head to head · open source
LocalSend vs flea
LocalSend has 94,026 GitHub stars, 5,257 forks, 1,113 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. flea has 767 stars, 87 forks, 85 open issues and last shipped yesterday. LocalSend leads on adoption by 12,159% (94,026 vs 767 stars). LocalSend is written in Dart under Apache-2.0; flea is written in Shell under MIT. LocalSend has attracted 6% as many forks as stars, flea 11%. flea was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
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 | flea | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 94K | ★ 767 |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | Dart | Shell |
| Last push | 2026-10-10 | 2026-10-11 |
| Forks | ⑂ 5.3K | ⑂ 87 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick LocalSend if
- You weight community size — 94K 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 flea if
- You want the flea feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Shell
- You evaluated both and flea fits your workflow better
About LocalSend
LocalSend is a free, open source, cross platform application that shares files and messages directly between nearby devices over the local network, and it is built for anyone who wants AirDrop style transfers without an internet connection or a third party server.
read the full LocalSend overview →
About flea
Flea is a fast, keyboard first GUI file manager for the Omarchy desktop on Linux, built with a Quickshell front end and a Rust backend for people who navigate and manage files from the keyboard.
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Frequently asked questions
Is LocalSend or flea more popular?
LocalSend has 94,026 GitHub stars and flea has 767. LocalSend has the larger community by that measure.
Are LocalSend and flea free?
Both are open source. LocalSend is licensed under Apache-2.0 and flea under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between LocalSend and flea?
LocalSend is written in Dart and flea in Shell. 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 flea?
Choose LocalSend if you want the larger community (94,026 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose flea if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.