rclone review

Rclone is the power tool of this list. Its site describes it as a command-line program to manage files on cloud storage, with support for over 70 products including S3 object stores, consumer services such as Google Drive, OneDrive, Dropbox and Proton Drive, and protocols such as SFTP, WebDAV and SMB. The sync command makes a destination match a source, and bisync keeps two directories in sync in both directions. Rclone preserves timestamps and verifies checksums, can restart interrupted transfers from the last good file, and uses server-side copies between providers where possible so data does not pass through your machine. It can also mount any local or cloud file system as a disk on Windows, macOS, Linux and FreeBSD, and wrap remotes with encryption or compression. It is free, open source software written in Go. The obvious limit is ease of use: you work at the command line or through scripts and its API, so it suits people comfortable with a terminal rather than someone who wants a sync folder.

Who it is for

Technical users who script sync jobs between local folders, servers and many cloud providers.

Price

Free and open source.

Rclone is mature, open-source software originally inspired by rsync and written in Go.
Quoted from the vendor pricing page on November 10, 2026.

Key features

• Over 70 supported cloud storage products and protocols
• Bisync for two-way directory sync
• Checksum and timestamp verification on transfers
• Mounts local, cloud or virtual file systems as a disk
• Encryption, compression and chunking through virtual backends

Strengths and weaknesses

• Strength: Free and open source
• Strength: Works with almost every cloud provider and protocol
• Strength: Server-side transfers between providers save local bandwidth
• Weakness: Command line first, so there is a learning curve
• Weakness: Two-way bisync needs more care than one-way sync
• Weakness: No vendor support contract by default

Key facts

• Price: Free, open source
• Storage systems: Over 70 cloud storage products
• Two-way sync: Yes, bisync
• Mount platforms: Windows, macOS, Linux, FreeBSD

Where it ranks

rclone is No. 8 in our Best File Sync Software verdict.