head to head · open source
uppy vs PairDrop
uppy has 30,989 GitHub stars, 2,103 forks, 186 open issues and last shipped yesterday. PairDrop has 11,439 stars, 693 forks, 111 open issues and last shipped 5 months ago. uppy leads on adoption by 171% (30,989 vs 11,439 stars). uppy is written in TypeScript under MIT; PairDrop is written in JavaScript under GPL-3.0. uppy has attracted 7% as many forks as stars, PairDrop 6%. uppy 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
| uppy | PairDrop | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 31K | ★ 11K |
| License | MIT | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | JavaScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-19 | 2026-04-22 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.1K | ⑂ 693 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick uppy if
- You weight community size — 31K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick PairDrop if
- You want the PairDrop feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You evaluated both and PairDrop fits your workflow better
About uppy
Uppy is an MIT licensed, TypeScript built, modular JavaScript file uploader for web browsers that drops into any web application, aimed at developers who would rather wire up plugins than build file uploading from scratch.
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 →
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Frequently asked questions
Is uppy or PairDrop more popular?
uppy has 30,989 GitHub stars and PairDrop has 11,439. uppy has the larger community by that measure.
Are uppy and PairDrop free?
Both are open source. uppy is licensed under MIT and PairDrop under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between uppy and PairDrop?
uppy is written in TypeScript and PairDrop in JavaScript. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, uppy or PairDrop?
Choose uppy if you want the larger community (30,989 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose PairDrop if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.