head to head · open source
copyparty vs hfs
copyparty has 46,765 GitHub stars, 1,905 forks, 252 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. hfs has 3,915 stars, 371 forks, 17 open issues and last shipped yesterday. copyparty leads on adoption by 1,095% (46,765 vs 3,915 stars). copyparty is written in Python under MIT; hfs is written in TypeScript under GPL-3.0. copyparty has attracted 4% as many forks as stars, hfs 9%. hfs was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (file-server, file-sharing), so they are genuine substitutes rather than adjacent tools.
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
| copyparty | hfs | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 47K | ★ 3.9K |
| License | MIT | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Python | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-20 | 2026-09-22 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.9K | ⑂ 371 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick copyparty if
- You weight community size — 47K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick hfs if
- You want the hfs feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and hfs fits your workflow better
About copyparty
copyparty is a portable file server that turns almost any device into a file server with resumable uploads and downloads through any web browser, built for self hosters, homelab operators, NAS owners and anyone who wants to share files directly from their own hardware.
read the full copyparty overview →
About hfs
HFS is a TypeScript web file server under the GPL 3.0 licence that turns a computer running Windows, Linux, macOS, FreeBSD or Android into a file sharing server whose folders and individual files are reachable from any browser.
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Frequently asked questions
Is copyparty or hfs more popular?
copyparty has 46,765 GitHub stars and hfs has 3,915. copyparty has the larger community by that measure.
Are copyparty and hfs free?
Both are open source. copyparty is licensed under MIT and hfs under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between copyparty and hfs?
copyparty is written in Python and hfs in TypeScript. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, copyparty or hfs?
Choose copyparty if you want the larger community (46,765 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose hfs if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.