RemoteDrive and odrive both give you desktop access to a wide range of cloud storage services — but the underlying approach, the platform support, and the cost are very different.
odrive is a sync client that runs on Windows and macOS. It connects to Google Drive, OneDrive, Dropbox, Box, Amazon S3, Backblaze B2, Google Cloud Storage, FTP, SFTP, and more, and synchronises them to local directories on your computer. There is no desktop application: configuration and storage management are handled entirely through the odrive website, and all file operations happen through the operating system’s file manager. For services that do not use OAuth — including S3, B2, Google Cloud Storage, FTP, and SFTP — credentials must be entered and are stored on odrive’s servers, which is an important security consideration.
FileZilla Pro RemoteDrive is a cloud drive mounting app for macOS. Rather than syncing files to a local folder, it maps remote storage — FTP servers, SFTP hosts, S3 buckets, and a wide range of cloud providers — directly into macOS Finder as mounted volumes. Files are accessed on demand over the network; nothing is stored locally unless you explicitly copy it.
Protocol and Feature Support
Both products connect to a broad range of cloud services and protocols. The meaningful differences lie in how the connection works, where credentials are stored, and what you pay. odrive runs on Windows and macOS; RemoteDrive is macOS-only. odrive syncs files to local directories; RemoteDrive mounts storage as Finder volumes. Both cover the major consumer cloud services and infrastructure storage, though RemoteDrive adds Azure Blob/File and Cloudflare R2 that odrive does not support.
| Protocol / Feature | RemoteDrive | odrive |
|---|---|---|
| Platform | macOS only | Windows, macOS |
| FTP / FTPS / SFTP | ✅ | ✅ (credentials stored on odrive servers) |
| WebDAV | ✅ | ✅ |
| Amazon S3 | ✅ | ✅ (credentials stored on odrive servers) |
| Backblaze B2 | ✅ | ✅ (credentials stored on odrive servers) |
| Google Cloud Storage | ✅ | ✅ (credentials stored on odrive servers) |
| Wasabi | ✅ | ✅ |
| Cloudflare R2 | ✅ | ❌ |
| Google Drive | ✅ | ✅ |
| Microsoft OneDrive / SharePoint | ✅ | ✅ |
| Dropbox | ✅ | ✅ |
| Box | ✅ | ✅ |
| Microsoft Azure Blob / File | ✅ | ❌ |
| Offline access | ❌ Requires internet connection | ✅ Synced files available offline |
| Local disk usage | None — files stay remote | Full local copy of synced directories |
| Credential storage | Local — credentials never leave your device | Non-OAuth credentials stored on odrive servers |
| Desktop application | ✅ Native macOS app | ❌ Web-only management; no desktop UI |
| Native Finder integration | ✅ Mounted volumes in Finder | Sync directories via Finder |
| Zero-knowledge encryption | ❌ | ✅ |
The protocol overlap is substantial. Where the products differ most is in architecture, credential handling, and price — not in which services they connect to.
How Each Tool Actually Works
RemoteDrive mounts storage; odrive syncs it. In practice, this affects everything from how files appear on your Mac to where your server credentials are kept.
With RemoteDrive, remote storage appears as a volume directly in macOS Finder — identical in behaviour to an external drive or network share. Files are not on your disk. Open a file and it is fetched over the network; nothing is retained locally afterwards. There is no sync process, no background agent managing copies, and no disk space consumed regardless of how large the cloud library is. Credentials are stored locally on your Mac and never transmitted to a third-party server. The constraint is clear: you need an active internet connection to access files.
odrive works differently in almost every respect. There is no desktop application — setup, account linking, and storage configuration all happen through the odrive website. Once configured, odrive creates local directories on your computer, one per connected cloud service. Files added or modified in a local directory are automatically uploaded to the corresponding cloud service; files added or modified remotely are automatically downloaded. Deletions propagate in both directions. File operations themselves happen through macOS Finder or Windows Explorer — odrive provides no file management interface of its own.
A significant security consideration applies to non-OAuth services: for S3, Backblaze B2, Google Cloud Storage, FTP, and SFTP connections, credentials must be entered on the odrive website, where they are stored on odrive’s servers. This is different from how OAuth-based services (Google Drive, OneDrive, Dropbox) work, where odrive never sees your password. For organisations with strict security policies around credential handling — or anyone connecting FTP servers, S3 buckets, or private storage — this is a meaningful distinction. RemoteDrive stores all credentials locally on the user’s Mac; they are never transmitted to or stored by a third party.
Real-World Performance
In hands-on testing on macOS over a standard wireless connection with Google Drive and OneDrive, odrive’s sync performance was comparable to RemoteDrive’s mounting performance for the same services. Neither product presented a meaningful speed advantage over the other on shared protocols — the architectural difference (syncing vs. mounting) is far more relevant to daily workflow than raw throughput.
Pricing and Licensing
| Detail | RemoteDrive | odrive |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $9.99/year — flat | $200/user/year (Standard) |
| Model | Annual subscription — all services, all devices | Per-user annual subscription |
| Cost for a 5-person team | $9.99/yr | $1,000/yr |
| Free tier | 7-day trial | Discontinued March 2026 |
| Purchase channel | Apple App Store | Direct from vendor |
Pricing is where this comparison is most decisive. RemoteDrive is $9.99/year regardless of how many Macs or cloud services are in use. odrive Standard is $200/user/year — roughly twenty times the cost for a single user, scaling linearly with headcount. A five-person team using odrive pays $1,000/year; the same team on RemoteDrive pays $9.99. odrive’s per-user model reflects its business positioning and team management features, but for individual users or small teams whose core needs are met by RemoteDrive’s feature set, the value case for odrive is very difficult to make. odrive’s free consumer tier was also discontinued in March 2026 as the product shifted its focus entirely to paying business customers.
Active Development
RemoteDrive is actively maintained as part of the FileZilla Pro product family, with regular updates tracking new cloud providers and macOS releases. The FileZilla Pro product line holds CASA Tier 1 certification, confirming an independently verified security baseline for cloud application access.
odrive has been in development since 2014 and has a well-established user base in business environments. The product is actively developed and has recently sharpened its focus on business and enterprise workflows, discontinuing its free consumer tier. For teams that need cross-platform sync with team management and encryption, it is a mature and capable option — though the credential handling model for non-OAuth services warrants scrutiny in security-conscious environments.
Which Should You Choose?
Choose RemoteDrive if:
- You are on macOS and want cloud storage — including FTP servers, S3 buckets, and infrastructure-grade storage — to appear as native Finder volumes without consuming local disk space
- You connect to FTP, SFTP, S3, or other non-OAuth services and require credentials to be stored locally — not on a third-party server
- You want flat, predictable pricing that does not scale with headcount or the number of services connected
Choose odrive if:
- You need files available offline, with true two-way sync including deletions propagated in both directions
- Zero-knowledge encryption is a compliance or privacy requirement for your organisation
- You need centralised team administration and per-user access control across multiple cloud accounts
For individual Mac users and small teams that need Finder-native access to cloud storage without local disk overhead, RemoteDrive is the more practical and dramatically cheaper option. The $9.99/year flat rate covers what odrive charges $200/user/year to provide — and does so natively in Finder with credentials stored securely on-device. The credential handling difference is particularly relevant for anyone connecting FTP servers, S3 buckets, or private storage: with odrive, those credentials live on odrive’s servers. odrive’s advantages are real for Windows users, teams that need offline sync, or organisations requiring zero-knowledge encryption — but at twenty times the price, those use cases need to be genuine requirements to justify the cost.