{
  "slug": "rclone",
  "name": "rclone",
  "aliases": [],
  "vendor": { "name": "rclone project (Nick Craig-Wood)", "slug": "rclone-project", "website": "https://rclone.org" },
  "homepage_url": "https://rclone.org/",
  "docs_url": "https://rclone.org/docs/",
  "repo_url": "https://github.com/rclone/rclone",
  "license_url": "https://github.com/rclone/rclone/blob/master/COPYING",
  "product_type": "cli-tool",
  "product_status": "active",
  "summary": "Command-line program to sync, copy, mount and serve files across dozens of cloud storage providers and protocols, with optional client-side encryption",
  "description": "rclone is an open-source command-line tool, written in Go and licensed under MIT, often described as rsync for cloud storage. It speaks to a long list of backends, among them Amazon S3 and S3-compatible stores, Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, Backblaze B2, Azure Blob, SFTP, WebDAV, FTP and local disks, through a uniform set of commands: `copy`, `sync`, `move`, `check`, `ls` and `mount`. Remotes are configured interactively or via environment variables, and overlay remotes add client-side encryption (`crypt`), compression, chunking or unions of several stores.\n\nBeyond transfers it can `mount` a remote as a filesystem, `serve` one over HTTP, WebDAV, SFTP, S3 or DLNA, and perform two-way `bisync`. It is widely used to mirror directories to object storage, migrate between providers, and as a backend for restic.\n\nrclone is a transfer and sync tool, not a versioned backup program: `sync` makes the destination match the source and deletes extras unless a backup directory is configured, so snapshot-style history requires pairing with restic, Borg or provider-side versioning.",
  "capabilities": ["Copy, sync, move and verify files between dozens of storage backends", "Client-side encryption, compression and chunking overlays", "Mount remotes as a filesystem and serve them over HTTP, WebDAV, SFTP or S3", "Bidirectional sync (bisync)", "Bandwidth limits, filtering rules and checksum verification", "Remote control API and web GUI"],
  "workflows": ["Mirror a data directory to S3-compatible storage nightly", "Migrate files between two cloud providers", "Mount a cloud bucket on a workstation", "Provide an encrypted remote as a restic backend"],
  "advantages": ["Very broad backend coverage with one command set", "Single static binary for every major OS", "Permissive MIT license"],
  "limitations": ["Not a snapshotting backup tool on its own", "Provider API quirks and rate limits surface in configuration", "Large configuration surface for advanced features"],
  "prerequisites": ["Credentials for the storage providers in use"],
  "audiences": ["System administrators and data engineers", "Individuals managing files across cloud accounts"],
  "alternatives": ["restic", "borgbackup", "minio"],
  "comparison_notes": "restic and BorgBackup produce encrypted, deduplicated snapshots and keep history; rclone moves and mirrors current files and is frequently the transport layer under restic. MinIO/AIStor is a storage server that rclone can talk to rather than a competing client.",
  "categories": [{ "slug": "backup-recovery", "primary": true }],
  "tags": ["backup", "sync", "cloud-storage", "s3", "cli", "open-source", "go"],
  "use_cases": ["back-up-data", "move-data-between-clouds"],
  "operating_systems": ["macos", "linux", "windows"],
  "execution_modes": ["local"],
  "interfaces": ["cli", "api", "web"],
  "deployment_models": ["desktop", "on-premises"],
  "integrations": ["Amazon S3", "Google Drive", "Dropbox", "OneDrive", "Backblaze B2", "Azure Blob Storage", "SFTP", "WebDAV", "restic"],
  "data_formats": ["Any files; rclone.conf"],
  "languages": ["Go"],
  "source_model": "open-source",
  "license_spdx": "MIT",
  "pricing_model": ["open-source", "free"],
  "self_hostable": true,
  "sources": [
    { "url": "https://rclone.org/", "type": "official_site", "title": "Rclone", "supports": ["name", "summary", "capabilities"], "checked_at": "2026-11-02" },
    { "url": "https://rclone.org/docs/", "type": "official_docs", "title": "rclone documentation", "supports": ["capabilities", "integrations", "workflows"], "checked_at": "2026-11-02" },
    { "url": "https://github.com/rclone/rclone/blob/master/COPYING", "type": "license_page", "title": "rclone COPYING (MIT)", "supports": ["license_spdx", "source_model"], "checked_at": "2026-11-02" }
  ],
  "confidence": "high",
  "discovery_method": "editorial-research",
  "depth": "standard",
  "editorial_status": "reviewed",
  "visibility": "public",
  "featured": false,
  "author": "batch-B2"
}