Gokapi

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

TL;DR

• What it is: Self-hosted, admin-only file sharing with automatic link expiration — a maintained replacement for the discontinued Firefox Send [2][4].
• Who it’s for: Individuals, small teams, and businesses who regularly send files to external parties and want those files to disappear after download — without paying WeTransfer or trusting someone else’s servers [1][2].
• Cost savings: WeTransfer Pro runs roughly $12–16/month with storage caps. Gokapi self-hosted costs $0 in software (AGPL-3.0) plus a $5/month VPS. Files can be as large as your storage allows [1][2].
• Key strength: Admin-only uploads with expiring links by download count or date — it solves exactly one problem and solves it cleanly [2][3].
• Key weakness: AGPL-3.0 license means commercial embedding requires careful legal review. No SaaS fallback if you don’t want to self-host. Mobile experience is functional but not polished [2].

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What is Gokapi

Gokapi is a self-hosted file sharing server built in Go. You upload a file through an admin interface, set an expiry — either a download count, a date, or both — and hand the link to whoever needs it. Once the limit is hit, the file is gone. That’s the core of it [2][4].

The project describes itself as a “lightweight selfhosted Firefox Send alternative without public upload” [README]. That last clause is important: Firefox Send allowed anyone to upload files anonymously. Gokapi doesn’t — only authenticated admins (and users you explicitly create) can upload. External parties receive download links, nothing more. This is a deliberate design choice that draws a sharp line between Gokapi and generic file sync platforms like Nextcloud or Seafile [1][2].

The developer is a solo maintainer who has shipped 38 releases and 626 commits as of this writing [GitHub]. The project sits at 2,700 GitHub stars with 128 forks and 18 contributors — modest numbers compared to Nextcloud’s 50K stars, but that’s the wrong comparison. Gokapi’s scope is narrower on purpose [GitHub][5].

The most recent release, v2.2.4, shipped March 10, 2026 [GitHub]. Development is active and the release history shows a steady pace — not a project that was touched twice and abandoned.

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Why People Choose It

The XDA Developers review [1] frames it plainly: the author had tried Nextcloud, Seafile, and OpenCloud, found all of them too heavy for the simple task of sending files to family, and landed on Gokapi because it “has an extremely simple and to-the-point interface, since its only job is to facilitate file sharing.” That’s the whole pitch in one sentence.

The noted.lol review [2] positions it squarely in the Firefox Send lineage: “Firefox Send is dead. Well, it’s been discontinued and nothing is ever dead when it’s open source but many people have wanted a decent replacement that is well maintained. Gokapi is a great alternative to this solution.” Mozilla killed Firefox Send in 2020 due to abuse — anonymous public uploads made it a convenient tool for distributing malware. Gokapi solves this not by adding content scanning, but by removing public uploads entirely. You control what goes on the server.

The Reddit thread [3] shows the developer engaging directly with the community, announcing a pre-release of the “file request” feature — a shareable URL that lets external parties upload files to your server, visible only to you. The developer explicitly notes they’re a back-end programmer who welcomes UI feedback, which explains why the interface is functional rather than beautiful. The community response was positive.

What you don’t find in any of these sources: people using Gokapi as a primary file storage or collaboration tool. It’s not trying to be that. The use cases that keep showing up are: sharing photos with family, sending large documents to clients, receiving files from external collaborators. Low-stakes scenarios where you want the file to exist temporarily and then disappear without you having to remember to delete it [1][2][3].

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Features

Based on the README and third-party reviews:

Core file sharing:

• Automatic expiration by download count, by date, or both [README][2]
• Password protection per upload [2]
• File deduplication — identical files don’t consume extra space [README][2]
• QR code generation for download links [1]
• Image hotlinks (without encryption enabled) [2]

Access control:

• Admin-only uploads — no anonymous public uploads by design [README][2]
• User management with roles and fine-grained permissions [README][1]
• OpenID Connect support for integration with Authelia, Keycloak, and similar identity providers [README]

File requests:

• Shareable upload URL that lets an external party send files to you securely [3][README]
• Configurable limits on file request uploads (e.g., one file only) [3]
• Uploaded files are visible only to the URL’s creator [README][3]

Storage:

• Local disk storage by default [README][2]
• AWS S3 or S3-compatible backends (Backblaze B2) as optional replacements [README][2]
• SSD strongly recommended in the official system requirements [README]

Security:

• Built-in encryption, including end-to-end encrypted uploads [README][1]
• Note: enabling encryption disables image hotlinking [2]

Integration and customization:

• REST API for automation [README]
• Custom CSS and JavaScript for UI adjustments [README]
• Docker image on Docker Hub (f0rc3/gokapi) with 100K+ pulls [GitHub]

System requirements (from the README):

• Minimum: 1 CPU core, 256 MB RAM, 100 MB + file storage
• Recommended: 2+ cores, 512 MB RAM, SSD storage
• Runs on Linux, macOS, and Windows

What’s not there: no built-in preview for documents, no versioning, no sharing folders (only individual files), no real-time collaboration, no mobile app. Those are not bugs — they’re the scope boundary.

