Self-hosted / open sourceCloud Storage (Personal)Headquarters: SE

Syncthing: sovereignty score and 8 European alternatives

Syncthing is a continuous file synchronisation program that keeps files in sync between two or more computers in real time. There is no central server: devices exchange data directly, and only devices you have explicitly approved, identified by their device ID, can connect. You manage Syncthing through a browser interface. It runs on macOS, Windows, Linux, FreeBSD, Solaris and OpenBSD, among others, and works over a local network or the internet. Connections are protected with TLS 1.2 or 1.3.

Syncthing is open source under the Mozilla Public License 2.0, is written in Go, and its source code is on GitHub. The Syncthing Foundation, a non-profit registered in Sweden, pays for infrastructure such as the website, the discovery servers and the build servers. Kastelo offers commercial support. Because your data stays only on your own devices, you decide where it resides. Global discovery and relays are enabled by default; their operators can see device IDs and IP addresses but not the content. You can disable both or run your own.

See the 8 European alternatives ↓Assess your stack with Syncthing pre-selected

Mastodon LinkedIn Bluesky X Email

Sovereignty score

94 / 1000 = high exposure
100 = sovereign

Jurisdiction SOV-2100
Headquartered in the EU: European law applies
Data residency SOV-3100
EU-only hosting
Cryptographic key sovereignty SOV-390
Self-hostable: encryption keys under your own control
Freedom from lock-in SOV-680
Open source: low switching costs
Source & runtime sovereignty SOV-4 · SOV-6100
Source code auditable, forkable and self-hostable

SOV codes: the matching objective in the European Commission's Cloud Sovereignty Framework. Official source

How the score is calculated

Facts and evidence

Last checked July 2, 2026

Headquarters	SE (EU)Verified by hand
Sovereignty model	Open-source, distributedVerified by hand
Data hosting	EUVerified by hand
Open-source	YesVerified by hand
GDPR-compliant	YesVendor-stated
Compliance documents	1 published, see belowVendor-stated
Hosting signal	FASTLY - Fastly, Inc., US (US)Technically measured
Category	Cloud Storage (Personal)
Type	Product
Website	syncthing.net ↗

The hosting signal shows the network that serves the vendor's website, often a CDN, and not necessarily where the service or your data is hosted. How we verify · Something wrong? Suggest a correction

Top EU-based & GDPR-compliant alternatives to Syncthing

The European alternatives to Syncthing come from our knowledge base of over 6,800 vendors. We only list vendors headquartered in the EU or the EEA; fully European-owned vendors rank before vendors with a foreign owner. For each alternative you see the country, the open-source status and a short description.

Score per alternative: 0 = high exposure, 100 = sovereign

22 European Cloud Storage (Personal) vendors are in the catalogue. View the whole category · Submit an alternative · View category on the map

Is Syncthing one of many dependencies?

Score your whole stack in about three minutes. Free, no account needed.

Assess your stack →View a sample report (opens in a new tab)

Why digital sovereignty matters with Syncthing

Syncthing is headquartered in SE and therefore falls under European law: the GDPR, NIS2 and the Data Act. No foreign legislation can compel access to your data.

Data is hosted exclusively in the EU, so Syncthing scores best on data residency.

Syncthing is open source. You can audit the source code, self-host the software and keep the encryption keys under your own control. Switching is easier because data and software are not tied to a single party.

What this means for your organisation depends on your whole stack and context. The free assessment weighs Syncthing together with your other vendors and gives a total score, a heatmap and the main risk drivers.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best European alternative to Syncthing?

It depends on your use case. Strong EU alternatives to Syncthing include CloudMe, Cozy Cloud and Cryptee. On this page you can compare 8 EU alternatives by jurisdiction, data residency and open-source status.

Are there open-source alternatives to Syncthing?

Yes. Open-source EU alternatives to Syncthing include Cozy Cloud, Cryptee, Filen and Internxt. These keep your data fully under your own control and let you self-host if you want to.

Is Syncthing GDPR-compliant and where is the data hosted?

Syncthing is headquartered in SE (EU) and hosts data in EU. It is also open-source, so you can self-host it. That makes Syncthing an EU-sovereign choice in its own right; the EU alternatives on this page are comparable European tools.

Details and sources

Verified by handHeadquarters, owner, hosting locations and licence have been checked by us against public sources. Free of charge and for every vendor, not a paid label. Nothing in this knowledge base is taken over automatically. Last checked on July 2, 2026.

Sources

This record was checked via the vendor's website and legal notice during the full audit of June and July 2026. Source links have been recorded per record since 20 September 2026.

Compliance evidence

The links below point to the vendor's own public documents. We only record what we found: a missing link means "not found publicly", not "not compliant".

Security page / trust center: syncthing.net/security

Provenance of the links above:Vendor-stated

Links checked on September 22, 2026.

Digital sovereignty in Cloud Storage (Personal)

Cloud Storage (Personal): Personal cloud storage — sync and share files. In this category the choice of vendor determines who has legal access to your data, where that data lives and how easily you can switch later.

Also in this category

See all →

Open in the alternatives dashboard Missing a vendor? Submit it Are you this vendor? You can also become a sponsor on the Cloud Storage (Personal) page — with no effect on your score