This is a story about reaching the limit of consumer cloud sync and what I did about it.
The breaking point
I have about 30 TB of personal data: photos, videos, music, code backups, ebooks, archived emails, scanned documents. For years I used a mix of Dropbox (for daily work files) and Google Drive (for archived media). Total cost: $25/month.
Two things forced a change:
- Dropbox raised my plan to $120/month when I passed 2 TB. Not reasonable.
- I realized I was paying a company to hold 30 TB of my data forever, with no guarantee they wouldn't change terms or shut down the service.
What I tried first
Option 1: Bigger local NAS + sync manually
Bought a Synology DS920+ with 4× 8 TB drives. ~$1,800 upfront.
For my workflow this broke immediately. Half my data lives on my laptop (mobile), half on the NAS. Manual sync was error-prone and I lost files twice during copy operations.
Option 2: Nextcloud (self-hosted)
Installed Nextcloud on the NAS. Initial setup was easy. Web interface is decent.
But: mobile sync is unreliable. iOS client kept failing to upload photos. Server CPU spiked during initial sync of 30 TB. I gave up after 2 weeks.
Option 3: Resilio Sync (P2P)
Worked but required keeping at least one device online 24/7. Not great for laptops that sleep.
Option 4: Syncthing (P2P, free)
Similar to Resilio. Better than Resilio but same fundamental limitation: needs an always-on device.
What actually worked: WebDAV + rclone
I run a small VPS (Hetzner, €4.35/month) with rclone serving WebDAV. From any device, I mount the WebDAV endpoint via:
- macOS: native WebDAV mount
- Windows: net use or RaiDrive
- Linux: davfs2
Then I run rclone bisync on each device for offline-reconciling sync. Each device has a local cache, sync happens when online.
This setup:
- Survives device offline (data is local + replicated on each device)
- No central server controls my data
- Costs €4.35/month for the VPS
- Works on phone, laptop, desktop, all equally
What WebDAV gets right
WebDAV is from 1996. It's been supported on every OS for 25 years. It's boring. It's also incredibly reliable because every tool knows how to speak it.
Tools that speak WebDAV natively:
- macOS Finder (Connect to Server → webdav://)
- Windows Explorer (Map Network Drive)
- Linux GVfs / KIO
- iOS Files app (Connect to Server)
- Android (various clients)
- Cyberduck, Mountain Duck (cross-platform)
- rclone (CLI)
For raw "I want to mount a remote filesystem" use case, WebDAV wins on compatibility.
What WebDAV gets wrong
WebDAV is not designed for sync. It's designed for file operations over HTTP.
If you need sync (i.e., automatic conflict resolution, versioning, multi-device coordination), you need to layer rclone bisync, syncthing, or similar on top.
WebDAV also doesn't handle large file edits well. There's no partial-file locking standard. If two people edit the same 1 GB file simultaneously, last-write-wins.
My current setup
- Storage: Synology DS920+ at home (30 TB)
- Remote access: VPS in Frankfurt running nginx with WebDAV
- Daily driver: macOS with native WebDAV mount to VPS, sync to home via Tailscale
- Phone: iOS Files app, mount VPS WebDAV
- Backup: VPS → Backblaze B2 via restic ($7/month)
Why this beats Dropbox for me
| Dropbox 2 TB | My setup | |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | $120/mo | $12/mo |
| Storage | 2 TB | 30 TB |
| Data ownership | Dropbox can read | Only I can read |
| Mobile | Great app | Decent via Files app |
| Conflict resolution | Excellent | Manual (rarely an issue) |
| Vendor lock-in | High | Zero |
What I'd do differently
- Skip Nextcloud for personal use. The mobile sync story isn't there. Better for office workflows.
- Use Seafile if I need server-side sync. It's lighter than Nextcloud and has proper desktop clients.
- Test WebDAV performance before committing. Some servers are slow. nginx + WebDAV can be slow on large files.
Should you do this?
Self-host if:
- You have more than 1 TB of personal data
- You're comfortable with nginx, systemd, basic Linux
- You want data ownership
- You can absorb a weekend of initial setup
Don't self-host if:
- You need zero-touch reliability
- Your data is mostly small Office files
- You don't want to think about backups
Cost summary
- Year 1: NAS $1,800 + VPS $60 + B2 $84 = $1,944
- Year 2+: VPS $60 + B2 $84 = $144/year
- Compare to Dropbox 2 TB: $1,440/year
Break-even at year 2. After that, pure savings (~$1,300/year) plus owning 30 TB of my own data.
Final thought
The cloud sync market is mature. Self-hosting is now genuinely practical for power users. But it's not for everyone.
If you're paying $50+/month for cloud storage and you have 5+ TB, it's worth investigating. If you're under 1 TB, just keep paying Dropbox. The setup time isn't worth the savings.
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