IPFS
Decentralized Data ProtocolPeer-to-peer distributed file system and protocol that uses content-addressing to uniquely identify files in a global namespace
Community
Details
License MIT / Apache 2.0 (dual license)
Dev Status ⚠️ Unmaintained
Dev Status Detail Unmaintained. Kubo, Helia, Boxo and other implementations and tools, and the public infrastructure Shipyard ran, lost their dedicated maintainers when Shipyard, which maintained them, ended its IPFS work on 30 September 2026 (Protocol Labs did not renew its funding, per Shipyard; Protocol Labs says core maintainership is being reorganized). Kubo's README states there is no dedicated maintainer at the moment, and no successor or steward is named in either source. The protocol, the specifications and other implementations continue to exist, and IPFS remains in widespread production use . Previously: Released / Mature, widely deployed content-addressed networking stack; Desktop app, browser extensions and cloud pinning services broadly available
Owner Protocol Labs (founded by Juan Benet)
Owner - List
- Protocol Labs
Governing Body Company-controlled (Protocol Labs) | IETF (Internet-Drafts for CID and content-routing specifications)
Governing Body - List
- Internet Engineering Task Force
- Protocol Labs
Country USA (San Francisco, California)
Start Year 2013
Stack Go (Kubo), Rust (iroh), JavaScript (js-ipfs), Python
Funding VC + ICO (Filecoin $257M in 2017, funds Protocol Labs broadly)
Funding - List
- Protocol Labs
Last Investigated Nov 12, 2026
Decentralized Data Protocol Attributes
Owner - List
- Protocol Labs
Origins File sharing / Distributed storage
Database Content-addressed distributed storage (no traditional database)
Query Language N/A (IPFS Path/CID resolution)
Data Formats Any (content-agnostic)
Collaborative Live Editing Application-level (not protocol feature)
Rich Text Editing N/A (application-level)
Mobile Support Yes (implementations available)
Web Support Yes (HTTP gateways + js-ipfs)
Native Apps Yes (IPFS Desktop, CLI tools)
Terms Self-hosting + Free public gateways + Paid services (Pinning)
Funding - List
- Protocol Labs
Funds $257M (Filecoin Token Sale 2017 total: $52M presale + $205.8M public)
Based On BitTorrent + Git (conceptually)
Governing Body - List
- Internet Engineering Task Force
- Protocol Labs
P2P Architecture Kademlia DHT (for peer discovery)
Overlay Network Global DHT
Content Addressing Content addressing (CIDs via cryptographic hashing)
Local-First N/A (nodes store cached content)
E2EE N/A (content is public by default, E2EE at application layer)
CRDTs Lib N/A (IPFS itself doesn't use CRDTs, but can store CRDT data)
Byzantine Fault Tolerance N/A (no consensus mechanism, content integrity via hashing)
Signature Cryptographic hashing (content verification, not signing)
Permissions N/A (public by default, no built-in access control)
Semantic Web Compatibility IPLD (InterPlanetary Linked Data)
Smart Contract N/A (Filecoin has smart contracts, not IPFS)
Protocol Stack Position
Asset / Value Embedding None — IPFS is a content-addressed storage and retrieval protocol with no native token or economic incentive layer at the protocol level. Pinning services and storage nodes operate independently without protocol-mandated payment.
Protocol Maturity / Standardization IETF Draft (CIDs specified in draft-multiformats-cid; content routing via HTTP delegated routing specs; libp2p components under active IETF submission)
Relationships
How this tool connects to other tools and organizations, from relationships reviewed by the OpenHaven data steward. They describe how projects connect, not how good they are.
- Built on
- libp2p
- Developed by
- Protocol Labs
- Funded by
- Protocol Labs
- Member of suite
- Protocol Labs Suite
- Stewarded by
- Internet Engineering Task Force
- Protocol Labs
- Stores in
- Basis for
- Inspired
- Protocol spoken by
- Required by