Comparison

FileBrowser vs Browser & File Manager

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

FileBrowser

Access and manage files across your home computers, network drives, and cloud storage. Upload, download, copy, and edit documents directly from your device, with built-in viewers for various file types and streaming capabilities.

Highlights
  • Connect to computers, NAS, and cloud storage
  • Upload, download, copy, and move files
  • Multi-tabbed browsing and split-screen support
  • Edit documents in-place
  • Built-in viewers for documents, photos, and media
  • Stream movies and music with AirPlay/Chromecast
  • Annotate PDFs and images
Currently charting
Read full description

Use your iPad or iPhone to connect to your home computers, network drives and cloud storage. Easily upload/download/copy files and folders from one location to another, and browse your content using a variety of built-in viewers. *** FileBrowser remains the best option if you're looking for a file manager that supports a variety of external connections and also integrates deeply with iOS - Federico Viticci - MacStories *** *** FileBrowser's setup varies for every device, and the automatic wizards work super-well. Charlie Sorrel - Cult of Mac *** Ultra-fast browsing of your computers. Faster than Windows Explorer or Mac Finder and our users agree! GET ORGANIZED FileBrowser gives you everything you need to keep your files effortlessly organized: Move, edit, delete, rename, copy, zip and unzip. Download files from the web and paste them wherever you choose. MULTI-TABBED BROWSING Our FileBrowser suite of apps are the first file management apps to support multiple tabs. Connect to many of your locations at once and switch between them with ease. Use iPadOS split-screen mode to drag & drop between multiple windows. CONNECT TO Windows, Mac, Linux, Time Capsule, NAS drives, portable WiFi drives, SMB, Samba. Google Drive, Dropbox, Box, OneDrive, WebDAV, FTP and SFTP. Link to the same cloud storage with multiple accounts, if you have more than one Dropbox account, for example. EXTEND THE FILES APP FileBrowser allows you to access all your connections from the iOS Files app and other apps that use this as their document chooser, bringing network access to those apps. EDIT IN-PLACE No more copying of documents between apps. Launch an app to edit a network document in-place, such as Word or Pages or any of the Office and Mac suite. Changes are saved to the original document automatically. BLAZINGLY FAST Create bookmarks to your favorite locations & folders. Use a single tap to connect and browse to a favorite folder. PHOTO VIEWER Browse your photos wherever they are stored and display them on your TV or projector using AirPlay or Chromecast. Easily flick through holiday snaps or use the built-in slideshow feature. STREAM YOUR MOVIES / MUSIC Stream movie files or listen to music, both with AirPlay™ and Chromecast support. Use our built-in viewers or stream video to other apps. DOCUMENT VIEWER View Microsoft Office, Apple Pages, Numbers, KeyNote, PDF, text files, source code, HTML, and many more using the built-in viewers. ANNOTATE PDFS AND IMAGES Use the built-in annotation tools for PDFs and images, or use the iOS annotation tools to add notes, drawings or highlight text. SECURITY AND ENCRYPTION FileBrowser securely stores your passwords in the iOS keychain and uses iOS encryption features to protect your local content. Protect local files using a password, TouchID or FaceID. CONNECT ANYWHERE Connect to your Mac or PC when away from home. See our website for details: https://www.stratospherix.com/setupvpn TOO MANY FEATURES TO LIST FileBrowser has many features that we would like to tell you about. Check out our website. You'll be amazed! https://www.stratospherix.com/products/filebrowser FIRST CLASS SUPPORT User manuals and help are available at stratospherix.com/support with how-to articles and videos. You can also email us for fast, friendly support.

About

Browser & File Manager

This app combines a web browser, download manager, and file manager with built-in viewers for photos and documents. It allows for offline web page saving, background downloading, archive extraction, and secure access with a passcode.

