head to head · open source
LocalSend vs psitransfer
LocalSend has 99,030 GitHub stars, 5,670 forks, 1,113 open issues and last shipped 4 days ago. psitransfer has 1,975 stars, 248 forks, 109 open issues and last shipped 5 days ago. LocalSend leads on adoption by 4,914% (99,030 vs 1,975 stars). LocalSend is written in Dart under Apache-2.0; psitransfer is written in JavaScript under BSD-2-Clause. LocalSend has attracted 6% as many forks as stars, psitransfer 13%. 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 | psitransfer | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 99K | ★ 2.0K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | BSD-2-Clause |
| Written in | Dart | JavaScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-11 | 2026-11-10 |
| Forks | ⑂ 5.7K | ⑂ 248 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick LocalSend if
- You weight community size — 99K 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 psitransfer if
- You want the psitransfer feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the BSD-2-Clause license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You evaluated both and psitransfer 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 psitransfer
PsiTransfer Simple open source self hosted file sharing solution. It's an alternative to paid services like Dropbox, WeTransfer. No accounts, no logins Mobile friendly responsive interface Supports many and very big files (Streams ftw) Resumable up and downloads (tus.io) Set an expire time for your upload bucket One time downloads Download all files as zip/tar.gz archive Modal style file preview Requires Node =7.4 or use harmony async await flag Password protected download list (AES) /admin Page lists bucket information, Screenshot ( disabled until you set adminPass config value ) Lightweight Vue based frontend…
read the full psitransfer overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is LocalSend or psitransfer more popular?
LocalSend has 99,030 GitHub stars and psitransfer has 1,975. LocalSend has the larger community by that measure.
Are LocalSend and psitransfer free?
Both are open source. LocalSend is licensed under Apache-2.0 and psitransfer under BSD-2-Clause. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between LocalSend and psitransfer?
LocalSend is written in Dart and psitransfer in JavaScript. 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 psitransfer?
Choose LocalSend if you want the larger community (99,030 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose psitransfer if its feature set, stack or BSD-2-Clause licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.