CottonWhy Cotton
Why Cotton

Why Cotton?

A long-form answer bank for the questions people ask before trusting a new self-hosted file cloud. Start with the basic one: what is Cotton, and why would you need it?

Self-hosted file cloudProduct fitDirect answersTradeoffs
Straight answers

The questions people ask before switching. Answered.

One question per card, a direct answer, and a small visual only when it helps. The list grows as new objections come up -- each one gets a defensible reply, not a dodge.

01

Question

Why switch to Cotton?

Answer

Because Cotton refuses three trade-offs most self-hosted clouds quietly make you accept.

  • Security that stays on. Streaming AES-GCM on every chunk, client-side encrypted folders, passkeys and signed database rows -- not an opt-in mode you forget to switch on.
  • Performance that does not flinch. 120-150 MB/s sustained uploads for hours, encrypted, in the main pipeline. No finalizing freeze, no decrypt-to-temp detour.
  • The combination is the hard part. Most products trade one for the other -- crypto slows them down, or speed means plaintext. Cotton runs encryption inside the fast path, so you never pick.
  • A UI that actually feels good. Video seek on encrypted files, audio waveforms, 3D and HEIC previews, instant search -- the browser surface is designed, not just functional.
Usually a trade-off
Secureor FastCotton: both+ real UX
02

Question

What is Cotton, and why would I need it?

Answer

Cotton is a focused self-hosted file cloud: a place to upload, browse, preview, share, version, and recover files on infrastructure you control. You need it when files are the main job, not a side tab in a larger groupware suite.

  • Use Cotton when the important object is the file, not a calendar invite or chat thread.
  • Use it when large uploads, previews, shares, snapshots, and restore behavior need to feel like one product.
  • Use it when you want a Docker-deployable file cloud with a public storage model instead of a plugin pile.
Cotton's job
StorePreviewShareRecover
03

Question

Is Cotton trying to replace every personal cloud suite?

Answer

No. Cotton is deliberately narrower. It does not try to be office editing, calendar, contacts, chat, federation, and a marketplace under one roof. That is the point. The bet is that a smaller product can go deeper on the file workflows people actually repeat every day.

  • Pick a suite when the surrounding apps are the reason you are there.
  • Pick Cotton when the file surface itself is the reason you care.
FAQ

Direct answers

Is Cotton for teams or only personal servers?

Both can fit, but the strongest fit is a person, family, creator, home NAS, or small team that wants a focused file cloud without running a full groupware platform.

Who is Cotton not for?

If you want a full groupware suite - calendar, chat, office editing, federation, an app marketplace - Cotton is deliberately not that, and a broader self-hosted suite fits better. Cotton is for people whose main job is the files themselves.

Read next
FeaturesThe product surface behind the pitch.ArchitectureThe storage model behind the product.CompareWhere Cotton fits against other file clouds.DeploymentHow the app is meant to run.