Sync vs. FolderSync: Android-Only Depth or Five Platforms

Feature comparison

Sync compared with FolderSync, feature by feature
Feature	Sync	FolderSync
Works on iPhone, iPad, Android, Mac and WindowsThe same tasks and the same drives on every device you own	Yes	Android only
Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, Box and Amazon S3 in one appFive services connected from a single install	Yes	YesSupports these and many more
Amazon S3 supportAccess key, secret, bucket and region	Yes	Yes
USB and external drive supportCopy straight to a drive you can unplug	Yes	Yes
Private DriveIn-app isolated storage on iPhone, iPad and Android	Yes	Not stated
Five named task operationsBackup, Backup Sync, Restore, Restore Sync and Full Sync	Yes	Not stated
A backup mode that never deletes at the destinationBackup only adds and updates, so a deletion does not travel	Yes	Not stated
Whole-folder tasks, no picking files one at a timeA task takes a source folder, not a hand-made selection	Yes	Not stated
Built-in file manager for every driveBrowse, upload, download, rename and delete inside the app	Yes	Yes
Share files over Wi-Fi from a built-in web serverOpen a browser on any device on the same network	Yes	Not statedOn iPhone, iPad, Android and Mac
One-time lifetime purchaseBuy once, no recurring charge	Yes	Yes
Free tierUsable without paying	Yes	Yes

“Not stated” means FolderSync’s own published material does not say either way. We only mark a feature as missing where their material says so.

Pricing

Sync

Free$0

Any one drive, ad-supported
One task, up to 100 MB or 50 files per run
Built-in file manager

Pro Monthly$1.99per month

Every cloud service at once
USB and external drives
Wi-Fi web server, no ads

Pro Yearly$14.99per year

Everything in Monthly
Around 37% less than paying monthly

Pro Lifetime$29.99one-time, yours for good

Everything in Pro, no recurring charge

FolderSync

FolderSync$0

Free, with ads and in-app purchases

FolderSync Pro$6.99one-time

Sold as a separate app

FolderSync pricing is taken from its own published material and may have changed since we last checked.

The question is which problem you have

Both apps do folder-to-cloud transfers you configure once and re-run, so feature counts are not what separates them. What separates them is scope: FolderSync's own summary line is that it syncs files between cloud storage and Android devices, and Sync runs the same tasks on five platforms.

That distinction decides the comparison long before any individual feature does.

One platform, or five

FolderSync's own summary line is that it syncs files between cloud storage and Android devices. That is the whole scope, and it is a deliberate one — the app is built around Android storage, SD cards and root file access, and it is very good at that.

Sync starts from a different assumption: that the files you want to protect are scattered. Photos on an Android phone, documents on a Windows laptop, a project folder on a Mac, a shared folder on an iPad. Sync is the same application on all five, with the same drives, the same sources and the same task list, so the setup you learn once applies everywhere.

Naming the operation instead of guessing it

Most "sync deleted my files" stories are a naming problem. A two-way sync is doing its job when it removes a file from one side because you removed it from the other — it just was not what the person wanted.

Sync separates the five behaviours and makes you choose one when you build a task: Backup copies everything one way and never deletes at the destination, Backup Sync sends only what changed, Restore and Restore Sync bring files back the other way, and Full Sync reconciles both sides including deletions. Picking the operation is the moment you decide whether deletions are allowed to travel, and it happens in front of you rather than in a settings screen.

The same tasks, on every device you own

An Android-only tool solves the Android part of a problem that is rarely only about Android. The documents that matter are usually on a laptop, the photos on a phone, and the archive on a USB drive in a drawer — and a phone upgrade can move the whole lot to a different operating system.

Sync is one app across iPhone, iPad, Android, Mac and Windows, with the same drives, the same sources and the same five named operations on each. Learn it once on the phone and the laptop version is the same screen. Connect Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, Box or Amazon S3, or a USB drive you can unplug, and build tasks you re-run with a tap.

Start free with any one drive, on whichever device is in your hand right now.

The bottom line

Files are rarely stuck on one operating system, and phones get replaced by different ones. Sync is a single app across iPhone, iPad, Android, Mac and Windows, connecting Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, Box, Amazon S3 and USB drives, with five named operations so you choose per task whether deletions travel. FolderSync goes deeper inside Android — extra protocols and scheduled runs — and if your world is entirely Android and you need unattended scheduling, that depth is the trade you would be making against covering every device you own.

Frequently asked questions

Is there a FolderSync equivalent for iPhone?

FolderSync is an Android app and has no iPhone version. Sync does the same category of job — folder-to-cloud tasks you configure once and re-run — on iPhone and iPad, as well as Android, Mac and Windows.

Can I sync files to Google Drive and Dropbox from the same app?

Yes, in both. Sync connects Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, Box and Amazon S3, plus local and USB drives, and a paid upgrade is what allows more than one drive at a time.

Does Sync run backups automatically on a schedule?

No — you save a task once and tap it when you want it to run, which is also why you always know exactly when a transfer finished and what it did. FolderSync does schedule syncs, on Android. Sync's trade is that the same task list works on your iPhone, your Mac and your Windows laptop as well.

What is the difference between a backup and a sync?

A backup copies in one direction and never deletes at the destination. A full two-way sync makes both locations match, which means deletions travel too. Sync names all five operations separately so you pick the behaviour deliberately.

Sync vs. FolderSync