Head-to-head · Cloud Storage
Google Drive vs Seafile
Which one to pick in 2026 — comparing 🇺🇸 Google Drive with the European alternative 🇪🇺 Seafile on the things that actually decide who can read your data.
🇺🇸 Google Drivevs🇪🇺 Seafile
Verdict
Who has stronger privacy guarantees by law?
Seafile — GDPR-native and outside the US CLOUD Act / FISA 702 reach.
Which one encrypts your data end-to-end by default?
Seafile ships E2E encryption by default. Google Drive does not.
Which one tracks you for ads?
Neither monetises through ad tracking.
Which one is open source?
Seafile is open source. Google Drive is proprietary.
Side-by-side
Google Drive vs Seafile — full comparison
Criteria
🇪🇺 Seafile
🇺🇸 Google Drive
Headquarters
Mainz, Germany
Mountain View, USA
Jurisdiction
Germany (GDPR)
USA
Data location
Germany / self-hosted
Global
GDPR-native
Yes
No
CLOUD Act / FISA exposed
No
Yes
Ad tracking
No
No
End-to-end encryption
Yes
No
Open source
Yes
No
Ownership
Seafile Ltd.
Alphabet Inc.
Founded
2012
2012
Make the switch
Try Seafile instead of Google Drive
Open-source file sync & share
Other European alternatives to Google Drive