Before buying a NAS, try this free tool on your old PC

If you’re tired of paying for cloud storage, you’ve probably thought about getting a NAS. Maybe you want to back up your files without relying on Google Drive or Dropbox. Or you need to share large files with friends or colleagues without jumping through random file-sharing services. A NAS might feel like a solution to all these problems, but it comes with hassles of its own.

A cheaper alternative might be to turn your router into the ultimate backup hub, but there’s a better alternative if you’ve got an old PC lying around. There’s a new, lightweight, and super-fast file server around, and it might just be the solution you’re looking for.

Copyparty turns any old PC into a surprisingly capable mini-NAS

A lightweight, browser-based file server that punches far above its size

Think of Copyparty as the Swiss army knife of file servers. At its core, it’s a web-based file server that lets you share and exchange files over a local network or the internet. The entire server is contained within a single Python file. That’s right—one file: no complicated installation, no database setup, no complicated configuration files scattered across your system.

It matters because when something is this lean and portable, it can run on practically any device. Anything from old laptops, desktop PCs, Raspberry Pis, or even your old Android phone can run Copyparty. All you need is Python and a terminal. You can choose to run it with or without Docker, and the whole setup is incredibly portable. Yes, you can build your own Raspberry Pi cloud server with Nextcloud, but it won’t get nearly the performance you would with Copyparty.

The simplicity also extends to what Copyparty actually does. It’s a web-based file server where you can upload, download, share, and store files for as long as you need. No extra email clients, calendar apps, or fancy collaborative editing features. Just a simple file server that lets you manage your files with ease.

The creator—a developer from Norway who’s been building this for five years—didn’t overcomplicate things. Instead, he focused on solving real problems that other file servers either ignore or make unnecessarily complicated. Nextcloud didn’t expect competition like this, and it shows.

Blazing uploads and features that actually work

From drag-and-drop speeds to search and previews, it nails the basics flawlessly

Here’s where Copyparty gets really interesting. If you’ve ever uploaded a large file to Google Drive, Dropbox, or any other file-sharing service and your connection dropped in the middle, the experience becomes frustrating really quickly. Copyparty solves this with resumable downloads. If your connection drops, you pick up exactly where you left off. No restarts, no frustration.

It also splits large files into smaller chunks and uploads multiple chunks in parallel. This means uploading files is roughly twice as fast as traditional cloud providers in my tests. And if you’re on a local network, you’ll soon stop using external SSDs or USB drives to move files between devices because the uploads are just so much more convenient and fast. Copyparty writes directly into the final file location instead of creating temporary chunks and merging them later, a method faster for both your internet connection and storage drive.

There’s a web interface that lets you browse your entire folder structure, create sharing links with custom names and passwords, set expiration dates on uploads, and download entire files or folders without zip archives, which are generated on the fly. You can even listen to music, see image thumbnails, and stream media with no issues.

The built-in music player comes with an equalizer and gapless playback. There’s an image browser for viewing photos. File search functionality, drag-and-drop uploads, and even an option to see files as thumbnails in a grid view if you prefer that over lists—it all just works.

There’s even a feature called file deduplication. If you accidentally upload the same file twice, Copyparty uses file hashes to prevent duplicates from eating up storage. It also supports just about any protocol, including HTTP, HTTPS, WebDAV, FTP, TFTP, SMB, and more. If you want command-line control, there’s a full-featured CLI for automating file transfers as well.

Then comes security, a major concern with more lightweight file-management tools. Copyparty handles this through a single configuration file where you control everything. You can set up multiple user accounts, fine-tune file permissions using a flag system, and even control access to individual folders.

The permission system is a bit old-school, similar to Linux’s chmod rather than modern cloud storage solutions, but it’s incredibly fast, effective, and easy to understand.

Setting up is dead simple

Download, run, and access via browser. That’s pretty much the whole process

There is no setup required to run Copyparty. Just download the Python file from the official GitHub repository and run it in a terminal. Copyparty will give you the IP address you can use to connect to the file server and even show a handy QR code for quick connections on phones. There’s even a 32-bit executable version for old Windows machines, with the oldest version tested being Windows 2000.

Running Copyparty on Android or iOS requires a few more steps. You can use Termux for Android or a-Shell for iOS to run the Copyparty Python file the same way you would on a computer. The GitHub repository has detailed instructions on running the file server on every supported device, and they’re mostly just accessing a terminal and running the server Python file.

Why Copyparty beats buying a NAS

When “free and fast” beats expensive hardware you don’t actually need

A decent NAS costs anywhere from $200 to $500 for entry-level models. Add in electricity, maintenance, storage, and the fact that NAS devices can quickly become paperweights when they need updates or fail, and you’re looking at quite the investment.

Yes, if you’re looking for an enterprise-grade solution with redundancy, automatic backup, and 24/7 support, Copyparty isn’t for you. But if you’re looking for a straightforward, self-hosted cloud storage that doesn’t require a degree in server administration, you’ve found it.

It costs nothing to try, but a few minutes of your time. Download the file, run it, and start moving your files around. Your old PC will suddenly become useful again, and you’ll stop paying for cloud storage in no time.