head to head · open source
LocalSend vs walk
LocalSend has 92,857 GitHub stars, 5,190 forks, 1,113 open issues and last shipped yesterday. walk has 3,641 stars, 107 forks, 10 open issues and last shipped 9 months ago. LocalSend leads on adoption by 2,450% (92,857 vs 3,641 stars). LocalSend is written in Dart under Apache-2.0; walk is written in Go under MIT. LocalSend has attracted 6% as many forks as stars, walk 3%. LocalSend 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 | walk | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 93K | ★ 3.6K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | Dart | Go |
| Last push | 2026-09-27 | 2026-01-06 |
| Forks | ⑂ 5.2K | ⑂ 107 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick LocalSend if
- You weight community size — 93K 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 walk if
- You want the walk feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You evaluated both and walk 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 walk
Walk is an MIT licensed terminal file manager written in Go that replaces the familiar pairing of cd and ls with an interactive navigator, aimed at developers and other command line users who want to move through the filesystem with arrow keys or hjkl instead of typing paths.
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Frequently asked questions
Is LocalSend or walk more popular?
LocalSend has 92,857 GitHub stars and walk has 3,641. LocalSend has the larger community by that measure.
Are LocalSend and walk free?
Both are open source. LocalSend is licensed under Apache-2.0 and walk under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between LocalSend and walk?
LocalSend is written in Dart and walk in Go. 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 walk?
Choose LocalSend if you want the larger community (92,857 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose walk if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.