head to head · open source
AppSmith vs tinyfilemanager
AppSmith has 40,904 GitHub stars, 4,761 forks, 4,467 open issues and last shipped yesterday. tinyfilemanager has 5,980 stars, 1,813 forks, 308 open issues and last shipped 2 months ago. AppSmith leads on adoption by 584% (40,904 vs 5,980 stars). AppSmith is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0; tinyfilemanager is written in PHP under GPL-3.0. AppSmith has attracted 12% as many forks as stars, tinyfilemanager 30%. AppSmith was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
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Side by side
| AppSmith | tinyfilemanager | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 41K | ★ 6.0K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | PHP |
| Last push | 2026-09-19 | 2026-07-20 |
| Forks | ⑂ 4.8K | ⑂ 1.8K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick AppSmith if
- You weight community size — 41K stars and counting
- You want the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick tinyfilemanager if
- You want the tinyfilemanager feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches PHP
- You evaluated both and tinyfilemanager fits your workflow better
About AppSmith
Appsmith is an open source, Apache 2.0 low code platform written primarily in TypeScript that lets teams build custom internal tools such as admin panels, dashboards, and CRUD applications on top of their own databases and APIs.
read the full AppSmith overview →
About tinyfilemanager
Tiny File Manager is a single file, zero configuration PHP web application that gives you a browser based file manager, uploader, archive tool and code editor from one tinyfilemanager.php script dropped into any web directory.
read the full tinyfilemanager overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is AppSmith or tinyfilemanager more popular?
AppSmith has 40,904 GitHub stars and tinyfilemanager has 5,980. AppSmith has the larger community by that measure.
Are AppSmith and tinyfilemanager free?
Both are open source. AppSmith is licensed under Apache-2.0 and tinyfilemanager under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between AppSmith and tinyfilemanager?
AppSmith is written in TypeScript and tinyfilemanager in PHP. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, AppSmith or tinyfilemanager?
Choose AppSmith if you want the larger community (40,904 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose tinyfilemanager if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.