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.

What it is

copyparty is a single-file Python program that serves files over HTTP(S), WebDAV, SFTP, FTP(S), TFTP and SMB/CIFS. It lives in the self-hosted file-sharing and NAS-frontend corner of the Python ecosystem, and it stands in for the stack of separate daemons people would otherwise run side by side: a WebDAV server, an FTP daemon, a TFTP daemon and a separate web frontend for uploads. Everything ships as one script, copyparty-sfx.py, so a working server is a single file and a Python interpreter rather than a set of installed services.

The concrete problem it solves is moving files between devices that do not share a client. A browser is the only client required, and uploads and downloads resume after a dropped connection. The server itself needs only Python 2 or 3, with all dependencies optional, which means it runs on hardware as small as a router or a NAS where installing packages is inconvenient. On top of transport, it handles the parts of file transfer that usually need extra tooling: deduplication on upload, thumbnails and a media index, per-folder and per-user permissions, temporary share links, and feeds for RSS readers and e-book readers. The project has 46,729 stars and 1,905 forks on GitHub, which indicates wide self-hosted adoption rather than a niche experiment.

Key capabilities

• One process speaks HTTP(S), WebDAV, SFTP, FTP(S), TFTP and SMB/CIFS, so phones, file managers and scripts can all reach the same storage over their native protocol.
• Browser interface includes a grid view toggled with g or 田, keyboard hotkeys, a navpane or breadcrumb switcher, thumbnails, a media player, an audio equalizer and a dynamic range compressor.
• Uploads are resumable, deduplicated, and support "race the beam" playback of a file while it is still uploading, with an ETA for incoming files shown in the control panel.
• Upload control covers unpost for undoing and deleting accidental uploads, self-destruct lifetimes on uploads, and shares that expose a file or folder through a temporary link.
• File-search lets a user drop files into the browser to check whether they already exist on the server, and folders or selections download as zip or tar archives.
• Accounts and volumes give per-folder, per-user permissions, with shadowing to hide subfolders and Unix-style dotfile handling.
• Integration output includes RSS feeds, OPDS feeds for e-book readers, m3u8 playlists, and a recent-uploads listing.

Who uses it and how

• Homelab and NAS owners use it as a frontend that makes existing storage reachable from a browser without adding services to the machine.
• Server operators run it where moving files must not require extra packages, since only Python 2 or 3 is needed and every dependency is optional.
• Mobile users upload and download through the Android app or iPhone shortcuts rather than a desktop client.
• People who need to hand files to others use temporary shares and self-destruct uploads instead of leaving content permanently exposed.
• Public read-only mirrors are viable: the project points to a read-only demo server running on a nuc in a basement.

Getting started

Download copyparty-sfx.py from the latest release at https://github.com/9001/copyparty/releases/latest/download/copyparty-sfx.py and run it. That is the whole install; the read-only demo server at https://a.ocv.me/pub/demo/ shows the result.

How it compares

The facts provide no list of paid products that copyparty replaces, so it stands alone in this registry as a single-file, multi-protocol file server. For readers who want a broader contrast, the README points to docs/versus.md, which holds the project's own comparison to similar software.

When to use it — and when not to

The operational load is low compared with most file servers, because no database, object store or SMTP service is required and the entire runtime is one Python file with optional dependencies. It is a poor fit for anyone who wants a vendor-managed hosted service with a support contract, since copyparty is MIT-licensed software you run yourself. Be aware that the README maintains a bugs section roughly sorted by chance of encounter, a "not my bugs" section, and breaking-change notes for upgrades, and the repository carries 252 open issues, so self-hosters should read the upgrade notes before moving between versions.