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Pricing: SaaS vs Self-Hosted Math

Gokapi self-hosted:

• Software license: $0 (AGPL-3.0) [README]
• VPS to run it: $5–10/month (Hetzner, Contabo, or DigitalOcean)
• Minimum RAM: 256 MB, meaning even a $4/month instance works for light use [README]

The SaaS alternatives you’re replacing:

WeTransfer Free: 2 GB file size limit, files expire after 7 days, ads shown to recipients, no download count limits, no password protection, no admin control.

WeTransfer Pro: ~$12–16/month (pricing has shifted over time), up to 200 GB storage, longer expiry, no ads. Still a closed platform — WeTransfer holds your files, and their terms govern what they can do with them.

Dropbox Transfer (for sending files): included in paid Dropbox plans starting at ~$10/month. Better feature set than WeTransfer, but you’re locked into Dropbox’s pricing ladder.

The math for a typical use case:

Say you send 10–20 files per month to clients, family, or external collaborators. On WeTransfer Pro, that’s $144–192/year. On Gokapi hosted on a $6/month Hetzner VPS: $72/year, and you control the infrastructure, the data, and the expiry rules. Files don’t get scanned, logged, or held by a third party [2].

If you’re already running a home server or a VPS for other services, Gokapi adds roughly zero marginal cost — it runs comfortably in 256 MB RAM alongside other containers [README][2].

There’s no managed SaaS version of Gokapi. You self-host it or you don’t use it. That’s the deal.

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Deployment Reality Check

The noted.lol review [2] walks through a Docker Compose install that is straightforward. The XDA review [1] describes the first-run setup wizard as guiding you through database, encryption, and web server choices before you start using it. The developer’s own Reddit post [3] shows the Docker one-liner: docker run -v gokapi-data:/app/data -v gokapi-config:/app/config -p 127.0.0.1:53842:53842 -e TZ=UTC f0rc3/gokapi:latest — then visit /setup.

What you actually need:

• A Linux VPS (or home server, or Raspberry Pi) with 256 MB RAM free
• Docker installed
• A reverse proxy (Nginx Proxy Manager, Caddy) if you want HTTPS and a real domain — the noted.lol reviewer used Nginx Proxy Manager [2]
• An SMTP setup if you want email notifications (optional)

What can go sideways:

The noted.lol reviewer explicitly notes: “Gokapi is not super responsive on mobile iOS, it does well enough to let me upload images from it without any issues.” The mobile interface is functional, not polished [2]. For admin workflows (uploading, managing links), you’ll want a desktop browser.

The encryption trade-off is real: if you enable encryption on uploads, image hotlinks stop working. You choose one or the other per instance [2].

AGPL-3.0 is a stronger license than MIT. If you’re embedding Gokapi in a commercial product, AGPL requires you to publish your source — MIT does not. Worth knowing before you build a business on top of it [README].

The developer self-identifies as primarily a back-end engineer [3]. The UI does its job, but don’t expect the kind of polished front-end that you’d get from a VC-backed SaaS. The GitHub screenshots show a clean but utilitarian admin interface.

For a technical user: 20–40 minutes to a working instance on a fresh VPS. For someone following a guide for the first time: 1–2 hours including reverse proxy and domain setup. The setup wizard removes most of the guesswork.

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Pros and Cons

Pros

• Single-purpose, does it well. Gokapi doesn’t try to be Dropbox. It shares files with expiring links. That focus means the setup is simpler, the resource footprint is smaller, and the mental model is obvious [1][2].
• Genuinely lightweight. 256 MB RAM minimum. Runs on a Raspberry Pi, an old laptop, or the cheapest cloud VPS you can find [README][1].
• Admin-only uploads. The explicit rejection of anonymous public uploads is a feature, not a limitation — it eliminates a whole class of abuse scenarios that killed Firefox Send [2][4].
• File requests — the Dropbox-Request equivalent — let external parties upload to you without giving them admin access. This is the feature most people would have had to hack together manually before [3][README].
• S3/Backblaze B2 backend means you can decouple storage from compute. Files go to cheap object storage; the server just handles the web layer [README][2].
• File deduplication — identical files don’t waste space [README][2].
• OpenID Connect — integrates with Authelia or Keycloak if you’re already running an identity layer [README].
• REST API — means you can automate uploads from scripts or CI/CD pipelines [README].
• Active maintenance. 38 releases, latest in March 2026 [GitHub]. Not abandoned.

Cons

• AGPL-3.0, not MIT. Commercial embedding requires publishing your source. Stricter than what most open-source tools use [README]. Fine for personal and internal business use; a legal review step if you’re building a product on top of it.
• No SaaS option. You self-host it or you don’t use it. There’s no managed cloud offering for people who want the features without the ops burden [GitHub].
• Mobile experience is rough. Functional on iOS but not responsive in the way you’d expect from a modern web app [2]. If your primary use case is uploading from a phone, factor this in.
• Solo maintainer. One person with 18 contributors. The project is healthy by star count and release cadence, but it’s not backed by a company. Long-term sustainability depends on the maintainer’s continued interest [GitHub].
• Encryption disables hotlinks. A real trade-off: if you share images and want them to preview inline (without forcing a download), you can’t use encryption [2].
• No folder sharing. Each upload is a single file. There’s no equivalent of sharing a folder with 50 files as one link [README]. You’d zip them first.
• No preview or document rendering. Recipients see a download button, not a file preview. This is by design but limits some workflows.

