Chibisafe

Open-source file hosting, honestly reviewed. No marketing fluff, just what you get when you self-host it.

TL;DR

• What it is: MIT-licensed self-hosted file uploader and vault — upload anything, get a shareable link, keep the files on your own server [README][5].
• Who it’s for: Developers and power users who upload files constantly (screenshots, screen recordings, media), want ShareX or browser-extension integration, and don’t want their files living on someone else’s SaaS [3][6].
• Cost savings: Dropbox Plus runs ~$9.99–$16.58/mo. Google One goes $2.99/mo for 100GB and climbs fast. Chibisafe self-hosted runs on a $5–10/mo VPS with storage limited only by your disk.
• Key strength: Purpose-built for fast upload-and-share workflows. Chunked uploads, ShareX out of the box, browser extension, iOS shortcut, S3 backend support, albums, URL shortener — it does one job and does it well [README][4].
• Key weakness: Small community (2,599 GitHub stars, 298 forks), last commit roughly four months old, and almost no third-party reviews to triangulate against [5]. You are largely on your own if something breaks.

---

What is Chibisafe

Chibisafe is a file uploader service written in TypeScript. The pitch is simple: you upload a file, you get a shareable link. That’s the core loop. Everything built around it — albums, tags, URL shortener, admin dashboard — serves that central use case [README].

The project describes itself as “a beautiful and performant vault to save all your files in the cloud” [homepage]. The GitHub README is more honest about what it actually is: “Blazing fast file vault written in TypeScript.” It accepts files, photos, documents, videos — anything — and hands you back a direct link. It is not a Nextcloud replacement. It is not a full document management system. It is the self-hosted version of services like Gyazo (for screenshots) or Imgur (for images), except it handles arbitrary file types and runs on your own server.

The project has been around for over nine years and is maintained primarily by a single developer (Pitu on GitHub). Version 6, codenamed “Holo,” is the current release. It introduced a new port (24424), an S3 storage backend, masonry browsing for media files, snippets/gists creation, and a more mature dashboard [README]. The Docker image has accumulated 257,100 pulls with about 1,900 pulls per week as of this review — modest but real usage [5].

---

Why people choose it

The reviews and community discussion available for Chibisafe are sparse compared to a project like n8n or Nextcloud. What exists paints a consistent picture.

The ShareX angle. Chibisafe has out-of-the-box ShareX support, which matters a lot to a specific and vocal community. ShareX is a Windows screenshot and screen recording tool with deep upload integrations, and having a self-hosted destination you fully control is the whole point for many users [README][3]. One Reddit user asking about Chibisafe specifically cited the iOS shortcut, ShareX extension, and browser extension as the features keeping them on it — and wanted to know if any alternatives matched that third-party coverage before switching [3].

The “I love it but…” user. The most direct real-user testimony in this review’s sources comes from a Reddit post [6] where someone who self-hosts Chibisafe with Amazon S3 says outright: “I selfhost chibisafe storing files on Amazon S3 and love it, really love it.” The problem they hit wasn’t the software — it was the lack of email-based signup controls for public instances. That’s a real gap: Chibisafe supports public, private, and invite-only modes, but granular authentication (OAuth, social login, per-domain email rules) is not part of the feature set [README][6].

Mariushosting lists it as a Synology NAS candidate for file sharing, which signals the software is stable enough that a homelab-focused site covering Docker deployments on NAS hardware includes it in a curated list alongside options like Pingvin Share and Zipline [7].

What’s absent: no Trustpilot profile, no G2 reviews, no active comparison articles. The Firefox extension page has zero ratings after three years [4]. That’s either a sign the software quietly works and users don’t bother reviewing it, or a sign of a small niche community. Probably both.

---

Features

Based on the README and documentation:

Core upload workflow:

• Upload any file type, get a shareable direct link [README]
• Chunked uploads by default — big files are split automatically, each chunk retried up to five times on failure [7]
• Albums and folders with their own shareable links [README]
• File tagging and Discord-like search [2]
• Snippets/gists with direct links [README]
• Built-in URL shortener [README]

Desktop and mobile integration:

• ShareX support out of the box — upload screenshots and screen recordings directly to your instance [README][3]
• iOS shortcut to upload files via the iOS share menu [README][3]
• Browser extension (Firefox and Chrome) — right-click any image or video on any website to upload it directly to your instance [README][4]

The browser extension specifically adds: upload via context menu for media content, full-page screenshot, selection screenshot, and album upload if you’ve set an API key [4]. It was last updated about three years ago, and the Firefox listing shows no ratings [4] — functional but unmaintained.

