head to head · open source
RustDesk vs LocalSend
RustDesk has 127,925 GitHub stars, 20,252 forks, 147 open issues and last shipped yesterday. LocalSend has 97,058 stars, 5,516 forks, 1,113 open issues and last shipped yesterday. RustDesk leads on adoption by 32% (127,925 vs 97,058 stars). RustDesk is written in Rust under AGPL-3.0; LocalSend is written in Dart under Apache-2.0. RustDesk has attracted 16% as many forks as stars, LocalSend 6%. RustDesk was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 3 topic tags (dart, flutter, flutter-apps), 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.
← all 20902 open source comparisons
Side by side
| RustDesk | LocalSend | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 128K | ★ 97K |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Rust | Dart |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 20K | ⑂ 5.5K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick RustDesk if
- You weight community size — 128K stars and counting
- You want the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Rust
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick LocalSend if
- You want the LocalSend feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Dart
- You evaluated both and LocalSend fits your workflow better
About RustDesk
Build • Docker • Structure • Screenshots [ Українська ] [ česky ] [ 中文 ] [ Magyar ] [ Español ] [ فارسی ] [ Français ] [ Deutsch ] [ Polski ] [ Indonesian ] [ Suomi ] [ മലയാളം ] [ 日本語 ] [ Nederlands ] [ Italiano ] [ Русский ] [ Português (Brasil) ] [ Esperanto ] [ 한국어 ] [ العربي ] [ Tiếng Việt ] [ Dansk ] [ Ελληνικά ] [ Türkçe ] [ Norsk ] [ Română ] We need your help to translate this README, RustDesk UI and RustDesk Doc to your native language [!Caution] Misuse Disclaimer: The developers of RustDesk do not condone or support any unethical or illegal use of this software. Misuse, such as unauthorized access…
read the full RustDesk overview →
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 →
More in Productivity & Utilities
Related comparisons
Frequently asked questions
Is RustDesk or LocalSend more popular?
RustDesk has 127,925 GitHub stars and LocalSend has 97,058. RustDesk has the larger community by that measure.
Are RustDesk and LocalSend free?
Both are open source. RustDesk is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and LocalSend under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between RustDesk and LocalSend?
RustDesk is written in Rust and LocalSend in Dart. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, RustDesk or LocalSend?
Choose RustDesk if you want the larger community (127,925 stars) or its AGPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose LocalSend if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.