Frequently Asked Questions

Yes. SyncEngine is fair-code distributed and can be used for self-hosted deployments, personal projects, and client-specific integrations under the applicable license. Managed services and additional commercial services are available separately.

SyncEngine supports HTTP-based services including REST and SOAP, as well as FTP/SFTP and SQL databases. Its modular architecture allows additional modules to extend this with support for other services, protocols, and systems.

SyncEngine can be installed using our installer script, Docker/Podman, or by cloning the repository from GitHub and following the installation guide. It can run on a range of Linux server environments and container platforms. You can also request a demo instance and we can set one up for you.

Absolutely. SyncEngine is designed to be self-hosted, giving you full control over your data, infrastructure, and configuration. The source code is publicly available on GitHub, allowing you to inspect, customize, and extend the platform according to the applicable license.

SyncEngine is built on Symfony and is lightweight out of the box. There are no fixed hardware requirements because resource usage depends primarily on the automations you run and the amount of data they process. You can deploy SyncEngine on infrastructure appropriate to your workload and scale or configure the underlying environment as needed.

SyncEngine provides several ways to transform and manipulate data as it moves through an automation. Tasks can be used to modify, map, combine, or otherwise process data between steps, while SyncEngine's serialization and data-handling system supports a wide range of structured and binary data formats. Modules can further extend these capabilities for specific data formats or processing requirements.

SyncEngine has a modular architecture that allows you to create custom modules and integrations for specific applications, APIs, protocols, or other requirements. Modules can extend SyncEngine with new webservices, data formats, tasks, and other functionality. We are also working on a marketplace for sharing and distributing modules.

Automations can be triggered through cron, external scheduling mechanisms, or other supported triggers. Once triggered, automations are executed using SyncEngine's process worker management, which uses Symfony Messenger internally. Depending on your deployment, workers can be managed internally by SyncEngine or through external process managers such as Supervisor, giving you control over how execution is managed in your environment.

SyncEngine supports most common API authentication methods, including OAuth, Bearer Tokens, API keys, and Basic Authentication. For more complex authentication schemes, SyncEngine provides a configurable multi-step HTTP authentication system that allows you to define the requests, responses, headers, body data, redirects, and other details involved in the authentication flow. Modules can also provide additional authentication methods where required.

You can reach our support team at [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]). You can also join the community on GitHub for discussions, feature requests, and contributions.

You can request a demo by filling out our demo request form. We will set up a temporary demo instance based on your data synchronization needs and contact you with further information.

Yes. We can provide managed SyncEngine environments as part of a project or client engagement for teams that prefer not to manage the infrastructure themselves. The environment, infrastructure, pricing, support, and scope of the service are agreed based on the project.

Self-hosted: No. With a self-hosted installation, your synchronization data stays within the environment you operate. SyncEngine does not send your data to our infrastructure, and we do not have access to your installation unless you explicitly provide us with access.

Managed services: Your data may technically pass through the infrastructure used to operate your managed SyncEngine environment, as this is necessary for the service to function. However, we do not intentionally access or inspect the data flowing through your environment, and our staff will not access your environment or its data unless you explicitly authorize us to do so, for example to provide support or perform agreed work. The specific infrastructure, access arrangements, and data processing terms for a managed service are agreed as part of the project. Where applicable, additional contractual terms, including a Data Processing Agreement, may apply.

SyncEngine is fair-code distributed. The software can be used, modified, and distributed according to the terms of the applicable project license. For the complete licensing terms, see the SyncEngine repository on GitHub.

Yes. You can contribute code, documentation, modules, translations, and other improvements through GitHub. Contributions are subject to the contribution and licensing terms applicable to the project.

SyncEngine is built for teams that need reliable, maintainable data synchronization without being locked into a fixed all-in-one platform. It focuses on explicit automations, inspectable execution, flexible data handling, and a modular architecture that can be extended as requirements evolve.

Rather than trying to provide every possible integration as part of the core product, SyncEngine is designed to be extended with modules for specific APIs, services, protocols, and use cases. This makes it possible to build the platform around your actual requirements while keeping the core lightweight and maintainable.

SyncEngine overlaps with tools such as Make, n8n, and Zapier, but is designed with a different focus. SyncEngine is primarily a self-hosted data synchronization platform rather than an all-in-one automation platform.

SyncEngine is designed particularly for recurring and bulk data synchronization between systems, where an automation may process large numbers of records as part of a single synchronization process. It provides the tools to fetch, transform, and synchronize that data while giving you control over how the automation is executed and where it runs.

SyncEngine is also designed to be extended through modules, allowing you to add support for specific APIs, services, protocols, data formats, and functionality instead of requiring the core platform to provide every integration itself. This keeps the core platform focused while allowing it to be adapted to specific synchronization requirements.

Managed SyncEngine environments are also available as project-based services for teams that prefer not to operate the infrastructure themselves.

SyncEngine is designed for recurring and bulk data synchronization, including automations that process large numbers of records. Resource usage depends on the data being processed, the operations performed, and the infrastructure on which SyncEngine runs, so larger workloads can be configured and scaled according to their requirements.

SyncEngine keeps track of automation execution and provides visibility into the individual steps involved in a synchronization. Failed executions can be inspected to help identify and resolve problems, while the way failed work is handled can be configured according to the automation and deployment.