Storage backends:

• Local filesystem (default)
• S3-compatible storage — configurable via the admin dashboard [README][6]

Administration:

• Web-based admin dashboard for nearly all configuration: rate limits, max file size, accepted extensions, meta descriptions, instance name [README]
• User management with quotas [README]
• Public mode, user accounts mode, or invite-only mode [README][7]
• API key support for programmatic access [2][README]

What’s missing:

• No email-based or OAuth signup controls [6]
• No end-to-end encryption at rest
• The browser extension hasn’t been updated in three years [4]
• No Windows or Android client (just iOS shortcut and browser extension)

---

Pricing: SaaS vs self-hosted math

Chibisafe has no commercial license, no managed cloud, no pricing tiers. It is MIT-licensed software that you run yourself. The cost conversation is therefore “what does this replace and what does the VPS cost.”

Cloud storage SaaS for reference:

• Dropbox Basic: 2GB free; Plus at ~$9.99/mo for 2TB
• Google One: 15GB free; 100GB at $2.99/mo, 200GB at $2.99/mo (promotional), 2TB at $9.99/mo
• Gyazo Pro (screenshot hosting): ~$3.99/mo for unlimited screenshots, short video, privacy controls

Self-hosted Chibisafe:

• Software: $0 (MIT)
• VPS: $5–10/mo on Hetzner, Contabo, or DigitalOcean for a 2–4GB RAM instance
• Storage: depends on your use case — local disk or S3 backend at your S3 provider’s rates
• One confirmed real-world deployment: S3 backend on Amazon S3 [6]

Concrete scenario: A developer taking 20–30 screenshots per day plus occasional video uploads. On Gyazo Pro that’s $47.88/year. On Dropbox Plus (if that’s the primary use) it’s $119.99/year. On Chibisafe self-hosted with 50GB of local storage on a shared VPS: $60–120/year, and you keep every file indefinitely with no per-seat pricing and no storage limits beyond the disk. If you’re already running a VPS for something else, Chibisafe is effectively free to add.

The S3 backend option [README][6] means you can also point it at Cloudflare R2 (free egress) or Backblaze B2 (~$6/TB/month) for cheap scalable storage without buying more VPS disk. That’s a better long-term story than any consumer cloud storage plan at high volume.

---

Deployment reality check

The installation path is Docker, and the project strongly recommends it: “we highly recommend using docker for chibisafe” [README]. The default compose config exposes a single port (24424) for reverse proxying. Migration from v5 to v6 requires copying the uploads/ and database/ folders — that’s it, migrations run automatically on startup [README]. Migrating from anything older than v5 is unsupported; you start fresh [README].

What you need:

• A Linux VPS with 2GB+ RAM
• Docker and docker-compose
• A domain and reverse proxy (Caddy or nginx) for HTTPS
• The .env file with at minimum ADMIN_PASSWORD and BASE_API_URL set [5]

The default admin account is created with the username admin and the password from your ADMIN_PASSWORD env variable. The README explicitly warns to change it immediately after first login [README].

What can go sideways:

• The browser extension was last updated September 2023 and has no version compatibility notes for v6 beyond “NOTE: This extension only works with chibisafe version v5. Use the legacy extension for pre v5 support” [4]. The current v6 state of the extension is unclear from available sources — if you’re running v6, verify the extension works before relying on it.
• Public-mode instances with open signups have no email verification or OAuth options [6]. If you want controlled signups, you’re stuck with invite-only mode.
• Development pace is slow — the last commit was four months ago as of this review [5]. For a small utility this may be fine, but it means security patches and compatibility fixes won’t come fast.
• Almost no community forum or active subreddit thread to search when something breaks. The Discord server (linked in the README) is the primary support channel.

Realistic time estimate for a technical user familiar with Docker: 20–45 minutes to a working instance. For someone following the docs for the first time on a fresh VPS: 1–2 hours including domain and reverse proxy setup.

---

Pros and cons

Pros

• MIT license, genuinely free. No commercial tiers, no feature gating, no per-seat pricing. Run it, fork it, embed it [README][5].
• Chunked uploads that actually work. Large files split automatically with per-chunk retries — handles the cases where a plain upload form fails [7][README].
• ShareX + iOS shortcut out of the box. If you’re a Windows screenshot power user or an iOS user, the integrations work without configuration gymnastics [README][3].
• S3 backend support. Point it at R2, B2, or any S3-compatible endpoint instead of filling up local disk [README][6].
• Album and folder sharing. Not just individual files — you can share a collection with one link [README].
• Built-in URL shortener. One less tool to run [README].
• Nice admin dashboard. Configure everything — rate limits, file size caps, accepted extensions — from the UI without touching config files [README][7].
• Docker pulls show real usage. 257K total, 1.9K/week — not a ghost project [5].

