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Filament media library alternatives and comparisons
Several good tools handle media in Filament. Most are an upload field or a picker. Media Library Pro is a full asset manager: one shared library with folders, tags, a focal point, a non-destructive editor, usage tracking, chunked uploads and per-tenant isolation, built on spatie/laravel-medialibrary.
Two products, one name
ralphjsmit's plugin is also called "Media Library Pro". It is a different product by a different author (Ralph J. Smit, ralphjsmit/laravel-filament-media-library). This plugin is by Majd Hocein (hoceineel/filament-media-library-pro). The two are unrelated: no shared code, no affiliation, only a similar name. When this site says "ralphjsmit", it means his product.
Comparison matrix
| Media Library Pro | ralphjsmit Media Library Pro | awcodes Curator | tomatophp Media Manager | Official Spatie plugin | outerweb Image Library | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Filament 4 and 5 | Yes | Yes | Yes (5.x) | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Folders | Yes, nested | Yes | Not documented | Yes, optional subfolders | Not documented | Not documented |
| Tags | Yes | Yes, with spatie/laravel-tags | Not documented | Not documented | Not documented | Not documented |
| Focal point | Yes | Not documented | Not documented | Not documented | Not documented | Not documented |
| Image editor | Yes, non-destructive with versions | Yes, needs Upload Pro, overwrites the original | Per-image crops ("curations") | Not documented | Not documented | Yes, crop |
| Usage tracking and delete guard | Yes | Not documented | Not documented | Not documented | Not documented | Not documented |
| Chunked uploads | Yes | Through Upload Pro | Not documented | Not documented | Not documented | Not documented |
| Duplicate detection | Yes | Not documented | Not documented | Not documented | Not documented | Not documented |
| URL import | Yes | Not documented | Not documented | Not documented | Not documented | Not documented |
| Private per-user files | Yes | Not documented | Not documented | Password-protected folders and per-user folder access | Not documented | Not documented |
| Tenancy | Yes | Yes | Yes (config flag) | Not documented | Not documented | Not documented |
| Price model | Commercial licence, see pricing | Paid: Solo EUR 99, Unlimited EUR 199, Enterprise EUR 1,250 a year; discounted renewals | No paid tier documented | No paid tier documented | Free | MIT |
| Own compiled CSS, no theme setup | Yes | Install guide lists a CSS import into your theme | Install guide adds a CSS import and @source line to your theme | Not documented | Not documented | README says to add the plugin's CSS source to your theme |
Each row comes from the project's own README, composer.json and docs, checked in October 2026. "Not documented" means we could not find it in those sources, not that it is impossible. Open-source projects move fast, so check their repositories before you decide, and tell us if a row is out of date.
A few notes on reading the table:
- The official plugin is a form field, table column, infolist entry and rich editor integration for Spatie media. It is not a shared library, so most rows do not apply to it.
- ralphjsmit sells the editor and upload add-on separately as Upload Pro. Both are paid.
- Curator's own docs say it is not meant to be combined with Spatie Media Library. This plugin and the official plugin are built on Spatie.
Where Media Library Pro pulls ahead
An editor that keeps your original. Crop, rotate and flip, then save as a copy or a new version, and restore any version later. A focal point drives every cropped conversion. See the inspector
Know where every file is used. The inspector lists the records that use a file, an Unused view finds orphans, and deleting a file that is still in use is blocked. Folders, tags and trash
Uploads that survive big files. Chunked, parallel uploads with progress, duplicate detection, URL import and folder upload. Uploading
Private files that stay private. Mark files and folders private to their owner, with signed links and temporary S3 URLs. Private files
One library per customer. Filament tenancy, stancl/tenancy or your own resolver, with strict mode and storage quotas. Multi-tenancy
No theme setup. The library ships its own compiled CSS and follows your panel colors, fonts and dark mode. English and Arabic with right-to-left layout are included. Theming and RTL
Head to head
- Media Library Pro vs Curator: a free media picker and manager with Glide transformations and per-image crops.
- Media Library Pro vs ralphjsmit's Media Library Pro: a different paid product with the same name, built around drivers.
- Media Library Pro vs tomatophp's Media Manager: a free Spatie-based manager with password-protected folders.
When a free tool is the better pick
- You only need an upload field on a few resources. Use the official Spatie plugin: it is maintained by the Filament team, free, and files stay attached to their model.
- You want one shared set of images with on-the-fly resizing and per-image crops, and you do not need folders or tenancy. Curator is built for that.
- You need folders with a password and your files are already Spatie media. tomatophp's Media Manager covers that for free.
- You want a simple image picker with crop contexts and nothing else. outerweb's Image Library fits.
Pick Media Library Pro when several people manage a shared library, when files must be tracked, protected or isolated per customer, or when large uploads and editing without losing originals matter.
Still deciding?
Read the introduction, try the quick start, and see pricing.