Microsoft just shipped real Unix utilities inside Windows. Coreutils (the GNU tools behind cat, cp, grep, and friends) now come with the OS, so a Windows dev no longer needs WSL or Git Bash just to script a file copy. That change makes rsync feel closer than it has in years, because the muscle memory finally works the same on all three desktops.
Rsync is still the reference for file synchronization. It is fast, it is scriptable, and it does one thing very well. But most of the interesting work in file sync has moved elsewhere, into cloud object storage, encrypted backup snapshots, GUI tools, and peer-to-peer networks. If you have been reaching for rsync out of habit, these seven rsync alternatives cover what it does not.
Quick comparison
| Tool | Best for | Free plan | Starting price | Standout feature |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| rclone | Cloud storage sync | Fully free | Free | 70+ cloud backends in one CLI |
| Syncthing | LAN and peer-to-peer sync | Fully free | Free | No cloud, no account, continuous sync |
| Resilio Sync | Commercial P2P sync | Personal tier | Around 60 USD one-off (Home Pro) | Selective sync with LAN speeds |
| FreeFileSync | Point-and-click sync | Fully free | Donation-supported | GUI with real-time comparison |
| Duplicati | Encrypted cloud backup | Fully free | Free (self-hosted) | Client-side AES-256 to any backend |
| restic | Modern deduplicating backup | Fully free | Free | Snapshot restore, dedupe by default |
| BorgBackup | Battle-tested server backup | Fully free | Free | Compressed, dedupe, append-only |
Why people look beyond rsync
Rsync has no graphical interface. That is fine on a Linux server but a real friction on a family Mac or a work laptop where nobody wants to memorize -avz --delete --exclude. A GUI tool with a diff view answers more questions in ten seconds than a shell one-liner.
It also has no native support for cloud object storage. If your data lives in S3, Google Cloud Storage, Backblaze B2, or a shared Dropbox folder, rsync needs a mount layer to touch it, and that adds latency and failure modes. Modern workflows want direct API access, not FUSE detours.
There is no encryption at rest either. Rsync can move data over SSH, but the destination stores files as they arrived. Backup tools now assume the target is untrusted and encrypt every chunk before it leaves the machine.
Finally, the flags are cryptic. Users on Reddit and Hacker News repeat the same complaint: they have run rsync -avz for years without knowing what -a actually includes, and one wrong --delete has cost real data. On Windows the story is worse: line endings, permission bits, and path separators all fight the tool. That is what these alternatives fix.
The 7 rsync alternatives
rclone
rclone is what happens when someone rewrites rsync for the cloud. The CLI feels almost identical (rclone sync src: dest:), but instead of local paths or SSH targets it speaks S3, Google Drive, OneDrive, Dropbox, Backblaze B2, Wasabi, iCloud, and 60 or so other backends. On a fresh Windows box with coreutils installed, you can pipe rclone output into grep and awk the same way you would on Linux, which used to be the whole point of rsync.
The bandwidth handling is genuinely good. You get chunked uploads, server-side copy where the provider supports it, encrypted overlays (crypt remotes), and a mount command that turns any cloud into a native filesystem. For anyone moving data between clouds or between a laptop and object storage, rclone vs rsync is a one-sided fight.
Where it falls short: rclone is not a backup tool. It syncs files as-is, so if you want snapshots or point-in-time restore you still need something on top. Its config file also grows quickly if you add lots of remotes.
Pricing: fully free and open source. No paid tier.
Migrating from rsync: the command shape is intentionally similar. rsync -av src/ dest/ becomes rclone sync src dest. There is no config import, but flags like --exclude, --dry-run, and --bwlimit behave the way you expect.
Download: rclone.org
Bottom line: pick rclone if any part of your workflow touches cloud storage. It replaces rsync the moment your destination stops being a directory on another Unix box.
Syncthing
Syncthing is a peer-to-peer sync engine that runs on every desktop OS and quietly keeps folders in step across devices. There is no central server, no account, and no cloud. Two machines discover each other by device ID, agree on a shared folder, and then trade changes continuously in the background. On a fast LAN it is faster than most cloud sync tools because the data never leaves the network.
The web UI on localhost:8384 is understated but complete. You can pause folders, set send-only or receive-only modes, and inspect the change queue. Versioning is built in, so overwrites keep a history you can roll back.
