{"slug": "maestral", "name": "Maestral", "category": "files", "category_name": "Files, sync and backup", "description": "", "recommenders": 4, "commenters": 4, "warners": 0, "score": 2.837, "rising": -1.31, "first": "2026-01-01", "latest": "2026-07-08", "why": "I use the open source client https://maestral.app/ on the Mac for workstation use", "why_is_quote": true, "has_verdict": false, "sentiment": {"recommend": 4, "neutral": 1, "compare": 0, "warn": 0}, "spark": [0, 0, 2, 0, 0, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0], "listed": true, "loved": [], "caveat": "", "short_quote": "I use the open source client https://maestral.app/ on the Mac for workstation use", "kind": "", "icon": true, "domain": null, "github_repo": "github.com/samschott/maestral", "official_url": "https://maestral.app", "pricing": "", "aliases": ["Maestral"], "verdict": null, "praise": [{"label": "", "summary": "", "quotes": [{"id": 772538945, "item_id": 48283684, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48283684", "by": "microtonal", "date": "2026-05-26", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I replaced the official client by Maestral years ago", "excerpt": "All I care about is packrat and good syncing. For me that and end-to-end encryption (I know it's supported for teams now). Instead they just added more annoyances over time. Every time I logged into the web interface, I would get stupid upselling advertisements (maybe don't badger your paying users with that nonsense)? I replaced the official client by Maestral years ago, because they switched to embedding a web brow", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "Dropbox official client", "story": "Dropbox CEO Drew Houston to step down"}, {"id": 762805649, "item_id": 47675353, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47675353", "by": "toomuchtodo", "date": "2026-04-07", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I use the open source client https://maestral.app/ on the Mac for workstation use", "excerpt": "I love Dropbox, I pay annually. I use the open source client https://maestral.app/ on the Mac for workstation use, but also integrate other systems with my Dropbox account using their API. If someone built an open source Dropbox server that sat on top of S3 compliant storage, I would not only use it, but pay to have that optionality to get out of Dropbox if they ever enshittify. I can recognize form and function wort", "context": "Mac workstation user", "use_case": "Dropbox client on Mac", "switched_from": "", "story": "Show HN: Stop paying for Dropbox/Google Drive, use your own S3 bucket instead"}, {"id": 743783216, "item_id": 46486451, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46486451", "by": "SanjayMehta", "date": "2026-01-04", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Maestral is a cross platform implementation of the Dropbox client API which I use on low end Linux machines", "excerpt": "Maestral is a cross platform implementation of the Dropbox client API which I use on low end Linux machines.", "context": "", "use_case": "Dropbox sync on Linux", "switched_from": "", "story": "Show HN: Replacing my OS process scheduler with an LLM"}, {"id": 743340240, "item_id": 46458765, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46458765", "by": "hodgehog11", "date": "2026-01-01", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Works like a charm for me.", "excerpt": "I permanently switched from Windows to Linux about five years ago. I had the same issue as you with Dropbox, so I switched to using the Maestral client for Dropbox instead which has support for selective sync. Works like a charm for me.", "context": "", "use_case": "Dropbox sync on Linux with selective sync", "switched_from": "Dropbox", "story": "Linux is good now; to feel like you actually own your PC, put Linux on it"}]}], "caveats": [], "who": [{"by": "toomuchtodo", "context": "Mac workstation user", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47675353", "date": "2026-04-07"}], "tags": [], "use_cases": ["dropbox client", "dropbox client on mac", "dropbox sync on linux", "dropbox sync on linux with selective sync"], "compared": [{"slug": "dropbox", "name": "Dropbox", "co": 4, "switched_from": 1, "switched_to": 0}], "makers": [], "threads": [{"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48836121", "title": "Nothing at all like the bloated app that Dropbox's Mac client has grown into", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48279453", "title": "Dropbox CEO Drew Houston to step down", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47673394", "title": "Show HN: Stop paying for Dropbox/Google Drive, use your own S3 bucket instead", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46435142", "title": "Show HN: Replacing my OS process scheduler with an LLM", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46457770", "title": "Linux is good now; to feel like you actually own your PC, put Linux on it", "mentions": 1}], "sentiment_by_month": {"2025-11": {}, "2025-12": {}, "2026-01": {"recommend": 2}, "2026-02": {}, "2026-03": {}, "2026-04": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-05": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-06": {}, "2026-07": {"neutral": 1}, "2026-08": {}, "2026-09": {}, "2026-10": {}}, "quotes": [{"id": 781383616, "item_id": 48836476, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48836476", "by": "toomuchtodo", "date": "2026-07-08", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I used to recommend https://github.com/samschott/maestral but it appears to have been archived and no longer maintained", "excerpt": "I used to recommend https://github.com/samschott/maestral but it appears to have been archived and no longer maintained :(", "context": "", "use_case": "Dropbox client", "switched_from": "", "story": "Nothing at all like the bloated app that Dropbox's Mac client has grown into"}, {"id": 772538945, "item_id": 48283684, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48283684", "by": "microtonal", "date": "2026-05-26", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I replaced the official client by Maestral years ago", "excerpt": "All I care about is packrat and good syncing. For me that and end-to-end encryption (I know it's supported for teams now). Instead they just added more annoyances over time. Every time I logged into the web interface, I would get stupid upselling advertisements (maybe don't badger your paying users with that nonsense)? I replaced the official client by Maestral years ago, because they switched to embedding a web brow", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "Dropbox official client", "story": "Dropbox CEO Drew Houston to step down"}, {"id": 762805649, "item_id": 47675353, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47675353", "by": "toomuchtodo", "date": "2026-04-07", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I use the open source client https://maestral.app/ on the Mac for workstation use", "excerpt": "I love Dropbox, I pay annually. I use the open source client https://maestral.app/ on the Mac for workstation use, but also integrate other systems with my Dropbox account using their API. If someone built an open source Dropbox server that sat on top of S3 compliant storage, I would not only use it, but pay to have that optionality to get out of Dropbox if they ever enshittify. I can recognize form and function wort", "context": "Mac workstation user", "use_case": "Dropbox client on Mac", "switched_from": "", "story": "Show HN: Stop paying for Dropbox/Google Drive, use your own S3 bucket instead"}, {"id": 743783216, "item_id": 46486451, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46486451", "by": "SanjayMehta", "date": "2026-01-04", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Maestral is a cross platform implementation of the Dropbox client API which I use on low end Linux machines", "excerpt": "Maestral is a cross platform implementation of the Dropbox client API which I use on low end Linux machines.", "context": "", "use_case": "Dropbox sync on Linux", "switched_from": "", "story": "Show HN: Replacing my OS process scheduler with an LLM"}, {"id": 743340240, "item_id": 46458765, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46458765", "by": "hodgehog11", "date": "2026-01-01", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Works like a charm for me.", "excerpt": "I permanently switched from Windows to Linux about five years ago. I had the same issue as you with Dropbox, so I switched to using the Maestral client for Dropbox instead which has support for selective sync. Works like a charm for me.", "context": "", "use_case": "Dropbox sync on Linux with selective sync", "switched_from": "Dropbox", "story": "Linux is good now; to feel like you actually own your PC, put Linux on it"}]}