What is rclone used for?

rclone is a command-line program, described as rsync for cloud storage, that syncs files between local disks and dozens of cloud storage providers. It is a good fit for backing up files to cloud storage, migrating data between providers and scheduled sync jobs on servers.

Is rclone open source?

Yes. rclone is open source under the MIT licence. Its source code is on GitHub at rclone/rclone and is written mainly in Go.

Yes. rclone is open source, so the software itself is free to use.

What are some alternatives to rclone?

Similar open-source tools in the File Storage & Sharing category include restic, Kopia and croc. SaaS products in the same category include Google Drive, Hetzner Storage Box and iCloud.

Is rclone actively maintained?

Yes. The most recent commit to rclone was on 2 October 2026, and the latest release is v1.75.1, published on 4 September 2026. The project has 60k stars on GitHub.

rclone: open-source file storage & sharing

About rclone

Rclone, which its authors call rsync for cloud storage, works from the command line to keep files and folders in step with many different cloud storage providers. It is written in Go and released under the MIT license.

The list of supported backends is long and includes Amazon S3, Google Drive, Dropbox, Backblaze B2, Box, Cloudflare R2, Google Cloud Storage and Azure storage, as well as protocols such as FTP, SFTP, HTTP and WebDAV. Its topics also point to encryption and FUSE filesystem mounting, so remote storage can be encrypted or accessed much like a local drive.

Because everything runs from the command line, rclone fits scripted backups, migrations between providers and scheduled syncs. Documentation, a downloads page and a community forum are linked from the README. It suits system administrators, developers and home users who work with more than one cloud storage account.

Key features

Syncs files between local disks and cloud storage
Supports dozens of storage providers
Works with S3, Google Drive, Dropbox and Backblaze B2
Supports SFTP, FTP, HTTP and WebDAV
Encryption of remote data
FUSE mounting of remote storage

Good fit for

→Backing up files to cloud storage
→Migrating data between providers
→Scheduled sync jobs on servers

Built with: Go
Tags: cloud-storage; file-sync; backup; cli; golang; s3; encryption; sftp

rclone: questions and answers

What is rclone used for?: rclone is a command-line program, described as rsync for cloud storage, that syncs files between local disks and dozens of cloud storage providers. It is a good fit for backing up files to cloud storage, migrating data between providers and scheduled sync jobs on servers.
Is rclone open source?: Yes. rclone is open source under the MIT licence. Its source code is on GitHub at rclone/rclone and is written mainly in Go.
Is rclone free?: Yes. rclone is open source, so the software itself is free to use.
What are some alternatives to rclone?: Similar open-source tools in the File Storage & Sharing category include restic, Kopia and croc. SaaS products in the same category include Google Drive, Hetzner Storage Box and iCloud.
Is rclone actively maintained?: Yes. The most recent commit to rclone was on 2 October 2026, and the latest release is v1.75.1, published on 4 September 2026. The project has 60k stars on GitHub.