Utilities · alternatives
Alternatives to Rclone
22 utilities tools sit alongside Rclone in this directory. Below is what separates each from Rclone on the figures we hold, price, model, tier count and rating, and a direct comparison for every one.
- Alternatives listed
- 22
- With a free tier
- 14
- Cheaper to start
- -
- Rclone starts at
- Free
Why people look past Rclone
Only what the record supports. Each point below is a figure on the Rclone entry measured against the tools listed beside it.
There is only one tier
Rclone publishes a single plan, Rclone at Free. There is no smaller tier to drop to if the fit is wrong or the budget moves.
What each alternative does differently
Ordered by the aggregated rating on each catalogue entry. Differences are drawn from price, pricing model, tier count and rating, the fields the category listing carries. For a feature-level difference, follow the head-to-head link on each card: those pages read both full records.
Continuous file synchronisation between your own devices
Priced and rated the same as Rclone on the figures we hold. The difference, if there is one, is in the feature records.
Open-source folder comparison and synchronisation
- Sold on a Free and open source; a paid Donation Edition adds convenience features model rather than Open source, no licence fee.
Free open source BitTorrent client with true thin-client architecture for remote daemon control
Priced and rated the same as Rclone on the figures we hold. The difference, if there is one, is in the feature records.
McDonald's mobile ordering and MyMcDonald's Rewards app used to drive app-exclusive deals and first party data
- Sold on a Free app, revenue from purchases model rather than Open source, no licence fee.
Domino's Pizza ordering app with Piece of the Pie Rewards, built to route orders away from delivery marketplace commissions
- Sold on a Free app, revenue from purchases model rather than Open source, no licence fee.
Apple's built-in app for locating devices, AirTags and shared people locations
- Sold on a Free, built into Apple hardware and iCloud model rather than Open source, no licence fee.
Every Rclone alternative at a glance
A dash means the catalogue entry carries no figure, not that the answer is nothing.
| Tool | Entry price | Model | Tiers | Head to head |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rclone (this page) | Free | Open source, no licence fee | 1 | |
| SyncthingPick Syncthing when you want continuous peer to peer sync between machines you control, with no cloud provider and no command line. | Free | Open source, no licence fee | 1 | vs Rclone |
| FreeFileSyncPick FreeFileSync when the job is folder comparison and mirroring on local or network drives and a graphical preview of what will be deleted matters. | Free | Free and open source; a paid Donation Edition adds convenience features | 1 | vs Rclone |
| Deluge | Free | Open source, no licence fee | 1 | vs Rclone |
| McDonalds | Free | Free app, revenue from purchases | 1 | vs Rclone |
| Dominos | Free | Free app, revenue from purchases | 1 | vs Rclone |
| Find My | Free | Free, built into Apple hardware and iCloud | 1 | vs Rclone |
| Karabiner-Elements | Free | Open source, no licence fee | 1 | vs Rclone |
| Maccy | Free | Open source, no licence fee | 1 | vs Rclone |
| Google Lens | Free | Free, bundled into other Google apps | 1 | vs Rclone |
| qBittorrent | Free | Open source, no licence fee | 1 | vs Rclone |
| Rectangle | Free, then $9.99/one-time | Open source, no licence fee | 2 | vs Rclone |
| Starbucks | Free | Free app, revenue from prepaid stored value and purchases | 1 | vs Rclone |
| Shottr | Free, then $8/one-time | One-time purchase | 3 | vs Rclone |
| Kap | Free | Open source, no licence fee | 1 | vs Rclone |
| Calsense | On request | Quote | 1 | vs Rclone |
| EcoStruxure Geo SCADA Expert | On request | Quote | 1 | vs Rclone |
| Hazel | $42/one-time | One-time purchase | 2 | vs Rclone |
| Sedaru | On request | Quote | 1 | vs Rclone |
| Paste | $29.99/year | Per user per month | 1 | vs Rclone |
| BetterTouchTool | $12/one-time | One-time purchase | 2 | vs Rclone |
| Magnet | $4.99/one-time | One-time purchase | 1 | vs Rclone |
| CleanShot X | $29/one-time | One-time purchase | 2 | vs Rclone |
Ratings are aggregated from third-party sources and imported with each catalogue entry; Softwr hosts no reviews of these products. How each figure is used is set out on the Rclone badges page.
Cheaper ways to solve the same problem
Free to start (14)
These publish a tier that costs nothing, so they can be evaluated before any money changes hands.
- Syncthing , Free
- FreeFileSync , Free
- Deluge , Free
- McDonalds , Free
- Dominos , Free
- Find My , Free
- Karabiner-Elements , Free
- Maccy , Free
What you would be giving up
Rclone is most often brought in for migrating tens of terabytes between two object storage providers without staging on local disk, encrypted offsite backup to a cheap provider that you do not want reading your filenames, mounting an object bucket for a media server that expects a filesystem path, nightly one-way sync from an on-premises nas to cloud storage as a second copy. Anything replacing it has to cover the ones you actually depend on, and a cheaper tool that misses one of them is not cheaper.
Two things this page cannot settle. It compares on price, model, tier count and rating, because those are the fields the category listing carries, feature-level differences need both full records, which is what the head-to-head pages load. And the ratings are third-party aggregates imported with each entry rather than reviews written here, so a 0.2 difference between two tools is noise rather than a finding.
If Rclone is broadly right and the question is cost, the Rclone pricing breakdown covers every tier and what each one adds. If you want the whole field rather than a shortlist, the Utilities category lists everything the directory holds, and best utilities tools ranks them.
Rclone runs on windows, macos, linux, freebsd, docker. Platform coverage is not carried on the category listing for the alternatives, so it is one more thing to check on each head-to-head page rather than here.
Questions about Rclone alternatives
- What are the main alternatives to Rclone?
- 22 other utilities tools are listed in this directory, led by Syncthing, FreeFileSync, Deluge, McDonalds. They are ordered by the aggregated rating on each catalogue entry, not by any Softwr ranking.
- What is the best free alternative to Rclone?
- 14 of the alternatives listed here can be used without paying: Syncthing, FreeFileSync, Deluge, McDonalds, Dominos.
- Why do people look for an alternative to Rclone?
- On the figures on record, one thing stands out: there is only one tier. Each is set out with the numbers behind it above.
- What would I give up by switching from Rclone?
- Rclone is most often brought in for migrating tens of terabytes between two object storage providers without staging on local disk, encrypted offsite backup to a cheap provider that you do not want reading your filenames, mounting an object bucket for a media server that expects a filesystem path, nightly one-way sync from an on-premises nas to cloud storage as a second copy. Anything you replace it with has to cover the ones you actually rely on, the side-by-side comparisons linked from each alternative below put the two feature records against each other.
- Is there an open-source alternative to Rclone?
- None of the utilities tools listed here are recorded as open source. That is what the licence field on each entry says, and the field is not always filled in, so it is worth checking directly for any tool you are serious about.
- How were these Rclone alternatives chosen?
- They are the tools filed in the same category, Utilities, ordered by the aggregated rating on each entry. There is no editorial shortlist, and nothing on this page is paid: no sponsored placement runs on alternatives pages and the order cannot be bought. Softwr has not used these products.
- Where can I compare Rclone against one of these directly?
- Every alternative below has a side-by-side page against Rclone covering price, platforms, features and what each one is used for. Those pages read the full record for both products rather than the summary shown here.
- Does this list cover every utilities tool?
- No. It covers what this directory holds in the Utilities category, 22 tools beside Rclone. The category page lists the rest of the catalogue as it grows.