Mounting WebDAV as a Real Local Disk on Windows — The Options I Tried

Mounting WebDAV as a Real Local Disk on Windows

If you've ever tried to mount a WebDAV share on Windows, you probably hit the same wall I did. The built-in "Map Network Drive" option technically works, but it shows up as a network location rather than a real local disk. A lot of software can't recognize that path, and the long file name / Chinese filename compatibility is hit-or-miss.

So I went looking for tools that actually expose WebDAV as a real Windows drive letter. Here's what I found.

What "real local disk" actually means

Before I list the tools, a quick clarification. Windows mounts come in two flavors:

• Network drive (mapped network folder) — shows in \\server\share form. Some apps refuse to write to it.
• Local drive letter (C:, D:, …) — appears under "Devices and Drives" in File Explorer, behaves like a physical disk.

Most users want the second one. The tools below differ in whether they actually give you a real drive letter, or just a polished-looking network location.

Tools I tested

RaiDrive

The most well-known option. Free tier is enough for light use, but the free tier only gives you network drive mounting. To get a "physical disk style" mount, you need Standard (~$30/year). Otherwise perfectly fine and well-documented.

NetDrive

Around $20/year. Real drive letter included in the paid tier, no ads. Stable but a bit pricey if you only need WebDAV.

CloudDrive

Open source, great if you want to mount multiple cloud drives at once. Requires you to run an Alist server yourself, which adds setup overhead.

Mountain Duck

Buy-once (~$50). Full-featured and stable, but the highest price tag in this list.

ScsDriver

A relative newcomer I only discovered recently. Built on Dokany/WinFsp, you give it a WebDAV URL plus credentials and it shows up as a real drive letter under "Devices and Drives" — not a network location. Around $3/year, no limit on the number of mounts, 7-day free trial, works on both desktop and mobile.

My take

• If you only need one or two WebDAV mounts and want zero setup, RaiDrive free is fine.
• If you want a real drive letter on a budget, ScsDriver is worth a look.
• If you already self-host Alist, CloudDrive slots in nicely.
• If you want buy-once and don't mind paying, Mountain Duck or NetDrive are both solid.

This is just my experience, not a buying recommendation. Pricing and features may change — check the official sites for current details.