Cons

• Small, slow-moving community. 2,599 stars and 298 forks is modest. Last commit four months ago [5]. If you hit a bug, you may wait a while for a fix.
• Browser extension state unclear for v6. The Firefox listing explicitly says it only works with v5 [4]. No clear update for v6 compatibility.
• No OAuth/email-controlled signups. Public instances are truly public (or invite-only). No Google/GitHub/Microsoft login, no email domain filtering [6].
• No encryption at rest. Files are stored on disk (or S3) without client-side or server-side encryption baked in.
• Almost no third-party reviews. You can’t triangulate quality against G2, Trustpilot, or independent writeups. The data is thin.
• Single maintainer. The project is primarily one person (Pitu). Long-term sustainability is the obvious question [README][2].
• Not a Dropbox replacement. No sync client, no desktop folder, no collaborative editing, no versioning beyond basic file management. It’s an upload-and-share tool, not cloud storage [README].

---

Who should use this / who shouldn’t

Use Chibisafe if:

• You use ShareX or a similar screenshot tool and want to stop sending files to Gyazo, Imgur, or a proprietary SaaS.
• You want a self-hosted service that just gives you a direct link for any file type, with no storage limits beyond your disk.
• You’re comfortable with Docker and reverse proxies, or you’re willing to spend an afternoon getting there.
• You want S3 backend support so you can separate compute from storage cost [6].
• You need a lightweight, low-maintenance service — not a full document management system.

Skip it if:

• You need OAuth, email-verified signups, or social login for a shared public instance [6].
• You want Dropbox-style sync folders on your desktop — Chibisafe has no sync client.
• You need end-to-end encryption or compliance features.
• You’re not technical and don’t have help with the initial Docker + reverse proxy setup.
• The single-maintainer development pace worries you for production use.

Consider alternatives if:

• You need collaborative editing or document storage → Nextcloud or Seafile.
• You want screenshot hosting with a more active community → Zipline or Lychee.
• You need a file-sharing service closer to WeTransfer → Pingvin Share or Palmr [7].

---

Alternatives worth considering

From the sources and the merged profile’s category context:

• Zipline — modern, actively maintained, more feature-rich dashboard, 2FA, OAuth2 (Discord, GitHub, Google, OIDC), URL shortening with metrics, partial uploads. A clear upgrade path if Chibisafe’s development pace concerns you [7].
• Pingvin Share — closer to WeTransfer; focused on temporary file sharing with expiry links rather than permanent hosting. No file size limit beyond disk [7].
• Lychee — photo-focused; better gallery experience for image-heavy use cases, worse for arbitrary file types.
• Nextcloud — brings the full document management and sync experience, but significantly heavier to run and maintain. Different use case.
• Palmr — newer, S3-compatible, password-protected uploads, designed for secure file transfers rather than permanent hosting [7].
• PicoShare — minimalist, direct download links with no signup required for recipients, no file type restrictions [7].

For pure “upload → shareable link” use with ShareX integration, Zipline is the most credible alternative to evaluate before committing to Chibisafe.

---

Bottom line

Chibisafe does one thing: take a file, give you a link. It does that job cleanly, with chunked upload reliability, S3 backend flexibility, and solid ShareX/iOS/browser-extension integrations that most alternatives either lack or bolt on awkwardly. The MIT license and Docker-first deployment make it genuinely easy to own your setup. The honest caveat is the community size: 2,599 stars, a single primary maintainer, and a browser extension that’s three years stale put real question marks on long-term support. If you need a fast, private upload-and-share service and you’re comfortable handling your own VPS, Chibisafe earns its place. If you need OAuth signups, active security patches, or a large community forum to search when things break, look at Zipline first.

If the VPS setup is the blocker, that’s exactly what upready.dev deploys for clients — one-time, and then it’s yours.

---

Sources

1. Self-Host Weekly (10 April 2026) — selfh.st — https://selfh.st/weekly/2026-04-10/
2. Libre Self-hosted — Chibisafe project page — libreselfhosted.com — https://libreselfhosted.com/project/chibisafe/
3. r/selfhosted — “is chibisafe file uploader a good option?” — reddit.com — https://www.reddit.com/r/selfhosted/comments/1cax5go/is_chibisafe_file_uploader_a_good_option/
4. chibisafe Uploader – Firefox Extension — addons.mozilla.org — https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/chibisafe-uploader/
5. Chibisafe — Awesome Docker Compose — awesome-docker-compose.com — https://awesome-docker-compose.com/chibisafe
6. r/selfhosted — “Beautiful alternatives for chibisafe to host files for direct links” — reddit.com — https://www.reddit.com/r/selfhosted/comments/1iz17m2/beautiful_alternatives_for_chibisafe_to_host/
7. Synology: Best Docker Containers For File Sharing — mariushosting.com — https://mariushosting.com/synology-best-docker-containers-for-file-sharing/

Primary sources:

• GitHub repository and README: https://github.com/chibisafe/chibisafe (2,599 stars, MIT license)
• Official website and docs: https://chibisafe.app
• Docker Hub image: chibisafe/chibisafe (257K+ pulls)