Sync Integration Comparison

This reference compares the sync providers available in Super Productivity: how each stores and syncs your data, which platforms they support, how authentication works, and whether optional encryption is available. Use it to choose a sync provider or to understand how your data moves between devices.

For an overview of how integrations work (issue providers and sync providers), see 4.24-Integrations. For conflict handling, backup behavior, and where data is stored, see 4.23-Managing-Your-Data and 3.06-User-Data. For a comparison of issue providers (Jira, GitHub, etc.), see 3.07-Issue-Integration-Comparison.

What Sync Providers Do

Sync providers synchronize your full Super Productivity data (tasks, projects, tags, time tracking, settings, archives, and so on) between this app instance and a remote location or another device. They do not import issues from Jira, GitHub, or other issue trackers; those are handled by issue providers. All sync in the app is local-first and operation-based: your device holds the primary copy, and changes are sent as operations (or a sync file containing state and operations) to the remote side. You configure one sync provider at a time.

Comparison Summary

Provider	Platform	Authentication	Encryption	Typical use
Nextcloud	All	Username, optional login, app password	Optional (client-side key)	Nextcloud files sync
WebDAV	All	URL, username, password	Optional (client-side key)	ownCloud and other WebDAV servers
Dropbox	All	OAuth 2.0 (no password stored)	Optional (client-side key)	Cloud backup, cross-device sync
Local file	Desktop only	None (folder path)	Optional (client-side key)	Single-device local or network-folder backup
SuperSync (beta)	All	URL, username/password or token	Required (E2E, your password)	Hosted or self-hosted (limited support)

Note: SuperSync is very new and is still in beta. Prefer Nextcloud, WebDAV, Dropbox, or local file for production use until SuperSync is stable.

Encryption timing: When you first enable a file-based provider (Nextcloud, WebDAV, Dropbox, OneDrive, or local file), you are offered the option to set an encryption password as part of the setup. If you do, the password is saved with the sync config, so the very first upload — and every upload after — is encrypted; nothing this device uploads leaves it unencrypted. Encryption stays optional: you can skip the prompt and enable, change, or disable it later from the sync settings.

Downgrade protection: When encryption is enabled for a file-based provider, the app rejects an unencrypted remote sync file instead of importing it or automatically turning encryption off. If you intentionally disabled encryption on another trusted device, change the encryption setting on this device deliberately before syncing again. Otherwise, leave encryption enabled and check the remote account or connection for unexpected changes.

Newer file formats: If a remote sync file uses a newer format than this app supports, sync stops and asks you to update. The app does not recover that file from an older backup.

Changes waiting during sync: If too many local changes accumulate while remote changes are being applied, a persistent message warns that those changes have not been saved yet. It closes when the waiting changes are saved. Its Reload action discards the waiting changes.

Android Nextcloud/WebDAV upload timeouts: An upload may finish on the server after the app times out. The app reports the timeout without immediately replaying the upload; a later sync checks the remote state.

Android Nextcloud/WebDAV certificates: The Android app trusts system CAs and CAs the user installs as a CA certificate in Android settings (search Settings for "CA certificate"; a "VPN & app user certificate" is not used to verify servers). The certificate must list the server's host name or IP address as a Subject Alternative Name. If Android refuses to install a self-signed certificate as a CA certificate, create a small private CA, install that, and sign the server certificate with it. If the server certificate is untrusted, expired, or does not match the server address, the sync icon shows an error and a manual sync explains these steps; Test connection reports it as an SSL certificate error. The app has no option to skip certificate verification.

Uploads rejected repeatedly: When a file-based upload is rejected because the remote file changed, the next sync downloads first and retries without notice. If uploads keep being rejected for several syncs in a row, the sync icon shows an error and a message appears once; unsynced changes stay on the device until an upload succeeds.

Per-Provider Details

Nextcloud

• Compatible with: Nextcloud files WebDAV.
• Configuration: Server URL, username, optional separate login name/email, app password, and sync folder path. The username is used in /remote.php/dav/files/<username>/; the optional login name/email is only for servers that authenticate with a different value.
• Encryption: Optional client-side encryption; you set an encryption key that is not sent to the server.
• Platform: Available on desktop (Electron), web, and mobile. In the browser, CORS can block WebDAV requests; the app may recommend the desktop version for reliable sync.
• Concurrent writes: Atomic conflict protection requires strong ETags and a server that honors If-Match. The app also checks the revision before uploading, but this is only best-effort protection on servers that ignore write preconditions or provide weak or missing ETags.

