Best Cloud Storage Sync Clients for Mac

The short answer. Dropbox is the hosted sync service with the Mac client people already have. ownCloud and Seafile let you point the storage at your own server, which is the whole decision in this category. GoogleDriveSync is a menu bar app for syncing Google Drive, which is a different position again: a third-party client for a hosted service rather than a service or a server. The question is whether you are renting storage or owning it, and the answer determines what happens to the files when the pricing changes.

This guide covers 4 cloud storage sync clients for macOS. Every fact below is drawn from the same verified records that back each app’s own page. The recommendations are our editorial judgment, not payment.

Quick comparison

What actually decides this

• Own server or hosted. A self-hosted sync is yours to keep and yours to maintain, patch and back up. A hosted service is someone else to worry about and someone else to pay. Neither is free; they are paid in different currencies.
• Selective sync and how it handles space. A sync engine that downloads everything is fine on a desktop and useless on a laptop. Whether you can choose which folders exist locally, and whether the placeholder behaves like a real file, decides whether the tool works on a small disk.
• How it resolves a conflict. Two machines editing the same file is the normal case, not the error case. A tool that keeps both versions with a suffix makes you decide; a tool that keeps the latest makes the decision for you. Neither is obviously right and you should know which you have.
• What happens when the file is deleted on one side. Deletion propagation is the property that makes sync dangerous. Whether the tool has a recycle bin, a version history and a delay before the deletion spreads is what stands between a mistake and a lost document.
• Protocol and client support. A sync engine that also speaks a standard protocol can be reached from a phone, a terminal and another computer. One that only has its own client confines you to the clients that exist, which is fewer than you think.

Our picks

• Dropbox — Its record describes the Dropbox app offering easy screenshot capturing and sharing, which is the hosted case. Choose it when you want the hosted service and are happy for the files to live on someone else servers.
• ownCloud — Its record describes cloud storage, and the significance is that it is software you can run yourself. Choose it when you want to point the sync at a server you control.
• Seafile — Its record describes reliable and high speed file sync and share, which is the self-hosted-perf case. Choose it when you want a fast self-hosted sync engine.
• GoogleDriveSync — Its record describes a menu bar app for seamless Google Drive syncing, which is the third-party-client case. Choose it when what you want is a menu bar client for Google Drive specifically.

The apps

Dropbox

Dropbox is a cloud storage client for macOS. Dropbox app offers easy screenshot capturing and sharing. It is free.

Dropbox is listed with current version 272.4.3798.

Full profile and verified facts for Dropbox →

GoogleDriveSync

GoogleDriveSync is a system tool for macOS. A menu bar app for seamless Google Drive syncing. It is released under MIT.

What it does. Flexible Folder Syncing: Sync as many local folders as you need to any path on Google Drive. Mix and match accounts and destinations however you want. Multiple Google Accounts: Add and manage multiple Google Drive accounts simultaneously. Each folder can sync to a different account. Real-Time Feedback: Watch your sync progress live with transfer speeds, file counts, and completion status. Full error reporting when something goes wrong. Filtering Support: Exclude specific files and directories from syncing using simple ignore patterns.

GoogleDriveSync is listed with current version 1.1.3.

Full profile and verified facts for GoogleDriveSync →

ownCloud

ownCloud is a file management tool for macOS. Cloud storage. Its pricing is not published.

What it does. ownCloud, your file platform. The most essential business tool for enterprise-grade file sync and share.

ownCloud is listed with current version 7.1.1.19543.

Full profile and verified facts for ownCloud →

Seafile

Seafile is a file management tool for macOS. Reliable and High Speed File Sync and Share. It is free.

What it does. Seafile is an open source, self-hosted file sync and share solution with high performance and reliability. Sync, access, and collaborate on files on your own server or private cloud.

Seafile is listed with current version 9.0.21.

Full profile and verified facts for Seafile →

How to choose

• Free of charge. Dropbox and Seafile — no payment is required.
• No licence fee, source available. GoogleDriveSync — the source can be read and, under the terms of each licence, reused.
• Pricing not published in our data. ownCloud — check the developer’s own site before assuming anything about cost.

Open source: GoogleDriveSync (1 of 4).

Common mistakes

• Syncing a folder you never meant to sync. The propagation is immediate and the inverse is a restore, not an undo.
• Deleting a file on one machine to free space and finding it gone on all of them. That is what a sync engine does, and the tools that protect you are the ones with a staged delete.
• Self-hosting without backing up the server. Sync is not a backup, and the phrase means precisely the opposite of what people hear.
• Judging a sync engine by upload speed. The part that matters is what happens in the conflict you will eventually create.

How this guide was put together

Each app’s facts come from its own record: the developer’s own pages and repository, the App Store listing where one exists, and the documentation, each with a source grade and an access date. Where a fact rests on the developer’s own statement rather than on something we verified independently, the sentence says so. Where our data has no value for something, the guide says “not published” instead of guessing.

A price appears here only where the record carries one from a stated source; the guide never estimates one, and it records the pricing model alongside so the two can be read together. Prices change and vary by region, so each app links to its own page for the current detail.

The facts and the recommendations are kept apart on purpose. Everything in the app entries, the comparison table and the answers above is composed from the records. The short answer, the criteria and the picks are our editorial judgment: they reflect what we would choose and why, and they are not paid for. Where we make a recommendation we name the condition it applies under, because we do not call anything “the best” without explaining the criteria.