shouldiuse.io

VERDICT

Should I use Seafile?

Open source, self-hosted file sync and share with high performance and reliability. - seafile.com

Depends. Seafile is a fast, free, open-source file sync for teams that can operate their own server. Skip it if you want zero-admin cloud storage or a full collaboration suite.

Confidence

Medium. Based on 20+ public sources: official site, Reddit/forum threads, and academic papers. No review-site ratings or public pricing found.

Ratings

  • Value for money
  • Ease of use
  • Feature depth
  • Support qualityNo support-quality evidence in sources
  • Security posture

Pricing

Free

Community Edition

ModelNot disclosed
Monthly feesNot disclosed
HardwareNot disclosed
Free tierYes
Hosted / EnterpriseContact partners

Best for

  • Self-hosters replacing Dropbox
  • Universities and research institutions
  • Linux-heavy technical teams
  • Privacy-first file sharing

Not for

  • Non-technical teams wanting zero-admin cloud storage
  • Anyone needing a full office suite like Google Drive
  • Teams with nobody to run servers and backups
  • Buyers requiring public pricing and vendor SLAs upfront

Gotchas - check before you buy

medium

Self-hosting means you own uptime, updates, and backups — admin time before 'free' feels free

medium

Enterprise and hosted pricing not public; you must contact partners

low

Automated check found no dedicated security page; claims sit on homepage

Pros and cons

Pros

  • Free, open-source, self-hosted core — no per-user cloud subscription
  • Sync performance validated in peer-reviewed storage research (FAST '20)
  • Proven at university scale: thousands of users on 3 servers
  • Frequent self-hosting pick alongside Nextcloud, ownCloud, Pydio Cells
  • SeaDoc adds rich formatting, comments, review workflows, AI integration

Cons

  • Self-hosted: you own setup, uptime, updates, and backups
  • No public enterprise pricing; hosted edition routed through partners
  • File-sync focus; Nextcloud positions itself as the broader collaboration platform

Sources & method

Analyzed 9/25/2026 - 11 sources - No known vulnerabilities found in the sources reviewed.

official x4review x3security x3news x1

Key stats

  • Value for money: 5/5

    Rating

  • Free

    Starting price

  • 11

    Sources

  • Analyzed

  • Value for money: 5/5. Free open-source core; costs are hosting, not licenses
  • Ease of use: 4/5. Called simple by self-hosters; still needs server skills
  • Feature depth: 4/5. Sync, sharing, SeaDoc docs, AI; narrower than suites
  • Support quality. No support-quality evidence in sources
  • Security posture: 4/5. Encryption claims; cited in peer-reviewed E2EE research
  • Free Starting price Open-source community edition, self-hosted
  • Self-hosted Deployment Your own server or private cloud
  • Thousands of users Customer scale Univ. of Mainz runs it on 3 servers
  • 5+ papers Academic attention Peer-reviewed sync and encryption studies

Pricing

Community Edition

Free

  • Open-source, self-hosted
  • File sync and share

Hosted / Enterprise

Contact partners

  • Priced via hosting partners
  • Enterprise security and compliance features

Security

No known vulnerabilities found in the sources reviewed.

What users say

Self-hosting forum threads consistently benchmark Seafile against Nextcloud, ownCloud, OpenCloud, and Pydio Cells as a simple, free option.

“I've tried everything from Nextcloud, ownCloud, OpenCloud, and Pydio Cells.”
Reddit, r/selfhosted
“I can't complain, even if”
It's FOSS community forum

Companies that use it

  • Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz²
Full analysis

Based on 20+ public sources: official site, Reddit/forum threads, and academic papers. No review-site ratings or public pricing found.

Powerful free self-hosted Dropbox alternative. Buy if you can run a server; otherwise pay for Dropbox or try Nextcloud.

Methodology

Based on 20+ public sources: official site, Reddit/forum threads, and academic papers. No review-site ratings or public pricing found.

Sources

  1. Seafile official siteseafile.com
    official
  2. Seafile solutions page (University of Mainz)seafile.com
    official
  3. Seafile hosted server / partners pageseafile.com
    official
  4. Seafile features blog (SeaDoc)blog.seafile.com
    official
  5. Reddit r/selfhosted threadreddit.com
    review
  6. It's FOSS community: Dropbox alternativesitsfoss.community
    review
  7. Cuspera product insightscuspera.com
    review
  8. Gigazine overviewgigazine.net
    news
  9. FAST '20: Lock-Free Collaboration for Cloud Storageusenix.org
    security
  10. End-to-End Encrypted Cloud Storage in the Wild (2024)dl.acm.org
    security
  11. Web-check on seafile.com/securityseafile.com
    security

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