WebDAV

• Compatible with: Nextcloud, ownCloud, and any WebDAV-compatible server.
• Configuration: Base URL, username, password, and an optional sync folder path on the server.
• Non-ASCII credentials: The username and password are sent UTF-8 encoded (RFC 7617), which is what Nextcloud, Apache and nginx expect. Versions up to 20.0.0 sent characters such as ä, é or ß as single ISO-8859-1 bytes. If such a password worked there and is rejected (401) after an update, the server decodes credentials as ISO-8859-1 (a default on some Tomcat- or Jetty-based servers): switch the server to UTF-8 or change to an ASCII-only password.
• Encryption: Optional client-side encryption; you set an encryption key that is not sent to the server.
• Platform: Available on desktop (Electron), web, and mobile. In the browser, CORS can block WebDAV requests; the app may recommend the desktop version for reliable sync.
• Concurrent writes: Same as Nextcloud: atomic protection needs strong ETags and a server that honors If-Match. Servers that compress responses and add -gzip, -br or -deflate to the ETag (Apache mod_deflate/mod_brotli by default) do not accept these ETags in If-Match. On them the app checks the file content before uploading, and on ownCloud and Nextcloud it also uses their OC-ETag header to make the upload conditional; other such servers get only the best-effort check. To keep atomic protection with compression enabled, set DeflateAlterETag NoChange (Apache 2.4.58+) and, with mod_brotli, BrotliAlterETag NoChange.
• Advanced recipes: Some storage providers can be exposed as local WebDAV with external tools. For Proton Drive via rclone, see 2.19-Sync-Proton-Drive-via-rclone. This is not a built-in Proton Drive provider.

Dropbox

• Configuration: OAuth 2.0; you sign in with your Dropbox account. No username/password for Dropbox is stored in the app; the app stores tokens after you authorize.
• Encryption: Optional client-side encryption; you set an encryption key. Data can be stored encrypted in your Dropbox so that only this app (with the key) can read it.
• Platform: Available on desktop, web, and mobile.

SuperSync (beta)

• What it is: A dedicated sync server designed for Super Productivity, used via its hosted instance or self-hosted. Self-hosting is possible but support for it is limited; see 2.13-Run-with-Docker for the tested setup. SuperSync is very new and is still in beta; consider Nextcloud, WebDAV, Dropbox, or local file for production use until it is stable.
• Configuration: Server base URL, then either username/password or an access token; optional sync folder path, and an encryption password (required).
• Encryption: Required. Your data is end-to-end encrypted on your device with a password only you hold; the server never receives it. Technical metadata such as IDs and timestamps is not encrypted. If you forget the password, the encrypted server data cannot be recovered.
• Platform: Available on desktop, web, and mobile. Sync uses the same operation-based model as other providers but talks directly to the SuperSync server (no intermediate file in a generic cloud folder).
• Live tracking presence (experimental, opt-in): Enable it under Sync settings → Advanced → Show live tracking on other devices. While the real-time connection is active, a device that tracks time shows up on your other devices — a small chip in the header (on wider screens) and a silent Android notification name the device and task, and offer a Stop button that ends the session remotely; the play button also gets a dashed ring with a devices badge, and starting tracking there takes the session over. Devices are named by platform and OS by default (e.g. “Desktop (macOS)”, “Android”); to tell two same-OS desktops apart, give each one a name under Name of this device on other devices (shown once the option is enabled). Idle pauses show as “Paused” without a Stop button. This is a live mirror only: it is never persisted on the server (only a short-lived in-memory slot while your devices are connected), rides the existing connection (no extra connections), and is end-to-end encrypted whenever sync encryption is enabled. SuperSync only; other providers have no real-time channel.
• Network interruptions: Temporary connection drops are retried. If the request still fails, local changes stay on the device and sync can retry later.
• Large backlogs: Regular downloads process large backlogs in passes, saving progress after each pass and scheduling the next one automatically. Full-history recovery downloads still require the complete history within one pass.
• Connected devices: Sync settings → Advanced → Show Connected Devices lists the devices that have synced with the account recently (the 100 most recently active), with their platform, client ID and last sync time. Access to a SuperSync account is granted per account rather than per device — a single long-lived token, not one per device — so removing a single entry would not stop that device from syncing, and no per-device revocation is offered. Instead, Sign out other devices (in the same dialog) invalidates every token except a fresh one issued to the device you press it on: use it when a device is lost or sold. Signed-out devices stop syncing and need a newly issued token to reconnect; changes made on them while signed out are kept locally and upload after re-authenticating. Devices that stop syncing drop off the list automatically after the server's retention period.

