BucketDeskWhen to use Storage Browser for Amazon S3, the AWS file browser component
Storage Browser for Amazon S3 is an open source React component you add to your own app. Choose it when the job is direct S3 file management inside a product you already run. Choose a workspace when people need to open, share and act on what the files contain.
Use Storage Browser for direct, AWS native object management. Use a hosted workspace when users need to read, share or process what the files contain, without your team building and hosting the app.
Storage Browser for Amazon S3 is an open source component from AWS, part of the Amplify React library, that you add to your own web or intranet application. It gives your signed-in users a file browser where they can list, download, upload, copy and delete objects in S3, and your team hosts the app and sets up how people sign in.
That makes it one specific kind of S3 file browser. If you are comparing every way to browse a bucket, including the AWS console and desktop clients such as Cyberduck, S3 Browser and Transmit, start with the S3 file browser comparison linked in the next section. This article covers when Storage Browser itself is the right choice.
Use Storage Browser when the object operation is the product
Storage Browser is a strong fit when users need a familiar graphical interface for direct S3 operations and the rest of your application already owns identity, authorization and workflow.
S3 file browser options compared
- Your application is React based and Amazon S3 is the only storage target.
- Your files are not in S3 Glacier Flexible Retrieval, S3 Glacier Deep Archive or the Intelligent-Tiering archive tiers, which the component cannot reach.
- The main actions are list, get, upload, copy and delete.
- Your team is comfortable configuring Cognito, Amplify Auth, IAM principals or S3 Access Grants.
- Users do not require Office rendering, document AI, archive safety review or long running processing.
- You want an AWS maintained component that can be styled inside an existing product.
Understand the integration work
Storage Browser does not remove the need for access design. AWS documents three authorization approaches covering customers and partners, IAM principals, and access at scale through IAM Identity Center and S3 Access Grants.
Because the component calls the S3 REST API from the browser, each accessed bucket also needs an appropriate CORS configuration. That policy should name the actual application origin and only the methods the product requires.
Use a workspace when the content is the job
A broader product becomes useful when opening the object is only the beginning. BucketDesk is a hosted workspace on top of your buckets: you connect a bucket with a scoped IAM role deployed by CloudFormation, people sign in to BucketDesk in their browser, and BucketDesk hosts and runs the app.
- Preview files
PDF, images including HEIC, text, HTML and Markdown on every plan; Word, Excel, PowerPoint, audio and video on Standard.
- Inspect archives
look inside a zip before extracting it, with object count, collisions and estimated cost shown first.
- Restore cold files
Ultra operators request restores from Glacier and Deep Archive one object at a time.
See every feature with its plan and limits
Minimum is free for one bucket. Office and media previews, sharing and archive operations are on Standard at $100 a month; uploads, delete and Glacier restore are on Ultra at $350 a month, with a one-month free trial.
The two products can coexist
Storage Browser can be the direct object management surface while a workspace handles previews, processing and governed workflows. Using the AWS component for commodity operations can reduce development effort, provided its authorization model matches the product.
Minimum is free. Deploy a scoped role with CloudFormation, sign in, and browse, without handing anyone an access key.
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