Highlights
  • Integrated web browser with multi-page support
  • Download manager with background downloading and resume capability
  • File manager with folder support and archive extraction
  • Photo viewer for common image formats
  • Document viewer for various file types
  • Passcode lock for secure access
Features
Read full description

a web browser, a download manager, a file manager, a photo viewer and a document viewer, so let’s look at these individually. Integrated web browser - Supports multiple page browsing - Tap and hold to force download - Show all links in the current page - Save web pages with images for offline viewing - Bookmark manager - History support Download manager - Supports resuming of interrupted downloads reliably - Live download progress bar and speed indicator - Background downloading File manager - Folder support - Thumbnails view - Sorting by name, kind, size, date - Send files as email attachments - Save photos/videos to Camera Roll - Extract Zip,Rar,7z archives Photo viewer - Photo viewer that supports .jpg, .png, .tif and .bmp file formats - Thumbnails view - Playlists support Document viewer - Document viewer that supports .pdf, .pages, .numbers, .key, .doc, .xls, .ppt and .rtf file formats Passcode lock - Use a passcode to protect access ** This app does not support downloading of video or audio content. **

Screenshots

FileBrowser4 screens
Browser & File Manager3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: Browser & File Manager at Free against FileBrowser's $7.99. Browser & File Manager also leads on iOS requirement (7.0 vs 15.6). FileBrowser's advantage is rating (4.7 vs 3.3) and update cadence (every 5 weeks vs every 5 months). On ads, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Browser & File Manager is free to download; FileBrowser costs $7.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

FileBrowser holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 3.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: FileBrowser has 5.6K ratings behind it against 301, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 82% of FileBrowser's written reviews are positive against 64% of Browser & File Manager's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

FileBrowser ships an update every 5 weeks, Browser & File Manager every 5 months. The most recent releases landed on September 29, 2026 and August 31, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard8 real differences · 3 level
FileBrowser versus Browser & File Manager: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterFileBrowserBrowser & File Manager
Price$7.99Free — better
Rating4.7 (5.6K ratings) — better3.3 (301 ratings)
Positive reviews82.1% of reviews — better64.2% of reviews
Number of ratings5.6K — better301
Update frequencyEvery 5 weeks — betterEvery 5 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidFree — better
Best chart rank#82 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.67.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size70 MB51 MB
Age rating4+17+
DeveloperStratospherix Ltd书穗 林

Customer experience

FileBrowser

All ratings5,642 ratings
Positive94.2%
Neutral2.4%
Negative3.4%
Written reviews1,157 reviews
Positive82.1%
Neutral6.1%
Negative11.8%

Browser & File Manager

All ratings301 ratings
Positive53.8%
Neutral9.3%
Negative36.9%
Written reviews226 reviews
Positive64.2%
Neutral5.8%
Negative30.1%

User reviews

FileBrowser

From 5.6K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Great file manager
  • 🚀 Powerful and versatile
  • 🔒 Secure access to files
  • 💡 Excellent integration with iOS Files app
  • 👍 Reliable and stable

Room to improve

  • 🐛 SMB connection issues
  • 🐛 Misleading directory caching
  • 🐛 Video playback problems
  • 🐛 Buggy UI changes
  • 🐛 Inability to rename photos

Browser & File Manager

From 301 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Works on old devices
  • 💡 Supports various file types
  • 🚀 Fast download speeds

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Crashes and bugs
  • 🔒 Security and privacy concerns
  • 🔋 Drains battery quickly

Bugs and requests

FileBrowser

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Copy and paste functionality broken after update
  • Inability to access iCloud files
  • Crashes when accessing large files
  • Thumbnails not generating properly

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add support for AV1 video codec
  • Improve audio playback controls
  • Implement a recycle bin/trash feature
  • Add option to loop video playback
  • Improve video scrubbing and seeking

Browser & File Manager

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Settings don't save properly
  • Unable to download certain file types
  • Inconsistent behavior when phone is locked

Requested features

3 requests
  • Add support for MP4 and MP3 downloads
  • Improve file management and organization
  • Integrate with cloud storage services

In-app purchases

None

FileBrowser

No in-app purchases

None

Browser & File Manager

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is FileBrowser free?
FileBrowser costs $7.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is Browser & File Manager free?
Browser & File Manager is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, FileBrowser or Browser & File Manager?
FileBrowser is rated higher. FileBrowser averages 4.7 out of 5 from 5.6K ratings, while Browser & File Manager averages 3.3 from 301 ratings.
Do FileBrowser or Browser & File Manager have ads?
Neither FileBrowser nor Browser & File Manager shows ads.
Which is updated more often, FileBrowser or Browser & File Manager?
FileBrowser ships an update every 5 weeks, and Browser & File Manager every 5 months. Most recently, FileBrowser was updated on September 29, 2026 and Browser & File Manager on August 31, 2026.

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