Where it falls short: Syncthing does not sync to cloud object storage, and it needs both devices online to move data. It is not a backup tool either. If your laptop dies before the last sync, the delta is gone.
Pricing: fully free and open source.
Migrating from rsync: nothing to import, because Syncthing thinks about folders, not commands. If you were running rsync in a cron job to keep two laptops aligned, Syncthing replaces the whole script with a checkbox.
Download: syncthing.net
Bottom line: pick Syncthing when you want your own machines to keep the same folders in sync, and you refuse to hand the data to a cloud vendor to do it.
Resilio Sync
Resilio Sync is the commercial descendant of BitTorrent Sync. Same peer-to-peer idea as Syncthing, different execution: a polished GUI, mobile apps that actually work, and selective sync so a phone can hold placeholders instead of the full folder. The transfer engine still uses BitTorrent-style chunks, so a group of laptops on the same office network can pull a large folder from each other rather than from one origin.
Setup is a five-minute affair. You install the client, create a folder, and share a link or key. The apps handle NAT traversal quietly, which is where Syncthing sometimes stumbles.
Where it falls short: it is not open source, and the free personal tier is limited compared with the Home Pro license. Some users on Reddit have also flagged the lack of true end-to-end encryption on standard shares.
Pricing: free personal tier for basic sync, Home Pro is a one-time license (usually around 60 USD), and Business plans are per-user per year.
Migrating from rsync: no importer, but if you were using rsync over SSH between a home NAS and a laptop, Resilio Sync covers the same ground with less configuration.
Download: resilio.com
Bottom line: pick Resilio Sync if you want P2P sync with a real UI on mobile and are willing to pay for polish.
FreeFileSync
FreeFileSync is the tool people mean when they say “I just want a GUI.” It shows two folders side by side, highlights differences by color, and lets you pick which direction to sync before it does anything. It runs on Windows, macOS, and Linux with the same interface, which is rare in this category.
The batch mode is stronger than it looks. You can save a sync as a job, schedule it with the OS scheduler, or trigger it from a shortcut. RealTimeSync watches a folder and fires the job whenever files change, which is close to what people set up rsync cron jobs for.
Where it falls short: no cloud backend beyond FTP, SFTP, and Google Drive. No encryption at rest, and the installer bundles a donation nudge screen that some users find pushy.
Pricing: free with an optional donor edition (around 25 USD one-off) that unlocks parallel sync, portable installs, and silent updates.
Migrating from rsync: nothing to import. The mental model is different: instead of a command with flags, you build a job with dropdowns. Once you accept that shift, the tool answers a lot of “did that actually copy” questions faster than any shell.
Download: freefilesync.org
Bottom line: pick FreeFileSync when the person running the sync is not going to touch a terminal, ever.
Duplicati
Duplicati is a backup tool built around the assumption that the destination is untrusted. Files are chunked, deduplicated, compressed, and AES-256 encrypted on the client before they leave the machine. The target can be almost anything: SFTP, S3, Backblaze B2, Google Drive, OneDrive, WebDAV, or a plain local disk.
There is a web UI, a scheduler, and a restore browser that lets you pull single files back from any snapshot in the past. It runs as a service on Windows, macOS, and Linux, so you install it once and forget about it.
Where it falls short: the .NET runtime footprint is heavier than Borg or restic, and long-running jobs have historically had reliability quirks on very large datasets. Recent releases have improved this, but heavy users still cross-check with a second backup.
Pricing: fully free and open source. There is no paid tier.
Migrating from rsync: Duplicati does not sync folders in the rsync sense. It stores versioned backups instead. If you were running rsync --backup-dir to fake versioned copies, Duplicati is what you actually wanted.
Download: duplicati.com
Bottom line: pick Duplicati if you want encrypted backups to cheap cloud storage and are willing to trade some raw performance for the friendly UI.
restic
restic is a single-binary backup tool written in Go with sane defaults: content-addressable storage, deduplication, encryption, and snapshot restore. There is no config file to break and no runtime to install. You point it at a repository (local disk, SFTP, S3, B2, Azure, GCS, REST server) and it takes care of the rest.
The first backup writes everything. Every subsequent backup is a snapshot that references only the new chunks, so a nightly job on a 500 GB dataset finishes in minutes once the initial run is done. Restore is per-file, per-directory, or per-snapshot, and the mount subcommand exposes any snapshot as a read-only filesystem.
