Dolphin vs FileRun
Dolphin
apps.kde.orgFileRun
filerun.comSide by side
| Figure | Dolphin | FileRun |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | €0.82/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | — |
| Free trial | — | Yes |
| Open source | Yes | — |
| Web | — | Yes |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | — | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| iOS | — | Yes |
| Android | — | Yes |
| API | — | Yes |
| Self-hosted | — | Yes |
| Plans published | 1 | 4 |
| Spec score · File Manager Software | 8.8 (#3) | 8.6 (#9) |
| Free plan | Yes | No |
| Integrations | The product page names Git and Nextcloud plugins, and lists extensions for Google Drive, Amazon S3, Samba sharing, and local network services. | Authentication integrations include LDAP, Active Directory, OpenID Connect, SAML, ADFS, Shibboleth, Microsoft Azure, OAuth2, Authentik, Google, Dropbox, and Box. |
| Purpose | Dolphin is KDE’s file manager for browsing and managing files on hard drives, USB sticks, SD cards, and other storage. | FileRun is a self-hosted file sharing application that teams install on their own server and that uses folders already on that server. |
| Support | The product page links to the Dolphin Handbook and KDE forum for help, and to bug reporting and source code pages. | The Medium business plan includes email support with stated response targets, while Large business adds installation and configuration and weekend and holiday coverage for critical issues. |
Plans
FileRun
- Small business€9.90 a year
- Medium business€9.90 a year
- Large business€9.90 a year
- Home€99, paid once
In their own words
Dolphin
Dolphin is KDE’s file manager for browsing and managing files on local storage, including hard drives, USB sticks and SD cards, as well as remote machines and internet cloud services. It supports creating, moving, deleting, compressing, sharing and duplicating files and folders. Multiple tabs let users work in several folders, while split view supports drag-and-drop copying or moving between panes. Choose among grid, detailed and tree views, and configure most of the application’s behavior. The right-click menu supports custom actions. An integrated terminal runs commands in the current folder. Plugins extend workflows with Git and Nextcloud, while listed extensions cover services such as Google Drive, Amazon S3 and Samba. Dolphin is free and open source under GPL-2.0-or-later. Linux installation is available through AppStream stores or distribution package managers, and Flathub is listed. Windows installers are available as nightly builds for testing. KDE links to a handbook, forum, bug reporting and source code for support and contribution.
FileRun
FileRun is a self-hosted file-sharing application for teams that want files and metadata to stay on their own server. Files remain in ordinary folders rather than being stored in FileRun’s database. It runs on Linux or Windows servers, including Docker, virtual machines, and bare metal, and requires PHP and MySQL. Users can share with individuals, groups, or guests, assign access through seven roles, and set passwords, expiry dates, and download limits for public links. FileRun offers two-way desktop sync for Windows, macOS, and Linux, mobile apps for iOS and Android, WebDAV, and a REST API. Documents can be edited collaboratively through services including ONLYOFFICE, Collabora, LibreOffice Online, Google, Zoho, and Microsoft 365. Search can index document contents with Elasticsearch and Apache Tika, and OCR can read scanned PDFs and document photos. Business plans are listed at €9.90/user/yr. There is no free plan, but business users can request a free trial license for their own installation.