head to head · open source
PairDrop vs Cozy
PairDrop has 11,740 GitHub stars, 720 forks, 111 open issues and last shipped 7 months ago. Cozy has 1,268 stars, 147 forks, 56 open issues and last shipped yesterday. PairDrop leads on adoption by 826% (11,740 vs 1,268 stars). PairDrop is written in JavaScript under GPL-3.0; Cozy is written in Go under AGPL-3.0. PairDrop has attracted 6% as many forks as stars, Cozy 12%. Cozy 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
| PairDrop | Cozy | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 12K | ★ 1.3K |
| License | GPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | JavaScript | Go |
| Last push | 2026-04-22 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 720 | ⑂ 147 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick PairDrop if
- You weight community size — 12K stars and counting
- You want the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Cozy if
- You want the Cozy feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You evaluated both and Cozy fits your workflow better
About PairDrop
Send it , with PairDrop Local file sharing in your web browser . Inspired by Apple's AirDrop. Fork of Snapdrop. Report a bug Request feature Features File sharing on your local network that works on all platforms. A multi platform AirDrop like solution that works. Send images, documents or text via peer to peer connection to devices on the same local network. Internet transfers Join temporary public rooms to transfer files easily over the Internet. Web app Works on all devices with a modern web browser. Send a file from your phone to your laptop? Share photos in original quality with friends using Android and…
read the full PairDrop overview →
About Cozy
Twake Workplace ========== What is Cozy? Cozy is a platform that brings all your web services in the same private space. With it, your web apps and your devices can share data easily, providing you with a new experience. You can install Cozy on your own hardware where no one profiles you. What is the Cozy Stack It is the core server of the Cozy platform. It consists of a single process, the Cozy stack . Full Cozy Stack documentation here. The Cozy Stack is in charge of serving the Web applications users have installed from the application store. It provides its services through a REST API that allows to: create…
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Frequently asked questions
Is PairDrop or Cozy more popular?
PairDrop has 11,740 GitHub stars and Cozy has 1,268. PairDrop has the larger community by that measure.
Are PairDrop and Cozy free?
Both are open source. PairDrop is licensed under GPL-3.0 and Cozy under AGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between PairDrop and Cozy?
PairDrop is written in JavaScript and Cozy 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, PairDrop or Cozy?
Choose PairDrop if you want the larger community (11,740 stars) or its GPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose Cozy if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.