yes (Docker, bare metal) | Local, S3, SMB | Free (10 users); paid from $99/yr |
| FileCloud | Proprietary | Yes (Docker, bare metal) | Local, S3, Azure Blob | From $10/user/mo |
| Egnyte | Proprietary (hybrid) | Hybrid (cloud + local) | Egnyte Cloud + local sync | From $20/user/mo |
| Kiteworks | Proprietary | Yes (VM, cloud) | Local, S3, Azure | Contact sales |
| Google Drive | Proprietary SaaS | No | Google Cloud | From $7/user/mo (Workspace) |
| OneDrive | Proprietary SaaS | No | Microsoft Cloud | From $5/user/mo (M365 Business) |
| Dropbox | Proprietary SaaS | No | Dropbox Cloud | From $15/user/mo (Business) |
| Box | Proprietary SaaS | No | Box Cloud | From $15/user/mo (Business) |
| Zoho WorkDrive | Proprietary SaaS | No | Zoho Cloud | From $2.50/user/mo |
Collaboration Features
| Tool | Real-Time Editing | Comments | Notifications | Office Suite |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nextcloud | Yes (via Collabora/ONLYOFFICE) | File comments | Email, push, web | Collabora Online or ONLYOFFICE Docs |
| ownCloud | Yes (via Collabora/ONLYOFFICE) | File comments | Email, web | Collabora Online or ONLYOFFICE Docs |
| Seafile | Yes (via Collabora/ONLYOFFICE) | No | Email, web | Collabora Online or ONLYOFFICE Docs |
| Pydio Cells | Yes (via Collabora/ONLYOFFICE) | File comments | Email, web | Collabora Online or ONLYOFFICE Docs |
| CryptPad | Yes (built-in) | In-document | Web only | Built-in (docs, sheets, slides, kanban) |
| Syncthing | No | No | No | None |
| ONLYOFFICE DocSpace | Yes (built-in) | In-document | Email, web | Built-in ONLYOFFICE editor |
| FileRun | Yes (via Collabora/ONLYOFFICE) | File comments | Email, web | Collabora Online or ONLYOFFICE Docs |
| FileCloud | Yes (via Collabora/ONLYOFFICE) | File comments | Email, push, web | Collabora Online or ONLYOFFICE Docs |
| Egnyte | Yes (built-in + MS Office) | File comments | Email, push, web | Built-in viewer + MS Office Online |
| Kiteworks | Limited (viewer) | File comments | Email, push, web | Built-in viewer only |
| Google Drive | Yes (native) | In-document | Email, push, web | Google Docs, Sheets, Slides |
| OneDrive | Yes (native) | In-document | Email, push, web | Office for the web |
| Dropbox | Yes (Paper, MS Office) | File comments | Email, push, web | Dropbox Paper + MS Office Online |
| Box | Yes (Box Canvas, integrations) | File comments | Email, push, web | Box Canvas + MS Office / Google Docs |
| Zoho WorkDrive | Yes (native) | File comments | Email, push, web | Zoho Writer, Sheet, Show |
Tools
16 tools.
Box
Box is an enterprise-focused cloud content management and file sharing platform, differentiated by its strong governance, compliance, and security capabilities.
License: Proprietary (proprietary) · Kind: web · Deploy: saas, native · SSO: OIDC
CryptPad
CryptPad is a privacy-focused, end-to-end encrypted collaboration suite. The server stores only encrypted blobs and never has access to plaintext content.
License: AGPL-3.0-only (OSS) · Kind: web · Deploy: native, docker · SSO: none
Dropbox Business
Dropbox was the pioneer of cloud file sync and share, launching in 2007 and establishing the consumer cloud storage market.
License: Proprietary (proprietary) · Kind: web · Deploy: saas, native · SSO: none
Egnyte
Egnyte is a hybrid cloud content platform that bridges on-premises file servers and cloud storage into a unified file management experience.
License: Proprietary (proprietary) · Kind: web · Deploy: native, saas · SSO: OIDC
FileCloud
FileCloud is an enterprise file sharing and sync platform with a strong emphasis on compliance, governance, and data security.
License: Proprietary (proprietary) · Kind: web · Deploy: native, docker · SSO: OIDC
FileRun
FileRun is a self-hosted file manager that provides a Google Drive-like interface for managing files on your own server. It is proprietary software, but offers a freeware tier that supports up to 10 users at no cost.
License: Proprietary (proprietary) · Kind: web · Deploy: native, docker · SSO: none
Google Drive / Workspace
Google Drive is the file storage and synchronization service at the core of Google Workspace (formerly G Suite).
License: Proprietary (proprietary) · Kind: web · Deploy: saas, native · SSO: none
Kiteworks
Kiteworks, formerly known as Accellion, is a secure file sharing and governance platform designed for regulated industries.
License: Proprietary (proprietary) · Kind: web · Deploy: native · SSO: OIDC
Nextcloud Hub
Nextcloud is the most popular self-hosted file sync and share platform, with a large community and an ecosystem of over 400 apps.
License: AGPL-3.0-only (OSS) · Kind: web · Deploy: native, docker · SSO: OIDC
OneDrive / SharePoint
OneDrive is Microsoft’s cloud file storage and synchronization service, tightly integrated with SharePoint, Microsoft Teams, and the broader Microsoft 365 ecosystem.
License: Proprietary (proprietary) · Kind: web · Deploy: saas, native · SSO: none
ONLYOFFICE DocSpace
ONLYOFFICE DocSpace is an AGPL document collaboration platform built around ONLYOFFICE’s office editors, organizing work into rooms with real-time co-editing, forms, and native OIDC/SAML SSO.
License: AGPL-3.0-only (OSS) · Kind: web · Deploy: native, docker · SSO: SAML
ownCloud Infinite Scale
ownCloud Infinite Scale (oCIS) is a ground-up rewrite of ownCloud in Go, replacing the legacy PHP-based ownCloud 10. The architecture is built around microservices compiled into a single binary, making deployment trivially simple.
License: Apache-2.0 (OSS) · Kind: web · Deploy: native, docker, k8s · SSO: OIDC
Pydio Cells
Pydio Cells is a Go-based file sharing and collaboration platform, the successor to the PHP-based Pydio 8 (formerly AjaXplorer).
License: AGPL-3.0-only (OSS) · Kind: web · Deploy: native, docker · SSO: OIDC
Seafile
Seafile is a self-hosted file sync and share platform with a high-performance C-based sync core, organizing files into libraries with delta sync, client-side encryption, and version history.
License: GPL-2.0-only (OSS) · Kind: web · Deploy: native, docker · SSO: SAML
Syncthing
Syncthing is a peer-to-peer continuous file synchronization tool. There is no central server – devices sync directly with each other using the Block Exchange Protocol (BEP), which provides efficient delta synchronization by transferring on…
License: MPL-2.0 (OSS) · Kind: web · Deploy: native, docker · SSO: none
Zoho WorkDrive
Zoho WorkDrive is the file sharing, sync, and collaboration service in the Zoho ecosystem, offering team folders, data rooms, desktop and mobile clients, and native editing via Zoho Office Suite.
License: Proprietary (proprietary) · Kind: web · Deploy: saas, native · SSO: none
