Compare Cloud Storage

My journey to cloud storage.
I have used ownCloud for decades. It was running on AWS EC2 Ubuntu 16.04 for years.
But I recently upgraded my EC2 to Ubuntu 24.04 and then ownCloud stopped working.

So I need to change my cloud storage service.

There are big major players like Google Drive, Apple iCloud and etc.

These two has critical problems for me.

• Google Drive: When using on Linux, It is slow, and mount is not completely implemented in shell environment(showing arbitrary alphanumeric names not actual filename)
• Apple iCloud: I use Mac, but I use Linux 95% of my life. I don’t think iCloud client works perfectly on linux.

Current Status

I have installed and testing S3Drive and it disappointed me.
So, I want another solution. The software list below is provided by ChatGPT
I thoroughly visited the web site, and checked for my requirements.

TLDR

• ownCloud Old PHP issue
• NextCloud Too big for me
• S3Drive Performance issue
• Dropbox
• pCloud AppImage installation, mount type is primary
• sync.com No linux Client
• mega VPN and other apps
• koofr targz installation
• icedrive mount
• tresorit sh installation
• Internxt VPN and other apps only Annual payment

• rclone Tried. unreliable
• seafile Community Edition vs Professional Edition
• insync One-time payment
• Mountain Duck No linux Client

ownCloud

• https://owncloud.com/
• Free, Self-hosting
• Doesn’s support PHP 8.3
• ownCloud Server 10.16 Requirements
  • Ubuntu 20.04 LTS
  • MariaDB 10.11
  • PHP 7.4

NextCloud

• https://nextcloud.com/
• Free, Self-hosting
• Can be installed using docker
  • But requires minimum 2GB of memory: I want to run on AWS EC2 t3.micro or smaller.

S3Drive

• https://s3drive.app/
• Subscription: 1.99 EUR / month
  • Storage is not include. so I can use AWS S3 (Reliable! my favorite for storing files)
    • Subscription fee is only for software itself. (and the feature what I need is Two-way sync)
• Cons.
  1. Timestamp on local files are scrambled.
  2. CPU Spiking when synchronizing, and the App is unresponsive. (App is not trustworthy for me)
  3. There is not logs for conflicts. (also no log entry for generic file sync)
  4. Uses excessive memory. up to 2.5GB, 3GB and even more. (Memory is eventually released after synchronization.) ¹

Dropbox

• https://www.dropbox.com/
• Subscription: 9.99 USD / month (billed annually) 11.99 USD / month (billed monthly)
  • Plus: For 1 person, 2TB Storage
  • Professional: For 1 person, 3TB Storage
  • Standard: 15 USD/user/month, 5TB Storage per team (minimum 3 user)
  • Advanced: 24 USD/user/month, 15TB Storage per team (minimum 3 user)

pCloud

• https://www.pcloud.com/ 2013 Switzerland
• Subscription: 4.99 USD / month
  • Family Plan provided (up to 5 user) LIFETIME 595 USD
• Linux
  • AppImage (not my favorite)

sync.com

• https://www.sync.com/ 2011 Canada
• No Linux Client

mega

• https://mega.io/ 2013 New Zealand
• Not only a Cloud Storage provider, but also provides vpn, object storage, password manager, chat and meeting.
• I do want only storage provider. not vpn.

koofr

• https://koofr.eu/ 2013 Slovenia
• Subscription: 4~10 EUR / month
  • Suitcase
    • 250GB: 4 EUR / month
    • 500GB: 7 EUR / month
    • 1TB: 10 EUR / month
• Linux
  • targz : with install.sh

icedrive

• https://icedrive.net/ 2019 UK
• Subscription: 5.99 USD / month
  • PRO : 2TB
• Linux
  • CLI, AppImage(not my favorite)
• mount not synchronization (I want synchronization with my local disk)

tresorit

• https://tresorit.com/ 2011 Hungary
• Linux
  • Installation via sh: trasorit_installer.run (not my favorite)

Internxt

• https://internxt.com/ 2020 Spain
• Subscription: 24 EUR / year
  • Essential: 1TB
• Linux : deb
• Not only Cloud Storage provider, but also provides vpn, antivirus, cleaner, meet services.
• I do want only storage provider. not vpn.

Other

rclone

• OpenSource
• Tried rclone bisync with custom wrapper script
  • Takes too much time
  • Custom script may be inconvinient and unreliable

seafile

• Self-hosting
• Community Edition vs Professional Edition

insync

• One-time payment 39.99 USD

MountainDuck

• No Linux Client

Is there a farely good solution for me?

I am considering to use Dropbox
What I am hasitating is that I have only installed software with free plan without storing meaningful files. and I deleted account a month ago.
So, is it really worth to resubscribe paid plan.

(2026-04-02 update) dropbox first impression

1. Seamless installation failed on one linux machine
   libglapi-mesa: it must be installed, but the installer didn’t handle it properly. I manually installed. but after installation, dropbox app still not working.
   It shows still ‘indexing’(using command dropbox status). I tried command dropbox update and restarted dropbox. It fixed problem.

2. On Mac OS: There was no Dropbox folder in user’s home. I found it in Preferences and it says it is located at /Users/dgkim/Library/CloudStorage/Dropbox.
   It may or may not cause some problems.

3. On Mac OS: Screen capture auto archiving. It may helpful.

4. On iPhone: like other many iOS apps, the on boarding process may be confusing.

5. Synchronization Experience: It seems ok. I leave it open for several devices. and It shows near-real-time synchronization. It seems fine!

6. dropbox cli: I first found in Linux os. It must be helpful. THANK YOU! DROPBOX! but. the dropbox command is not available on Mac OS.