Hydrus Network manages large media libraries with tags, imports files and tags from local drives or websites, and supports user-run sharing servers.
hydrus
Hydrus Network organizes large media collections with tags instead of folders and can import files and tags from local storage or websites.
About hydrus
Hydrus Network is a desktop file-management application for large personal media collections. It is built around tag-based search rather than folders, in a style the developer compares to a personal booru. It is intended for internet-fluent people with 10,000 or more files who struggle to find items. The developer describes it as advanced and not a beautiful one, and some supported file types such as PDF must be opened with the operating system's default program.
Key features
- Tracks files by hash, which helps eliminate duplicates and attach metadata such as tags and ratings.
- Imports files and tags from local storage and popular websites.
- Downloads files and parses tags or other metadata from simple websites using shareable user-made downloaders.
- Subscribes to gallery searches and repeats them every few days to find new results.
- Supports image, video and audio files, image project files, and more.
- Plays audio and video through an mpv embed or native Qt player.
- Lets users share tags anonymously through a public server.
Best for: Internet-fluent people with large media collections, especially 10,000 or more files, who want tag-based search instead of folders.
Watch out for
- Executable releases are listed for Windows and Linux; macOS users run the program from source code.
hydrus at a glance
- Category
- Design & Creative › Stock Photos & Visuals
- Type
- App
- Pricing
- Free
- Platforms
- Windows, Linux, macOS
- Details verified
- Oct 22, 2026 · Official source
- Open source
- Yes
- Language
- English
- Last checked
- Oct 5, 2026 · Online when checked
- Listed
- Oct 5, 2026
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hydrus FAQ
Does Hydrus manage files in their original locations?
No. Importing makes a copy in Hydrus's internal database, and the client does not access the original file again. Path text can be preserved as tags during import if needed.
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