head to head · open source
LocalSend vs dufs
LocalSend has 97,058 GitHub stars, 5,516 forks, 1,113 open issues and last shipped yesterday. dufs has 11,021 stars, 615 forks, 18 open issues and last shipped 4 days ago. LocalSend leads on adoption by 781% (97,058 vs 11,021 stars). LocalSend is written in Dart under Apache-2.0; dufs is written in Rust under Apache-2.0. LocalSend has attracted 6% as many forks as stars, dufs 6%. LocalSend was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (file-sharing), so they are genuine substitutes rather than adjacent tools.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
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Side by side
| LocalSend | dufs | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 97K | ★ 11K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Dart | Rust |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-10-30 |
| Forks | ⑂ 5.5K | ⑂ 615 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick LocalSend if
- You weight community size — 97K stars and counting
- You want the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Dart
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick dufs if
- You want the dufs feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Rust
- You evaluated both and dufs fits your workflow better
About LocalSend
LocalSend [![CI status][ci badge]][ci workflow] [![Translations][translate badge]][translate link] [![Packaging status][packaging badge]][packaging link] [ci badge]: [ci workflow]: [translate badge]: [translate link]: [packaging badge]: [packaging link]: [Homepage][homepage] • [Discord][discord] • [GitHub][github] • [Codeberg][codeberg] English (Default) • 中文 [homepage]: [discord]: [github]: [codeberg]: LocalSend is a free, open source app that allows you to securely share files and messages with nearby devices over your local network without needing an internet connection. About Sponsors Screenshots Download…
read the full LocalSend overview →
About dufs
Dufs Dufs is a distinctive utility file server that supports static serving, uploading, searching, accessing control, webdav... Features Serve static files Download folder as zip file Upload files and folders (Drag & Drop) Create/Edit/Search files Resumable/partial uploads/downloads Access control Support https Support webdav Easy to use with curl Install With cargo With docker With Homebrew Binaries on macOS, Linux, Windows Download from Github Releases, unzip and add dufs to your $PATH. CLI Examples Serve current working directory in read only mode Allow all operations like upload/delete/search/create/edit…
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Frequently asked questions
Is LocalSend or dufs more popular?
LocalSend has 97,058 GitHub stars and dufs has 11,021. LocalSend has the larger community by that measure.
Are LocalSend and dufs free?
Both are open source. LocalSend is licensed under Apache-2.0 and dufs under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between LocalSend and dufs?
LocalSend is written in Dart and dufs in Rust. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, LocalSend or dufs?
Choose LocalSend if you want the larger community (97,058 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose dufs if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.