# Free alternatives to Dropbox

> Dropbox (Plus) costs $119.88 a year. Free alternatives: Nextcloud, Syncthing and Seafile. Data checked 2026-10-17.

- Page: https://stoprenting.dev/apps/dropbox/
- Category: Storage & Sync (https://stoprenting.dev/categories/storage-and-sync/)
- Vendor: Dropbox
- Plan: Plus
- Price: $9.99/month, $119.88/year
- Billing: per month
- Price quote from the vendor's page: "Plus Best Value ... Price $9.99 / month"
- Price source: https://www.dropbox.com/plans (checked 2026-10-17)

## Alternatives

### Nextcloud

- Website: https://nextcloud.com
- Repository: https://github.com/nextcloud/server (37,148 stars, last push 2026-10-17)
- License: AGPL-3.0
- Open source: yes, OSI-approved license
- Type: server app
- Linux: self-hosted server; web UI
- Self-hostable: yes
- More: https://stoprenting.dev/alternatives/nextcloud/
- Checked: 2026-10-17

### Syncthing

- Website: https://syncthing.net
- Repository: https://github.com/syncthing/syncthing (89,380 stars, last push 2026-10-13)
- License: MPL-2.0
- Open source: yes, OSI-approved license
- Type: desktop app
- Linux: Arch extra: syncthing
- Self-hostable: no
- Install: `sudo pacman -S syncthing`
- More: https://stoprenting.dev/alternatives/syncthing/
- Checked: 2026-10-17

### Seafile

- Website: https://www.seafile.com
- Repository: https://github.com/haiwen/seafile (15,339 stars, last push 2026-10-16)
- License: GPL-2.0
- Open source: yes, OSI-approved license
- Type: server app
- Linux: self-hosted server; web UI
- Self-hostable: yes
- More: https://stoprenting.dev/alternatives/seafile/
- Checked: 2026-10-17

## FAQ

### Is there a free alternative to Dropbox?

Yes. The 3 free alternatives are Nextcloud (open source, AGPL-3.0), Syncthing (open source, MPL-2.0) and Seafile (open source, GPL-2.0).

### How much does Dropbox cost?

Dropbox's Plus plan costs $9.99 a month, which is $119.88 a year (per month). Source: the official pricing page at dropbox.com, checked Oct 17, 2026.

### Which Dropbox alternatives run on Linux?

Nextcloud (self-hosted server; web UI), Syncthing (Arch extra: syncthing) and Seafile (self-hosted server; web UI).

### Can you self-host a Dropbox alternative?

Yes. Nextcloud and Seafile run on your own server. Syncthing is a desktop app.

### Are these Dropbox alternatives open source?

Yes. All 3 use OSI-approved open-source licenses: Nextcloud (AGPL-3.0), Syncthing (MPL-2.0) and Seafile (GPL-2.0).

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Source: Stop Renting (https://stoprenting.dev). Methodology: https://stoprenting.dev/methodology/