head to head · open source
PairDrop vs Cozy
PairDrop has 11,422 GitHub stars, 691 forks, 111 open issues and last shipped 5 months ago. Cozy has 1,269 stars, 141 forks, 56 open issues and last shipped yesterday. PairDrop leads on adoption by 800% (11,422 vs 1,269 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 11%. 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 | ★ 11K | ★ 1.3K |
| License | GPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | JavaScript | Go |
| Last push | 2026-04-22 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 691 | ⑂ 141 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick PairDrop if
- You weight community size — 11K 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
PairDrop is open source JavaScript web app for file sharing. It lives in browser PWA ecosystem, using WebRTC, WebSockets, IndexedDB, Node.js. It is fork of Snapdrop. It is inspired by Apple AirDrop. It is listed as Productivity & Utilities / File Management & Sync. License is GPL 3.0. GitHub metadata lists 11390 stars and 690 forks.
read the full PairDrop overview →
About Cozy
Cozy is a platform that brings web services into one private space. Cozy Stack is the core server of the Cozy platform, and it runs as a single process. The project is written in Go, is developed by Twake Workplace, and is distributed under the AGPL v3 license. It lives in the self hosted personal cloud ecosystem, and it targets users who want to install software on their own hardware instead of relying on a third party profile.
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Frequently asked questions
Is PairDrop or Cozy more popular?
PairDrop has 11,422 GitHub stars and Cozy has 1,269. 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 (11,422 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.