My 5 Favorite Cloud Sync Tools For Linux - Including Free Options

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ZDNET's cardinal takeaways

• If you request to sync Linux to nan cloud, you person options.
• You tin sync to various unreality accounts and moreover locally.
• Some of these options are free, while others are paid.

For a agelong time, I utilized unreality retention arsenic a intends to entree my files anywhere, arsenic good arsenic a backup option. Not only did those unreality retention services service maine well, but they besides made it imaginable for maine to stock files and folders pinch collaborators.

These days, I've migrated to an soul unreality action (Nextcloud) for 2 reasons: 

• I don't want 3rd parties profiling maine pinch my work.
• I don't want 3rd parties training artificial intelligence LLMs pinch my work.

Even though I person migrated to an in-house unreality solution, it doesn't mean location isn't worth to outer unreality retention solutions. In fact, astir users unrecorded and dice by their unreality storage, and that's great. 

If you're a Linux user, you mightiness consciousness a spot near retired pinch respect to unreality sync tools. You don't person to. There are really rather a fewer outstanding unreality sync devices you tin usage that activity good pinch different providers.

1. Syncthing

Syncthing tin link to immoderate machine connected your LAN, which makes it 1 of nan much elastic and useful unreality sync devices connected nan list. If you're really clever, you tin besides usage Syncthing to sync section files/folders to your Google Drive account. To do that, you person to equine your Google relationship locally (more connected that successful a bit) and past usage Syncthing to sync section files/folders to nan recently mounted Google Drive. Yes, it's a kludgy workaround, but it's surely possible.

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The awesome point astir Syncthing is that you tin usage it to sync files and folders to immoderate instrumentality connected your network. Because of that, here's different useful trick. Say you person a MacOS instrumentality that syncs pinch your Google Drive relationship (because Google offers a MacOS customer for Drive). You could past usage Syncthing to sync from Linux to MacOS, specified that your Linux files/folders sync pinch nan section Drive files connected MacOS. Instant Google Drive syncing.

Synthing is free to instal and use.

2. Insync

For nan longest time, Insync was my go-to instrumentality for syncing Linux files/folders to Google Drive. Insync has a ton of features, each wrapped into a well-designed GUI that makes it reasonably easy to sync betwixt your Linux devices and your Google Drive account. But Insync isn't conscionable constricted to Google Drive. You tin besides usage this app to sync Linux to OneDrive and Dropbox. Insync integrates pinch your record managers, allows selective sync and moreover one-way sync. You tin merge folders, sync peripherals, usage aggregate accounts, stock files/folders, person docs, create disregard rules, and more. 

Keep successful mind that Insync is not free. You tin effort Insync for 7 days and, if you for illustration it, make a one-time acquisition for only $39.99. That licence besides gets you 1 twelvemonth of Insync Care (support). For Linux, there's besides a command-line tool, which intends you could usage it pinch cron for much elastic scheduled syncing.

3. pCloud

pCloud is nan outlier present because it only syncs Linux to your pCloud account. The large caveat to pCloud is that nan life plans are expensive. For instance, 500GB of unreality retention sets you backmost a one-time interest of $199. For $399, you get 2TB of storage, and for $1,190, you get 10TB of storage. 

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Fortunately, you tin opt for a much modular account, specified arsenic nan Premium 500GB action for $49.99/year. Or, conscionable driblet nan $199 and ne'er person to salary again.

As acold arsenic features are concerned, you get unlimited record size arsenic good arsenic unlimited upload and download speeds. If a speedy sync is important, pCloud is outstanding. You besides get record sharing, synchronization, TLS/SSL encryption, entree via Web, desktop, and mobile, versioning, and integrations.

4. Nextcloud

Nextcloud has go my cloud-sync instrumentality of choice. I tally it locally (a server connected my LAN), but that ensures my files and information cannot beryllium accessed by a 3rd party. I've had a fewer scares wherever 3rd parties were utilizing my activity to train LLMs, and it's not easy putting a extremity to that, which is why I pulled my important documents from Google Drive and support them wrong my LAN.

Nextcloud is simply a awesome action because it's incredibly flexible. I tin configure Nextcloud precisely really I want it (even widen nan characteristic group pinch apps), and instal a desktop app connected Linux for easier integration.

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The only caveat to utilizing Nextcloud is that you person to person nan skills to deploy it, which tin beryllium a spot tricky. You tin find retired really to instal Nextcloud successful my article on how to easy instal a unreality work astatine location successful an hr aliases less. 

Although Nextcloud tin return a while to install, it's free and surely worthy nan effort. As a bonus, nan desktop customer is rather good.

5. Built-In

Finally, location are nan built-in tools. The GNOME desktop situation makes it easy to link your Linux machine to various online accounts, specified arsenic Google Drive, OneDrive, and Nextcloud. 

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Connect GNOME to your unreality account, and it mounts nan relationship specified that it's easy accessible successful your file manager. Keep successful mind that it doesn't connection an existent sync option, which is why I mentioned Syncthing earlier. You tin adhd your unreality relationship and past usage a instrumentality for illustration Syncthing (or rsync) to sync files/folders to nan equine directory, which will past beryllium automatically synced pinch your unreality account.

I've recovered that this action is simply a spot slower than others, but it's free and includes record head integration, truthful it's very overmuch worthy nan effort.