
The first thing you’ll need to do, besides downloading and installing GoodSync, is to make sure you have access to the locations you want to sync with.
GOODSYNC TRIAL PERIOD HOW TO
How to Set Up Your Dropbox Clone with GoodSync Realistically, if you’re building a Dropbox clone, the $US30 for the paid version is a good investment, especially compared to paying a monthly fee for more than 2GB on Dropbox. One sync job can keep your local and remote folders in sync instantaneously. You might not need more than the free version if you don’t have a lot of files to sync.

The free version of GoodSync (for personal use) allows up to three sync jobs after the trial period (a “job” in GoodSync includes a folder and a specific sync type for our Dropbox clone, you’ll just need to set up one job) and up to 100 files/folders in each sync job, while the pro version removes these limitations and costs $US29.95 (one time fee for the application).

You can find other alternatives to create a Dropbox clone (see the end of the post), but GoodSync is my preferred option. GoodSync is also developed by the makers of Roboform, one of our favourite password managers.
GOODSYNC TRIAL PERIOD PORTABLE
It works on Windows and Mac (and can be run off a portable drive) and has a variety of types of devices you can sync to (including network shares, SFTP, WebDAV, Amazon S3, Google Docs if you’re a paid account user, SkyDrive and Windows Mobile). We’re going to use GoodSync to sync files to your web host via SFTP (SFTP is a file transfer protocol like FTP except it’s secure, since it encrypts all your data and commands during the transfers). You could also rent cheap server space from somewhere like Amazon S3. (Note: not all web hosts approve of you using their web space for just backups or file storage, so check with yours first Dreamhost is one provider that offers dedicated space for personal storage as well as hosting). Finally, if you’re paying for web hosting service already, you can make better use of available free space by using it to store your own files.

You can schedule multiple syncing jobs for different purposes: sync your work and home documents folders every time a file changes, for example, while syncing the music folder on your laptop with your home server every Wednesday at 5pm in another. Instead of selecting just one folder to keep up to date, you can, if you choose, select several with GoodSync. A self-hosted solution will give you more control and peace of mind than most sign-up-and-forget online services can offer.įlexibility and precision. The biggest reason many of us might go looking for Dropbox alternatives is lack of control or a feeling of uncertainty with things like odd changes in terms of service implying the syncing service “owns” our files.
