# copyparty

39 Hacker News commenters recommended copyparty and 9 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 10 of 13 months. It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** Fast, small, easy-to-set-up file server that people use to move files between devices and serve ebooks. Most common caveat: the web UI is often called obtuse or ugly.

## Why people recommend it

- Easy setup and simple use (5 comments): "it does what it is supposed to do and it's extremely easy to setup and configure." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46056977)) "I recommend copyparty if you just want something quick and easy actually." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47308573)) "really dead simple to use and quick like FIleRun" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45799534))
- Fast, easy file transfers between devices (4 comments): "Tailscale + copyparty allowing seamless transfer of files between my phone and pc was the biggest qol i never knew i needed." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46055706)) "I can recommend https://github.com/9001/copyparty over thumb drives." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46458217)) "CP just works. I can EASILY move files around and its really fast." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46057428))
- Small footprint, single binary (3 comments): "To me that looks like it does everything people tend to need without all the bloat." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45799675)) "What I find coolest about Copyparty is how small of a footprint it has." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46062223)) "It is a single binary. Runs on plain files." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49427528))
- Serves ebooks over OPDS (3 comments): "I love the OPDS feature to serve ebooks to my families ereader devices." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46059039)) "downloading epubs from a server running Copyparty. Its great!" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46580775)) "a great companion to easily move books to the device" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48044295))

## What people warn about

- Clunky, obtuse UI (5 comments): "IMO the biggest downside is that Copyparty's UX is... somewhat obtuse. It's super fast and functional, though." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45799067)) "The upload of these files were horrendes, it was slow on computing something, it was slow in transfering and the ui sucked." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46056490)) "The UI is terrible but AI is pretty good at messing with browser.js and the css file." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46056221))
- Open security issues and large attack surface (2 comments): "At this moment there are 8 security issues open on GitHub" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46057065)) "Attack surface of this thing gives me existential dread." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46069909))
- Bloated feature set and docs (2 comments): "it's the poster child for feature creep" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45805714)) "It's like they shoved the whole wiki into the readme." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46057685))
- Lacks federation and video transcoding (2 comments): "I like the idea of something like this with video transcoding (this just does audio)" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46056019)) "I just wish this did some sort of federation so I could set it up and link it with friends" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46058408))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Filestash](https://hackerapproved.com/p/filestash.md): 15 recommend
- [FileBrowser](https://hackerapproved.com/p/filebrowser.md): 8 recommend

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "copyparty", https://hackerapproved.com/p/copyparty/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).