Copyparty is a file server you can run from one Python file. Start it in a directory and that directory is available through a web browser, and through almost every other file protocol too. It has quietly become one of the most-starred self-hosted projects on GitHub.

Features

Protocols. HTTP and HTTPS, WebDAV, SFTP, FTP and FTPS, TFTP, and SMB/CIFS, all serving the same files. Mount it as a network drive on Windows, sync it with rclone, or just use the browser.

Uploads that survive bad connections. Browser uploads are chunked and resumable, with deduplication: re-uploading a file the server already has finishes instantly. There is no file size limit.

Media. Thumbnails for images and video, an audio player with playlists, spectrograms, and metadata indexing, so it doubles as a lightweight media browser.

Permissions per user and per folder, including upload-only drop boxes.

Running it

The fastest possible start:

python3 copyparty-sfx.py
# serves the current directory on port 3923

It is also packaged for Arch, Fedora, NixOS, and Homebrew, installable with pip, available as a Windows executable, and as a Docker/Podman image. For anything long-running, create a config file with accounts and volume permissions, run it as an unprivileged user, and front it with a reverse proxy for HTTPS. The systemd unit builder can generate a service file.

How it compares

• File Browser: was the common choice for a simple web file manager, but was archived in 2026
• nextExplorer: a more modern, polished browser interface with SSO, but web-only
• SFTPGo: similar multi-protocol idea, aimed more at managed SFTP and cloud-backed storage
• Nextcloud: a full cloud suite with sync clients and apps, much heavier

Copyparty’s interface is functional rather than pretty, but nothing else matches its combination of protocols, resumable uploads, and one-file portability.

License

MIT.

Links

• Repository