Launching today
Stow
Stow: backups in plain English
2 followers
Stow: backups in plain English
2 followers
Stow keeps a folder on your computer and a folder on another drive or a NAS the same. Pick two folders, say what should happen and when, and Stow says the whole plan back in one sentence. The first run shows every file it would copy, replace or remove, and anything it replaces or removes is kept for 30 days. For Mac (Apple silicon) and Windows 11. $39 once for 3 computers, with a 14-day trial that has everything working. And yes, there is a dark mode.
Hi Product Hunt, I'm Josh, and I made Stow.
Most of my side projects come from the same idea: software that does complicated things under the hood, shown in a way anyone can follow. Backups are a good example. The tools that copy files reliably are powerful, but you have to learn their modes and switches to use them safely. I wanted people to have that reliability without the command line.
So I wanted people to be able to select a source and destination folder, maybe an external drive or a NAS share, say what their relationship should be ("make it match", "only ever add", or "keep both in step") and how often to do this (on-demand, on a schedule, or whenever the drive is plugged in). Stow says the whole plan back in plain English, like:
"Every day at 2:00 AM, Stow makes Photos on Backup SSD match Photos on this Mac. Anything it replaces or removes goes to the safety net for 30 days."
What I cared about most:
SAFETY! Prevent accidents from happening with guardrails.
The first run shows every file it would copy, replace or remove, and you can exclude certain files.
Anything replaced or removed goes to a safety net on the same drive for 30 days. You can put it back from inside the app or browse through it in Finder/Explorer.
If a source folder suddenly reads as empty or can't be opened, Stow stops instead of clearing the other side.
If a run fails, it tells you what went wrong and what to do.
Your files never leave your own drives. No account, no analytics in the app.
Stow is tested on Apple Silicon and Windows 11; no promises on older OSes.
It's $39 once, no subscription, for 3 computers in any mix of Mac (Apple silicon) and Windows 11. The 14-day trial has everything working, and there's a 30-day refund.