Comparison

Rclone vs rsync

On the evidence we track, Rclone leads this comparison with a composite score of 68/100. Scores are only directly comparable because these tools share a category; the full breakdown and every source is below.

Rclone full profile →rsync full profile →

Machine formatsJSON Markdown GraphQLor send Accept: application/json

★Rclone68

rsync53

Attribute comparison across 2 tools
Attribute	RcloneLeader	rsync
Vioscale score	68 / 100low · 40%	53 / 100low · 16%
Pricing
Free tierpricing.free_tier	✓	✓
Modelpricing.model	commercial	open_source
Price levelpricing.price_level	free	free
Transparentpricing.transparent	✓	✓
Integrations
Countintegrations.count	40	-
Security
Disclosure policysecurity.disclosure_policy	-	✓
Scorecardsecurity.scorecard	5	-
Vulnerabilitiessecurity.vulnerabilities	Count: 20 · Source: https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=go&package_name=github.com%2Frclone%2Frclone&per_page=100 · Last 12m: 18 · Max severity: CRITICAL	Count: 0 · Source: https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=go&package_name=github.com%2Frsyncproject%2Frsync&per_page=100 · Last 12m: 0
Adoption
Dependent reposadoption.dependent_repos	43	0
Github starsadoption.github_stars	59,406	5,158
Activity
Commits last 30dactivity.commits_last_30d	100	100
Release
Cadence daysrelease.cadence_days	17	21
Historyrelease.history	20 items	6 items
License
Spdxlicense.spdx	MIT	-
Language
Primarylanguage.primary	Go	C

Score

Vioscale score

Rclone68 / 100low · 40%

rsync53 / 100low · 16%

Pricing

Free tier

Rclone✓

rsync✓

Model

Rclonecommercial

rsyncopen_source

Price level

Rclonefree

rsyncfree

Transparent

Rclone✓

rsync✓

Integrations

Count

Rclone40

rsync–

Security

Disclosure policy

Rclone–

rsync✓

Scorecard

Rclone5

rsync–

Vulnerabilities

RcloneCount: 20 · Source: https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=go&package_name=github.com%2Frclone%2Frclone&per_page=100 · Last 12m: 18 · Max severity: CRITICAL

rsyncCount: 0 · Source: https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=go&package_name=github.com%2Frsyncproject%2Frsync&per_page=100 · Last 12m: 0

Adoption

Dependent repos

Rclone43

rsync0

Github stars

Rclone59,406

rsync5,158

Activity

Commits last 30d

Rclone100

rsync100

Release

Cadence days

Rclone17

rsync21

History

Rclone20 items

rsync6 items

License

Spdx

RcloneMIT

rsync–

Language

Primary

RcloneGo

rsyncC

Capabilities

Feature-by-feature on the axes that matter for file sync. “-” means undocumented, not absent.

Capability comparison for File Sync
Capability	Rclone	rsync
Capabilities
Deployment model	Self hosted	-
Peer to peer p2p network routing	-	-
Client server architecture cloud host	✓	-
Block level delta sync transfer speed	✓	-
Self hosted linux docker deployment	✓	-
Synology qnap nas hardware integration	-	-
Aws s3 azure blob external mounts	✓	-
Active directory ldap identity sync	-	-
Version history and conflict resolution	✓	-
End to end encryption keys in transit	✓	-
SOC2 type ii	-	-
ISO 27001	-	-
Pricing model	Free open source	-

Capabilities

Deployment model

RcloneSelf hosted

rsync-

Peer to peer p2p network routing

Rclone-

rsync-

Client server architecture cloud host

Rclone✓

rsync-

Block level delta sync transfer speed

Rclone✓

rsync-

Self hosted linux docker deployment

Rclone✓

rsync-

Synology qnap nas hardware integration

Rclone-

rsync-

Aws s3 azure blob external mounts

Rclone✓

rsync-

Active directory ldap identity sync

Rclone-

rsync-

Version history and conflict resolution

Rclone✓

rsync-

End to end encryption keys in transit

Rclone✓

rsync-

SOC2 type ii

Rclone-

rsync-

ISO 27001

Rclone-

rsync-

Pricing model

RcloneFree open source

rsync-

What each one is

The product in its own terms, so the numbers below have context.

Rclone

Leader

A client-side command-line program that synchronizes files between your local machine and multiple cloud storage services. It supports a wide range of cloud providers and offers features like encryption, checksums, server-side transfers, and bidirectional synchronization.

Independently observed

rsync

An open source command-line tool for efficiently synchronizing files and directories between systems. It uses the rsync algorithm to send only differences rather than complete copies, supporting multiple transport protocols (SSH, rsh, direct sockets) and can operate as both a client and server.

Independently observed

Pricing

List pricing as published by each vendor, with the date we read it. Always verify at the source before you buy.

Rclone

Leader

Open sourceFree tier

Free and open source (MIT license)

as of 2026-08-21verify ↗

rsync

Open sourceFree tier

Free and open source (GNU GPL)

Open SourceFree

as of 2026-08-20verify ↗

Platform & deployment

Where each product runs and how it can be hosted. A dash means undocumented, not unsupported.

Platform and deployment support comparison
Supports	Rclone	rsync
AndroidPlatforms	✓	✓
macOSPlatforms	✓	✓
WindowsPlatforms	✓	✓
LinuxPlatforms	✓	✓
CLIPlatforms	✓	✓
Self-hostedDeployment	✓	-

Platforms

Android

Rclone✓

rsync✓

macOS

Rclone✓

rsync✓

Windows

Rclone✓

rsync✓

Linux

Rclone✓

rsync✓

CLI

Rclone✓

rsync✓

Deployment

Self-hosted

Rclone✓

rsync–

Integrations

What each product connects to. Counts come from the vendor's own integration directory where one exists.

Rclone

Leader

38 total

Amazon S3
Google Drive
Microsoft OneDrive
Dropbox
Backblaze B2
Microsoft Azure Blob Storage
Azure Files Storage
Google Cloud Storage
Oracle Cloud Storage
Cloudflare R2
iCloud Drive
Nextcloud
ownCloud
pCloud
Alibaba Cloud OSS
Huawei Cloud OBS
Tencent Cloud COS
OpenStack Swift
Rackspace Cloud Files
OVHcloud
rsync.net
Seagate Lyve Cloud
IONOS Cloud
Mail.ru Cloud
+14 more

Independently observed

rsync

Not documented yet.

Comparison generated from independently-sourced facts. Every value links to its source and retrieval date. See the method.