File Browser vs Pingvin Share

A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted file sync & storage options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.

Not the right match-up?
FeatureFile BrowserPingvin Share
CategoryFile Sync & StorageFile Sync & Storage
LicenseApache-2.0BSD-2-Clause
LanguageGoTypeScript
Setup difficultyEasyEasy
Min. RAM64 MB256 MB
Deploymentdocker, binarydocker
GitHub stars★ 35,800★ 4,684
First released20172022
ReplacesDropboxWeTransfer, Firefox Send

Why pick each one

Choose File Browser if…

  • Extremely lightweight
  • Trivial to deploy
  • Good for quick file access
File Browser details

Choose Pingvin Share if…

  • Released under the BSD-2-Clause license
  • Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
  • First-class Docker support for quick deployment
  • Active community (4.7k GitHub stars)
Pingvin Share details

Frequently asked questions

Is File Browser or Pingvin Share better?

Neither is universally better. File Browser has the larger community; both share a easy setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.

Are File Browser and Pingvin Share free and open-source?

Yes. File Browser is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Pingvin Share under BSD-2-Clause. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run File Browser and Pingvin Share with Docker?

File Browser: yes. Pingvin Share: yes.

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