head to head · open source
LocalSend vs ranger
LocalSend has 97,227 GitHub stars, 5,521 forks, 1,113 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. ranger has 17,448 stars, 940 forks, 896 open issues and last shipped 2 months ago. LocalSend leads on adoption by 457% (97,227 vs 17,448 stars). LocalSend is written in Dart under Apache-2.0; ranger is written in Python under GPL-3.0. LocalSend has attracted 6% as many forks as stars, ranger 5%. 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 | ranger | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 97K | ★ 17K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Dart | Python |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-09-09 |
| Forks | ⑂ 5.5K | ⑂ 940 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick LocalSend if
- You weight community size — 97K 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 ranger if
- You want the ranger feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and ranger 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 ranger
Ranger 1.9.4 ============ Ranger is a console file manager with VI key bindings. It provides a minimalistic and nice curses interface with a view on the directory hierarchy. It ships with rifle , a file launcher that is good at automatically finding out which program to use for what file type. For mc aficionados there's also the multi pane viewmode. This file describes ranger and how to get it to run. For instructions on the usage, please read the man page ( man ranger in a terminal). See HACKING.md for development specific information. For configuration, check the files in ranger/config/ or copy the default…
read the full ranger overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is LocalSend or ranger more popular?
LocalSend has 97,227 GitHub stars and ranger has 17,448. LocalSend has the larger community by that measure.
Are LocalSend and ranger free?
Both are open source. LocalSend is licensed under Apache-2.0 and ranger under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between LocalSend and ranger?
LocalSend is written in Dart and ranger in Python. 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 ranger?
Choose LocalSend if you want the larger community (97,227 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose ranger if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.