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Who Should Use This / Who Shouldn’t

Use Gokapi if:

• You regularly send files to clients, family, or external parties and want links that expire automatically without manual cleanup.
• You’re paying for WeTransfer Pro and your use case is genuinely just “send file, recipient downloads, file disappears.”
• You’re already running a VPS or home server and want to add file sharing without adding a full Nextcloud instance.
• You need to receive files from external parties via a controlled upload URL — the file request feature covers exactly this [3].
• Privacy matters: you don’t want a third-party platform scanning or holding your files [2].

Skip it (use Nextcloud instead) if:

• You need file sync across devices, not just one-off sharing.
• You want document collaboration, calendar, contacts — the full groupware stack.
• Your team needs to browse and manage a shared file library, not just download individual links.

Skip it (stay on WeTransfer) if:

• You send files occasionally (once a month) and the free 2 GB / 7-day limit covers your needs.
• You can’t or don’t want to manage a VPS, even a minimal one.
• Mobile uploads are your primary workflow and you need a polished mobile interface.

Skip it (use PicoShare instead) if:

• You want public uploads — Gokapi explicitly blocks anonymous upload by design. PicoShare allows public sharing with granular admin controls [2].

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Alternatives Worth Considering

• PicoShare — mentioned by the noted.lol reviewer as the closest alternative with a meaningful difference: public uploads with detailed admin controls [2]. If the admin-only upload model of Gokapi is too restrictive, PicoShare is the next stop.
• Send (timvisee fork of Firefox Send) — the community-maintained continuation of Mozilla’s original project. Noted in the noted.lol review but marked as untested by that author [2]. Allows public anonymous uploads, which Gokapi deliberately avoids.
• Nextcloud — the Swiss Army knife comparison [1]. Solves file sharing but also file sync, collaboration, contacts, calendar, and a hundred other things. Use it if you need the full suite; overkill if you just want expiring links.
• Seafile — another full file sync platform. Same trade-off as Nextcloud: more powerful, more complex, more resource-heavy [1].
• WeTransfer Pro — the SaaS option that Gokapi replaces for most users. ~$12–16/month, no server to manage, but your files live on their infrastructure.
• Lufi — another Firefox Send-era alternative, less actively maintained than Gokapi.
• Jirafeau — PHP-based, older, functional, but Gokapi’s Go stack and more recent development make it the better bet for new deployments.

For most people reading this who want to escape WeTransfer: the realistic shortlist is Gokapi vs PicoShare. Gokapi if you want strict admin-only control and expiring links. PicoShare if you want public upload capability.

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Bottom Line

Gokapi does exactly one thing: lets you share files with expiring links, from a server you control, with no public uploads and no per-GB billing. It’s not trying to be Nextcloud or a document collaboration platform. That focus is what makes it worth considering. If you’re paying $12–16/month to WeTransfer for this use case, the math on a $5 VPS running Gokapi closes fast — you break even in the first month and own the infrastructure indefinitely after that. The AGPL license and the solo maintainer situation are the honest caveats worth noting, but for personal use and internal business file sharing, neither is a practical blocker. The file request feature — shareable upload URLs for external parties — rounds out the use case that most people reach for Dropbox Transfer to solve. This is a solid, actively maintained tool for a narrow and clearly defined problem.

If deployment is the blocker, that’s exactly what unsubbed.co’s parent studio upready.dev deploys for clients. One-time setup fee, done, you own the infrastructure.

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Sources

1. Sumukh Rao, XDA Developers — “This free, self-hosted tool is a great way to share files with friends and family” (Jul 11, 2025). https://www.xda-developers.com/this-free-self-hosted-tool-great-way-share-files-with-friends-family/
2. noted.lol — “Gokapi - A Self Hosted and Lightweight Firefox Send Alternative”. https://noted.lol/gokapi-a-self-hosted-and-lightweight-firefox-send-alternative/
3. r/selfhosted (u/f0rc3u2, project developer) — “Gokapi pre-release: Self-hosted file sharing with a new ‘file request’ feature (like Dropbox Request)”. https://www.reddit.com/r/selfhosted/comments/1qnvylu/gokapi_prerelease_selfhosted_file_sharing_with_a/
4. Libre Self-hosted — “Gokapi project”. https://libreselfhosted.com/project/gokapi/
5. awesome-selfhosted.net — “Go — awesome-selfhosted”. https://awesome-selfhosted.net/platforms/go.html

Primary sources:

• GitHub repository and README: https://github.com/Forceu/Gokapi (2,700 stars, AGPL-3.0, 18 contributors, 626 commits, 38 releases)
• Docker Hub image: https://hub.docker.com/r/f0rc3/gokapi
• Official documentation: https://gokapi.readthedocs.io/en/stable/