Local File Sync

• What it is: Writes the sync file to a local or network-accessible folder (e.g. a shared drive or NAS).
• Configuration: Folder path only; no remote account.
• Encryption: Optional client-side encryption with a key you set.
• Platform: Desktop (Electron) only. Not available in the web app or mobile, because those environments cannot reliably access arbitrary local or network paths.
• Important limitation: Use this as a single-device backup target. Do not mirror the folder between devices with Syncthing, Resilio, cloud-drive clients, or similar tools: local filesystem access cannot atomically coordinate concurrent writers, so simultaneous syncs can overwrite each other. Use Nextcloud, WebDAV, Dropbox, or SuperSync for multi-device sync.

File Sync Format

A new, empty sync folder uses the v2 format (sync-data.json), so no device needs Surgical sync to join it. Existing folders keep their format: a v2 folder stays v2, and a folder that already uses v3 split files (sync-ops.json and its referenced snapshot) stays v3.

Surgical sync (Sync settings → Advanced) is an explicit, one-way upgrade of a folder to v3. If a device reports that the folder was upgraded to the split-file format, turn on Surgical sync on that device. App versions before 18.14 have no Surgical sync setting and cannot sync a v3 folder.

Choosing a Provider

• Nextcloud — Use if you already have Nextcloud and want the app to build the WebDAV files URL for you.
• WebDAV — Use if you have ownCloud or another WebDAV server, or if you need to provide the full WebDAV base URL yourself.
• Dropbox — Use for cloud-backed sync without running your own server; OAuth keeps account credentials out of the app config.
• SuperSync (beta) — Use when you want a dedicated sync service and required end-to-end encryption with your own password. Bear in mind it is very new and still in beta.
• Local file — Use on desktop for a single-device backup to a local or network folder (e.g. an external drive or NAS), not for a folder mirrored between devices.

Logical conflict resolution (e.g. when two devices change the same data) uses the same operation rules for all providers. Transport guarantees still differ: Local file is single-writer only, and WebDAV atomic write protection requires strong ETags and enforcement of write preconditions. See 4.23-Managing-Your-Data.

When Automatic Conflict Resolution Stops

Reordering notes, habits, boards or sections can resolve automatically alongside an in-place edit of a reordered item on another device: note text or lock, pinning a project note to Today or unpinning it, a section's title or expansion, habit settings (including disabling the habit), a habit's count for any day, or board configuration. Both devices keep the edit and converge on an order. Moving or deleting an item, competing reorders, pinning or unpinning a note while Today or a tag's notes are reordered on another device, and missing history needed to recover safely can still stop sync. Older app versions may also stop on these reorder conflicts.

Reordering issue-provider tabs can also resolve alongside integration settings edits, such as changing an Enabled switch or pinning a search on another device. The tab order and settings are preserved across provider kinds. Deleting a provider or making competing reorders can still stop sync.

If sync stops with SYNC_MULTI_ENTITY_UNSUPPORTED, choose Resolve… in the error message or start a manual sync to open the recovery dialog. Background retries do not open the dialog automatically.

• Keep local replaces the remote dataset with this device's data. Remote-only changes are lost.
• Keep remote replaces this device's dataset with the remote data. Unsynced local changes are lost.
• Cancel leaves the conflict unresolved and sync stopped.

For file-based sync, keep all devices updated when using Keep local or Force overwrite. Current clients retain the replacement boundary through later uploads so other devices load the replacement before its later changes. Older writers can omit that boundary, allowing an offline device to miss the replacement.

This is a recovery fallback; it does not fix the underlying overlapping changes, so the conflict can recur. These choices replace the entire dataset, not just the conflicting tasks. Export backups from devices with changes you want to preserve before choosing a version. Remote change counts and timestamps are shown as unknown when unavailable.

Related

• 4.24-Integrations — How issue and sync providers work
• 2.19-Sync-Proton-Drive-via-rclone — Advanced Proton Drive setup through rclone and WebDAV
• 3.07-Issue-Integration-Comparison — Issue provider comparison
• 4.23-Managing-Your-Data — Backups, import/export, and sync from a user perspective
• 3.06-User-Data — Where data and backups are stored, sync behavior by platform