copyparty
Hacker ApprovedThe most recommended of 6 self-hosted file managers
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.
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.
48 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 39
- criticize it
- 9
- approval share
- 81%
Recommended in 10 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 39 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 4.3 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 10 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Easy setup and simple use
“it does what it is supposed to do and it's extremely easy to setup and configure.”
Comment from 26 Nov 2025 in “Copyparty, the FOSS file server [video]” “I recommend copyparty if you just want something quick and easy actually.”
Comment from 9 Mar 2026 in “US Court of Appeals: TOS may be updated by email, use may imply consent [pdf]” “really dead simple to use and quick like FIleRun”
Comment from 3 Nov 2025 in “Why Nextcloud feels slow to use” - Comment from 11 May 2026 in “Hardware Attestation as Monopoly Enabler”
- Comment from 30 Jun 2026 in “A native graphical shell for SSH”
Fast, easy file transfers between devices
“Tailscale + copyparty allowing seamless transfer of files between my phone and pc was the biggest qol i never knew i needed.”
Comment from 26 Nov 2025 in “Copyparty, the FOSS file server [video]” “I can recommend https://github.com/9001/copyparty over thumb drives.”
Comment from 1 Jan 2026 in “Linux is good now; to feel like you actually own your PC, put Linux on it” “CP just works. I can EASILY move files around and its really fast.”
Comment from 26 Nov 2025 in “Copyparty, the FOSS file server [video]” - Comment from 7 May 2026 in “Community firmware for the Xteink X4 e-paper reader”
Small footprint, single binary
“To me that looks like it does everything people tend to need without all the bloat.”
Comment from 3 Nov 2025 in “Why Nextcloud feels slow to use” “What I find coolest about Copyparty is how small of a footprint it has.”
Comment from 26 Nov 2025 in “Copyparty, the FOSS file server [video]” “It is a single binary. Runs on plain files.”
Comment from 25 Aug 2026 in “Bookshelf – Self-hosted eBook library that runs on object storage” Serves ebooks over OPDS
“I love the OPDS feature to serve ebooks to my families ereader devices.”
Comment from 26 Nov 2025 in “Copyparty, the FOSS file server [video]” “downloading epubs from a server running Copyparty. Its great!”
Comment from 11 Jan 2026 in “2026 is the Year of Self-hosting” “a great companion to easily move books to the device”
Comment from 7 May 2026 in “Community firmware for the Xteink X4 e-paper reader”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Clunky, obtuse UI
“IMO the biggest downside is that Copyparty's UX is... somewhat obtuse. It's super fast and functional, though.”
Comment from 3 Nov 2025 in “Why Nextcloud feels slow to use” “The upload of these files were horrendes, it was slow on computing something, it was slow in transfering and the ui sucked.”
Comment from 26 Nov 2025 in “Copyparty, the FOSS file server [video]” “The UI is terrible but AI is pretty good at messing with browser.js and the css file.”
Comment from 26 Nov 2025 in “Copyparty, the FOSS file server [video]” - Comment from 26 Nov 2025 in “Copyparty, the FOSS file server [video]”
- Comment from 3 Nov 2025 in “Why Nextcloud feels slow to use”
Open security issues and large attack surface
“At this moment there are 8 security issues open on GitHub”
Comment from 26 Nov 2025 in “Copyparty, the FOSS file server [video]” “Attack surface of this thing gives me existential dread.”
Comment from 27 Nov 2025 in “Copyparty, the FOSS file server [video]” Bloated feature set and docs
“it's the poster child for feature creep”
Comment from 3 Nov 2025 in “Why Nextcloud feels slow to use” “It's like they shoved the whole wiki into the readme.”
Comment from 26 Nov 2025 in “Copyparty, the FOSS file server [video]” Lacks federation and video transcoding
“I like the idea of something like this with video transcoding (this just does audio)”
Comment from 26 Nov 2025 in “Copyparty, the FOSS file server [video]” “I just wish this did some sort of federation so I could set it up and link it with friends”
Comment from 26 Nov 2025 in “Copyparty, the FOSS file server [video]”
Other self-hosted file managers people recommend
The four most recommended other self-hosted file managers, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| copypartyThis page | 39 | 9 | 81% | 10 | — | Approved |
| Samba | 36 | 21 | 63% | 12 | — | — |
| NFS | 20 | 18 | 53% | 9 | — | — |
| Filestash | 15 | 2 | 88% | 10 | 9 yrs3 owners | Approved |
| FileBrowser | 8 | 0 | 100% | 4 | — | — |
What people said
40 of the 61 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“It’s faster, easier, and entirely ephemeral - just like IRC is configured on the server side.”
“Copyparty is super cool, it can also be configured to use S3 backend.”
“It is a single binary. Runs on plain files.”
“very quick to setup using e.g. CopyParty”
“it was 2 command lines and one config file each”
“a great companion to easily move books to the device”
“I've become quite fond of https://github.com/9001/copyparty over http”
“I setup a CopyParty server on a headless RISC-V SBC and was a breeze.”
“you can actually have Copyparty run as a server similar to Jellyfin and have the same thing too?”
“I recommend copyparty if you just want something quick and easy actually.”
“I personally use copyparty and WireGuard for my kdbx file.”
“downloading epubs from a server running Copyparty. Its great!”
“I am liking it quite a bit and I think I prefer it to the alternatives.”
“I can recommend https://github.com/9001/copyparty over thumb drives.”
“Attack surface of this thing gives me existential dread.”
“What I find coolest about Copyparty is how small of a footprint it has.”
“I love the OPDS feature to serve ebooks to my families ereader devices.”
“I just wish this did some sort of federation so I could set it up and link it with friends”
“it starts with an overview, table of contents, and quickstart”
“It's like they shoved the whole wiki into the readme.”
“has been one of my favorite home lab tools since it popped up”
“It's so convenient & easy to handle, honestly a better alternative to other cloud providers in some ways in my opinion.”
“CP just works. I can EASILY move files around and its really fast.”
“This is some really good software and we need you around to maintain it”
“I'm doing my best keeping a good track-record for fixing such issues in a timely manner”
“At this moment there are 8 security issues open on GitHub”
“it does what it is supposed to do and it's extremely easy to setup and configure.”
“The upload of these files were horrendes, it was slow on computing something, it was slow in transfering and the ui sucked.”
“The UI is terrible but AI is pretty good at messing with browser.js and the css file.”
“the ui is really a pain to use (and ugly)”
“I like the idea of something like this with video transcoding (this just does audio)”
“The most amazing thing is that this was coded on the author’s phone, on the bus, with Termux, Tmux and Vim.”
“Tailscale + copyparty allowing seamless transfer of files between my phone and pc was the biggest qol i never knew i needed.”
“Copyparty seems really cool, but it explicitly does not do that.”
“it's the poster child for feature creep”
“I think this can be replicated with copyparty by means of the "shares" feature”
“too busy on the UI/UX side of things”
“To me that looks like it does everything people tend to need without all the bloat.”
“really dead simple to use and quick like FIleRun”
“IMO the biggest downside is that Copyparty's UX is... somewhat obtuse. It's super fast and functional, though.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.