FileRise vs. nextExplorer

The best modern, self-hosted file managers that actually respect your architecture (flat shared folders, clean UI, real permissions).

Let’s compare them head-to-head on resource usage, integration fit, and long-term maintainability.

📊 Resource Usage Comparison

Feature	FileRise (PHP)	nextExplorer (Node.js + SQLite)
RAM (idle)	~80–150 MB	~120–250 MB
CPU (upload/scan)	Low (PHP-FPM scales well)	Moderate (Node.js + thumbnail workers)
Disk I/O	Light (no background indexing by default)	Higher (generates thumbnails, search index)
Startup time	Instant	2–5 sec (initializes Express + DB)
Dependencies	Apache/Nginx + PHP 8.3	Single Docker image (self-contained)

Winner for low-resource systems: FileRise
Winner for rich previews & search: nextExplorer

🔌 Integration Fit

Option 1: FileRise inside your AMP stack

✅ Perfect fit if you already run PHP apps
✅ No extra container, reuse existing Apache/PHP/MariaDB
✅ Lower overhead (shared process space)
⚠️ But: you lose isolation (a bug in FileRise could affect other PHP apps)
⚠️ Requires manual config (.htaccess, paths, permissions)

Option 2: nextExplorer as standalone Docker service

✅ Fully isolated, zero conflict with AMP
✅ Mounts /shared directly as /mnt/Public
✅ Built-in OnlyOffice support (if you ever need Office editing)
✅ Real-time search + thumbnails out of the box
❌ Slightly heavier, but still lightweight for a modern mini-PC

🛡️ Permissions & Workflow Match

Both support:

Multi-user with roles
Public share links (with expiry/password)
ACLs per folder

But:

FileRise has finer-grained ACLs (e.g., “view own uploads only”)
nextExplorer has simpler UX better for non-tech users

If you want editors to drop files into /shared/uploads that admins can instantly see/share, both work but FileRise gives more control, while nextExplorer is smoother.

🎯 Recommendation

Choose FileRise if:

You’re comfortable managing PHP apps
You want minimal RAM/CPU usage
You value granular permissions over fancy previews
You’re okay with slightly more setup

Choose nextExplorer if:

You prefer “it just works” Docker deployment
You like thumbnails, video previews, and search
You want full isolation from your AMP stack
Your hardware has ≥2GB RAM (most mini-PCs do)

💡 Pro Suggestion: Start with nextExplorer

Why?

It’s designed for a specific use case: mount host folders as volumes

The Docker Compose setup is trivial:

volumes:
  - /home/umbrel/shared:/mnt/Shared

No PHP version conflicts, no .htaccess debugging
You can always switch later

And if you later need ultra-fine permissions, add FileRise as a second tool for sensitive workflows.

Final Thought

Both are excellent, and align with a Tunnel + Coolify + shared-folder philosophy: simple, visual, and container-native.

🔗 Official site: