# s3nd vs rclone

> An rclone alternative for handing someone a code. What rclone is, where the two overlap, where they differ, and when to pick each.

Canonical: https://www.s3nd.sh/alternatives/rclone · Markdown: https://www.s3nd.sh/alternatives/rclone.md · Français: https://www.s3nd.sh/fr/alternatives/rclone

Both put a file in your bucket from a terminal with credentials on the machine, and both are open source and MIT-licensed.

## What rclone is
The rsync of cloud storage: a command-line program that copies, syncs, moves and mounts files across seventy-odd storage backends, S3 included. It does bandwidth limits, checksums, filters, encryption and a great deal more. When the job is moving trees of files between a machine and a bucket, it is the standard tool.

Website: https://rclone.org

## Where they part ways.
| | s3nd | rclone |
| --- | --- | --- |
| What it is | A CLI, a library and React hooks over your own S3 bucket | Cloud storage CLI: copy, sync, mount |
| Where the data lives | Your bucket: S3, R2, MinIO, Scaleway, Wasabi | Your bucket, and seventy other backends |
| Both ends online at once | No. The code is redeemed later, until it expires | No |
| From inside your web app | Yes, through one route on your server | No |
| Accounts | None. The code is the whole handshake | Provider credentials on each machine |
| Hosting | Your bucket, plus your server when a browser takes part | None, it is a binary |
| Price | Free. You pay your storage provider for a few objects that expire | Free |
| License | MIT | MIT |

## What actually changes.
- **A path versus a code** — With rclone you name the destination and the other side has to know it. With s3nd the destination is a code the tool picked, that someone can read out loud, that expires, and that the other side can type sloppily.
- **Everything versus one thing** — rclone is a toolbox for storage. s3nd does one thing: put something under a code, get it back, burn it, and check the bucket is set up to hold transfers.
- **Not only a CLI** — The s3nd CLI is a thin layer over a library that also runs in your API and behind React hooks, so the same code works for a web app’s users.

## Pick the one that fits.
### Pick rclone when
- Syncing directories, mounting a bucket, bulk copies.
- Backends that are not S3.
- Bandwidth control, checksums, filters, and the rest of the toolbox.

### Pick s3nd when
- Hand a code to someone rather than a path.
- Expiry, conditional writes and a doctor command, with one command to learn.
- The same primitive inside an application.