What it is

Filestash is a Go, AGPL-3.0 licensed universal file storage client for enterprise storage. It lives in Infrastructure & Operations / Storage Solutions. It began as a storage agnostic Dropbox-like file manager that speaks FTP, SFTP, S3, SMB, WebDAV, IPFS, and about 20 more protocols. It has three products: a browser-based web client, native clients for macOS, Windows, Linux, Android, and iPhone, and gateways for exposing storage over protocols.

Organizations often store files across many protocols and services, making access, automation, and presentation fragmented. Filestash addresses that with one file manager and one plugin system for storage, authentication, search, thumbnailing, apps, middleware, and frontend behavior. The plugin philosophy keeps the core lean and lets unusual requirements be handled by plugins instead of forks.

Key capabilities

• Connects to FTP, SFTP, S3, SMB, WebDAV, IPFS, and about 20 more protocols; topics also list Azure, Dropbox, NFS, Git, archiving, DMS, EDRMS, MFT, and GED.
• Exposes data through APIs and gateways over SFTP, S3, FTP, WebDAV, MCP, and AS2.
• Supports authentication and authorization plugins, including a virtual filesystem that can delegate authentication to WordPress and use its roles for RBAC authorization.
• Provides a workflow engine that chains actions on file events, from Slack or email notifications to full MFT pipelines.
• Supports file apps and features such as AI search, smart folders, OCRs, versioning, audit, public site, antivirus, quota, chat, Chromecast support, on-demand video transcoding, and mounting shared links as a network drive.

Who uses it and how

• Teams needing one browser file manager over mixed protocols use the web client for FTP, SFTP, S3, SMB, WebDAV, IPFS, and other backends.
• Device users needing synchronization use native clients for macOS, Windows, Linux, Android, and iPhone.
• Integration teams use gateways and APIs to expose existing storage to clients expecting SFTP, S3, FTP, WebDAV, MCP, or AS2.
• Operations teams use the workflow engine to automate file movements and notifications, including email or Slack alerts and MFT-style pipelines.

Getting started

The README excerpt does not name a Docker image, package manager, or hosted option. It lists deployment surfaces: web client, native clients for macOS, Windows, Linux, Android, and iPhone, and gateways.

When to use it — and when not to

Use it when an organization already has files in multiple protocols and needs one plugin-driven client, workflow layer, and gateway set rather than a single hosted storage service. The excerpt does not state that it replaces paid products, although it is described as Dropbox-like, so teams expecting a simple Dropbox replacement may need to evaluate the plugin and protocol surface. The supplied metadata lists 0 contributors and 0 years repo age, while open issues are 126, so it does not establish a clear maintenance picture.