Tiny File Manager Review, Pricing & Features

Tiny File Manager is a free single-file PHP web file manager. See its features, GitHub project, code editor, and how it compares to other file managers.

Category
File Management
Pricing
open-source, from Free
Verified
Not yet
Last updated
July 19, 2026
Founded
2017
Web AppOpen SourceSelf-Hosted

What Is Tiny File Manager

Tiny File Manager is a free, open-source web-based file manager distributed as a single PHP file, created by developer Prasath Mani and first published on GitHub in July 2017. Unlike most file management software, it requires no database, no framework and almost no configuration: copying one PHP file to a web server is enough to get a working file browser accessible from any browser.

The project is released under the GPL-3.0 open-source license and has grown to roughly six thousand GitHub stars, making it one of the more widely used lightweight, self-hosted file managers in the PHP ecosystem. It is maintained as a community project rather than by a commercial company, with contributions accepted through GitHub.

Because of its minimal footprint, Tiny File Manager is popular among developers, sysadmins and hobbyists who need a quick way to browse and manage files on a server that does not already have a full file management panel installed, including shared hosting environments, small VPS instances and self-hosted home server setups.

Key Features

The core feature set covers standard file operations performed through a browser: upload, download, rename, copy, move, delete, and create new files and folders, along with previewing images, video and text files directly in the interface.

Tiny File Manager includes a built-in code editor powered by Cloud9, supporting syntax highlighting for more than 150 programming languages and over 35 visual themes, so developers can edit configuration files or scripts directly in the browser without a separate FTP or SSH session.

It also supports compressing files into zip or tar archives and extracting existing archives, basic multi-user authentication with configurable folder-level permissions, and a translation system covering more than 50 interface languages, all while remaining responsive on desktop, tablet and mobile screens.

Pricing

Tiny File Manager is completely free and open source under the GPL-3.0 license, with no paid tier, subscription or usage limits. Anyone can download, modify and redistribute the code at no cost.

Because it has no vendor or hosted service behind it, there are no pricing plans to compare; the only cost is the hosting environment the user already runs it on.

Key Features

Pros & Cons

Pros

  • Completely free and open source with no licensing cost
  • Extremely simple to install, requiring only a single PHP file
  • Built-in code editor eliminates the need for separate FTP plus text editor workflows
  • Actively maintained on GitHub with a large community and thousands of stars
  • No database dependency, keeping the footprint and attack surface small

Cons

  • Being a single publicly known PHP file, default installations are a common target for attackers if not renamed and secured properly
  • Lacks enterprise features like audit logging, granular API access or SSO found in commercial file management platforms
  • No official managed hosting or paid support option
  • Interface is functional but visually basic compared to modern commercial file managers
  • Relies on the security of the underlying PHP hosting environment, so misconfiguration can expose sensitive files

Pricing

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Tiny File Manager?

Tiny File Manager is a free, open-source web-based file manager built as a single PHP file that lets you upload, edit, delete and manage files on a web server through your browser.

Is Tiny File Manager free?

Yes, it is completely free and open source under the GPL-3.0 license, with no paid tiers or usage limits.

Does Tiny File Manager require a database?

No, Tiny File Manager has no database dependency. It only requires a PHP-enabled web server to run.

Who created Tiny File Manager?

Tiny File Manager was created by developer Prasath Mani and first published on GitHub in July 2017.

Does Tiny File Manager have a code editor?

Yes, it includes a built-in Cloud9-based code editor with syntax highlighting for more than 150 programming languages and over 35 themes.

Is Tiny File Manager secure?

It includes basic authentication and configurable folder permissions, but because it is a well-known single PHP file, administrators are advised to rename the file and add extra server-level protection to reduce exposure.

Can Tiny File Manager compress and extract files?

Yes, it supports compressing files into zip or tar archives and extracting existing archives directly from the browser interface.

Is Tiny File Manager the same as TinaCMS?

No. Tiny File Manager is a standalone lightweight PHP file browser, while TinaCMS is an unrelated headless content management system for React-based websites.

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