# Portainer vs Syncthing

> Two self-hosted projects, compared on the numbers selfhost.directory tracks live: score, popularity, release cadence and setup effort.

| | Portainer | Syncthing |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 77/100 | 90/100 ✓ |
| Rank in category | #1 of 44 in Container Management | #1 of 15 in File Sync |
| GitHub stars | 38 737 | 89 839 ✓ |
| Stars, last 30 days | +188 | +957 ✓ |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 21 ✓ | 8 |
| Latest release | 2.45.3 · 21 Oct 2026 ✓ | v2.1.7 · 21 Oct 2026 |
| Setup | Easy ✓ | Easy |
| Official Docker image | Yes | Yes |
| License | Zlib | MPL-2.0 |
| Main language | Typescript | Go |

## Which one should you pick?

Syncthing scores 90/100 against 77/100 for Portainer, so it is the safer default.

Portainer ships more often: 21 stable releases in the past year, against 8 for Syncthing.

Syncthing is growing faster right now (+957 stars in 30 days).

## Details

- [Portainer](https://selfhost.directory/project/portainer) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/portainer.md)
- [Syncthing](https://selfhost.directory/project/syncthing) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/syncthing.md)

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Source: https://selfhost.directory/compare/portainer-vs-syncthing