Top pick · highest health
Harbor
Cloud native image registry that stores, signs, and scans content.
★ 30k 180 commits / 90d ⟳ today Apache-2.0 Docker
Category
Open source file transfer - object storage & file servers
Object storage is a computer data storage that manages data as objects, as opposed to other storage architectures like file systems which manages data as a file hierarchy, and block storage which manages data as blocks within sectors and tracks. This page ranks 7 open-source object storage projects by a health score recomputed every night from repository data; nothing else affects the order. Harbor leads at 98/100 with 180 commits in the last 90 days and 30k stars, followed by sftpgo Community Edition (96) and ZOT OCI Registry (94). 7 of the 7 score 70 or above, 6 publish a Docker image, and the median health is 93. Apache-2.0 is the most common licence, carried by 4 of them. Between them they stand in for AWS S3 and Docker Hub.
updated Oct 2026 7 tools ★ 83k stars 6 with Docker median 93
Best for…
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Most starred
35,821 stars on GitHub, the largest community in the category.
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Most active
315 commits in the last 90 days, the fastest-moving codebase here.
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Most permissive
Apache-2.0 licence with health 98/100: the strongest option if you need to embed or fork commercially.
Ranked by health
Table view
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sftpgo Community Edition
Flexible, fully featured and highly configurable SFTP server with optional FTP/S and WebDAV support.
★ 13k 109 commits / 90d ⟳ 8 days ago AGPL-3.0 Docker
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ZOT OCI Registry
A production-ready vendor-neutral OCI-native container image registry.
★ 2.9k 182 commits / 90d ⟳ today Apache-2.0 Docker
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Zenko CloudServer
Implementation of the Amazon S3 protocol on the front-end and backend storage capabilities to multiple clouds, including Azure and Google.
★ 2k 315 commits / 90d ⟳ yesterday Apache-2.0 Docker
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Flare
A nonbloated, modern, and highly configurable file/screenshot vault server with support for ShareX, Flameshot, and Spectacle. Offers OCR search and more.
★ 138 79 commits / 90d ⟳ 4 days ago MIT Docker
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GarageHQ
Geo-distributed, S3‑compatible storage service that can fulfill many needs.
★ 179 134 commits / 90d ⟳ 7 days ago AGPL-3.0 Docker
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SeaweedFS
SeaweedFS is an open source distributed file system supporting WebDAV, S3 API, FUSE mount, HDFS, etc, optimized for lots of small files, and easy to add capacity.
★ 36k 1269 commits / 90d ⟳ today Apache-2.0
| # | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Harbor Docker | 30k | 180 | Apache-2.0 | today | |
| 2 | sftpgo Community Edition Docker | 13k | 109 | AGPL-3.0 | 8 days ago | |
| 3 | ZOT OCI Registry Docker | 2.9k | 182 | Apache-2.0 | today | |
| 4 | Zenko CloudServer Docker | 2k | 315 | Apache-2.0 | yesterday | |
| 5 | Flare Docker | 138 | 79 | MIT | 4 days ago | |
| 6 | GarageHQ Docker | 179 | 134 | AGPL-3.0 | 7 days ago | |
| 7 | SeaweedFS | 36k | 1269 | Apache-2.0 | today |
How the object storage tools compare
Harbor edges sftpgo Community Edition 98 to 96, and most of the difference is stars: 30k stars against 13k stars. SeaweedFS has the largest following at 36k stars, yet ranks #7 of 7, held back mostly by Docker support (no Docker image).
The most recent release is Zenko CloudServer 9.5.2, published 3 days ago. None of the measured options scores under 40. By stack, Go (3), Nodejs (2) and Rust (1) are the most common. Harbor, ZOT OCI Registry, Zenko CloudServer and 2 more are permissively licensed; GarageHQ is copyleft. sftpgo Community Edition is source-available rather than open source, which limits commercial reuse.
File Transfer - Object Storage & File Servers: common questions
What is the best open source object storage tool?
By Repoly's GitHub health score, Harbor at 98/100 (180 commits in 90 days, v2.14.6 from 7 days ago). sftpgo Community Edition is next at 96; Harbor's lead comes mostly from stars. The score measures maintenance, not features, so shortlist the top few and try them.
Which object storage tools are the most actively developed?
SeaweedFS (1,269 commits in 90 days), Zenko CloudServer (315 commits in 90 days) and ZOT OCI Registry (182 commits in 90 days). Commit activity is 35 of the 100 health points, the largest single term.
Which object storage tools can I run in Docker?
6 of 7 publish a Docker image or Compose file, led by Harbor, sftpgo Community Edition, ZOT OCI Registry, Zenko CloudServer, Flare and 1 more.
Which object storage tools have a permissive licence?
5 of 7: Harbor (Apache-2.0), ZOT OCI Registry (Apache-2.0), Zenko CloudServer (Apache-2.0), Flare (MIT), SeaweedFS (Apache-2.0). 1 are copyleft.
Which paid products can open source object storage tools replace?
AWS S3 (Zenko CloudServer ranks highest here) and Docker Hub (Harbor ranks highest here).
