What is Seafile used for?

Seafile is a core server component of Seafile, the self-hostable file synchronization and sharing platform, written in C. It is a good fit for running a private alternative to cloud file storage.

Is Seafile open source?

Yes. Seafile is open source under a custom licence. Its source code is on GitHub at haiwen/seafile-server and is written mainly in C.

Yes. Seafile is open source, so the software itself is free to use under the terms of its own licence.

Can I self-host Seafile?

Yes. Seafile can be self-hosted on your own server or infrastructure.

What is Seafile an alternative to?

Seafile is an open-source alternative to Dropbox, Google Drive and Box. Other open-source alternatives to Dropbox include Seafile, ownCloud and Nextcloud.

Is Seafile actively maintained?

Yes. The most recent commit to Seafile was on 22 September 2026, and the latest release is v7.1.1-server, published on 17 December 2019. The project has 546 stars on GitHub.

Seafile: open-source alternative to Dropbox, Google Drive

About Seafile

Seafile Server is the core server component of Seafile, an open-source platform for synchronizing and sharing files. The repository is maintained by the haiwen organization and is written in C. Little further description is provided in the available project data.

Seafile is generally run on infrastructure that you control, which makes it a candidate for teams that want private file storage and sharing without a third-party cloud provider. Consult the Seafile documentation for deployment details, supported clients and licensing terms for each component.

Key features

Core server for Seafile file sync
File sharing between users and teams
Self-hostable private file storage
Written in C

Good fit for

→Running a private alternative to cloud file storage

Built with: C
Tags: file-sync; file-sharing; cloud-storage; self-hosted; seafile; c-language

Seafile: questions and answers

What is Seafile used for?: Seafile is a core server component of Seafile, the self-hostable file synchronization and sharing platform, written in C. It is a good fit for running a private alternative to cloud file storage.
Is Seafile open source?: Yes. Seafile is open source under a custom licence. Its source code is on GitHub at haiwen/seafile-server and is written mainly in C.
Is Seafile free?: Yes. Seafile is open source, so the software itself is free to use under the terms of its own licence.
Can I self-host Seafile?: Yes. Seafile can be self-hosted on your own server or infrastructure.
What is Seafile an alternative to?: Seafile is an open-source alternative to Dropbox, Google Drive and Box. Other open-source alternatives to Dropbox include Seafile, ownCloud and Nextcloud.
Is Seafile actively maintained?: Yes. The most recent commit to Seafile was on 22 September 2026, and the latest release is v7.1.1-server, published on 17 December 2019. The project has 546 stars on GitHub.