Where it falls short: pruning old snapshots is slower than Borg on very large repositories. The CLI is friendly but there is no official GUI.
Pricing: fully free and open source.
Migrating from rsync: restic is not a sync tool, so there is nothing to import. If you were pairing rsync with hardlink snapshots (the classic --link-dest trick), restic replaces the whole pipeline with a single, encrypted, dedupe-aware store.
Download: restic.net
Bottom line: pick restic when you want a modern backup tool that works the same on any OS and treats the destination as hostile.
BorgBackup
BorgBackup (Borg) is the older, battle-tested sibling of restic. Same core ideas: content-defined chunking, deduplication, compression, and encryption. Borg has been in production at scale for a decade, and its numbers on huge datasets are still hard to beat. Prune, check, and compact are all fast enough to run inside a cron window.
Append-only mode is the feature backup engineers keep coming back for. Point a client at a remote Borg repository with append-only credentials and even a compromised laptop cannot destroy old snapshots. That matters against ransomware in a way rsync never addressed.
Where it falls short: native Windows support is limited, so most Windows users run Borg inside WSL. There is no official GUI, though Vorta covers Linux and macOS.
Pricing: fully free and open source.
Migrating from rsync: Borg is a backup engine, not a sync engine. If your rsync setup was really a poor person’s backup (rotating directories on a NAS), Borg turns the same disk into a proper repository with far better retention.
Download: borgbackup.readthedocs.io
Bottom line: pick Borg when the target is a Linux or macOS server and you care about long-term retention and ransomware resistance.
How to choose
Start with what the destination is, not what the source is. That single question decides the tool.
If the destination is cloud object storage, pick rclone. Nothing else covers as many backends with a familiar CLI, and it now sits happily next to the coreutils that ship with Windows. Use it for one-way sync, mirroring between clouds, or exposing a bucket as a local drive.
If the destination is another machine you own, and both are usually online, pick Syncthing. It is the closest thing to “rsync but continuous” and it never asks for an account. Use Resilio Sync instead if you need mobile clients that actually keep working and you do not mind paying once.
If a non-technical person will run it, pick FreeFileSync. The visual diff prevents the most common rsync accident, which is realizing the wrong side got wiped.
If you are really doing backups, stop syncing folders and pick a real backup tool. Use restic if you want a single binary that works everywhere and treats the target as untrusted. Use BorgBackup for very large datasets on Linux or macOS servers, especially when append-only mode matters. Use Duplicati if you want a friendly web UI and encrypted storage on a cheap cloud provider, and can accept a heavier runtime.
Stay on plain rsync when the job is a one-shot mirror between two Unix machines you already own, and you know exactly what your flags do. It is still the fastest way to move a directory across a fast SSH link.
FAQ
Is rclone faster than rsync?
For local-to-local copies over a fast disk, rsync is usually a little quicker because it does less work per chunk. For anything that involves cloud storage, rclone is far faster because it uses concurrent HTTP uploads and server-side copy where the provider supports it. If your bottleneck is the network to a bucket, rclone wins.
Does Syncthing use the cloud?
No. Syncthing is peer-to-peer, so data goes directly between your devices. It uses public discovery and relay servers to help two peers find each other behind NAT, but the file contents never touch a Syncthing-hosted server, and you can disable the public relays entirely if you want a fully private setup.
Is restic better than Borg?
They solve the same problem with different trade-offs. restic runs as a single Go binary on every desktop OS, including native Windows, and its cloud backend support is broader. Borg is faster on very large repositories and has append-only mode. Pick restic for cross-platform simplicity, Borg for Linux servers at scale.
Can I sync between Windows and Mac with rsync?
Yes, but it is fiddly. You need rsync installed on both sides (Homebrew on macOS, and either WSL, MSYS2, or the new coreutils build on Windows), matching versions, and careful attention to path separators and permission bits. Most people who try this once switch to Syncthing or FreeFileSync for the same job.
Does rclone support encryption?
Yes. rclone has a crypt remote type that wraps any backend and encrypts filenames and file contents client-side before upload. It is not a full backup tool, but for pushing sensitive data to a public cloud bucket, crypt handles the encryption part cleanly.
Is FreeFileSync really free?
The base version is free and works on Windows, macOS, and Linux with no feature gating. The donor edition (around 25 USD one-off) unlocks parallel sync, portable installations, and silent updates. Everything you need for occasional two-folder sync is in the free build.
