Open-source SwissTransfer alternatives

croc is a command line tool for transferring files and folders between any two computers. The sender gets a short code phrase, the receiver types it in, and the data moves directly between them where possible, falling back to a relay when a direct connection is not available. It is written in Go and runs on Windows, Linux and macOS.

Transfers are end-to-end encrypted using a password-authenticated key exchange, so the relay cannot read your files. Other capabilities include sending multiple files at once, resuming transfers that were interrupted, IPv6-first networking with IPv4 fallback, and routing through a proxy such as Tor. You do not need to set up a local server or forward ports. A browser version at getcroc.com is compatible with the command line client, so you can send and receive between them without installing anything.

croc is MIT licensed and can be installed from a release download or the command line. The maintainer notes that the project relies on community sponsorship. It suits anyone who regularly needs to move files between machines without cloud storage or accounts.

Magic Wormhole is a Python package that provides a library and a command-line tool named wormhole. It moves files and directories of any size, or brief snippets of text, between two computers. The two ends are matched by an identical wormhole code: the sending machine generates and shows it, and the receiving person types it in. It is released under the MIT license.

Codes are short, single-use and human-pronounceable, drawn from a phonetically distinct word list, and the receiving side offers tab completion so usually only a few characters are needed. Nothing has to be memorized. The program relies on two servers, a mailbox server and a transit relay, whose source code lives in separate repositories. The library works with Python 3.10 and newer, packages exist in many operating systems, and complete documentation is on Read the Docs along with a PyCon 2016 talk.

Gokapi is a self-hosted tool for sharing files, presented as an alternative to Firefox Send. It is written in Go and runs on Linux, macOS and Windows or in a Docker container. Unlike many upload services, it does not allow public uploads: only registered users can add files, which keeps the instance under the owner's control.

Shares can expire automatically after a set number of downloads or days. A file request feature gives outside parties a link to upload files that only the link's creator can see. Other features include user management with roles, file deduplication so identical files use no extra space, built-in encryption including end-to-end encrypted uploads, a REST API for automation and a UI that can be customized with CSS and JavaScript.

Storage can be local or AWS S3, including S3-compatible services such as Backblaze B2. OpenID Connect support allows sign-in through providers like Authelia or Keycloak. The minimum requirements are modest, around one CPU core and a few hundred megabytes of memory, and a setup wizard runs on first launch. Gokapi is licensed under AGPL-3.0.

Plik is a temporary file upload system written in Go that works like WeTransfer but runs on your own infrastructure. It has a modern Vue 3 web interface with 12 languages and light, dark, and custom themes, along with a command-line client. The input lists its license only as other.

It supports several storage backends: local disk, S3, OpenStack Swift, and Google Cloud Storage. Metadata can be stored in SQLite, PostgreSQL, or MySQL, and multiple authentication providers are available. Topics also mention end-to-end encryption, Docker deployment, and an MCP interface. Uploads are temporary, expiring after a set time.

The project provides documentation, a live demo, and Telegram channels for discussion and release announcements. Plik suits teams and homelab users who want a simple way to send large files to others without accounts on third-party services.

Sharry is a self-hosted file sharing web application. The basic idea is simple: you upload files and receive a URL that you can pass on to others, instead of sending large attachments or using a third-party sharing service.

Authenticated users can upload files with an optional password and a time period that controls how long the files remain downloadable, and the resulting public link can be shared by email. In the other direction, each registered user can maintain alias pages behind hard-to-guess URLs, which let anyone upload files to that user with a description, optionally notifying them by email. Alias pages can be disabled or deleted at any time. The upload implementation follows the tus protocol.

Sharry is built with Scala and Elm and licensed under GPL-3.0. It can be installed from a Debian package or zip file, with the Nix package manager and a NixOS module, or with Docker. Documentation is published on its website. It suits individuals and small organizations that want a private way to exchange large files.

ffsend is a command-line tool for sharing files and directories through encrypted links. It is a full-featured client for the Send service, originally known as Firefox Send, so you can upload from a terminal with one command and give the recipient a link that works in a browser or with the same tool.

Files are encrypted on your machine before upload and the secrets are never shared with the remote host. You can add a password, and the defaults limit a link to a single download or 24 hours, with options for up to 20 downloads, so files do not stay online forever. The README mentions a size limit of 1 GB on the public host. The default Send host is provided by the maintainer, who asks for donations to keep it running.

ffsend is written in Rust, licensed under GPL-3.0, and available for Linux, macOS, Windows, FreeBSD and Android, installable from crates.io and other package sources. Because it is a client, it can also point at other Send hosts. It suits developers and sysadmins who want to share files securely from the terminal.

Safebucket is an open-source platform for sharing files on infrastructure you control. Its distinguishing design choice is that uploads and downloads use presigned URLs, so file data goes straight between the user and the storage backend and bypasses the application server. That keeps the server light and avoids it becoming a bottleneck for large transfers.

The platform covers the sharing workflow with quick and reverse share links that can be protected by a password or limited by download or view count, role-based access control at platform and bucket level, and file expiration with a configurable trash retention period. Sign-in works through any OIDC provider, local accounts exist for external users, and TOTP multifactor authentication is supported. Administrators get an activity feed, audit logs and a dashboard with platform-wide statistics.

Each component, including storage, database, events, cache and notifier, can be swapped for another implementation. The backend is written in Go, is licensed under Apache-2.0 and ships as container images that are signed with cosign. A Docker-based quick start brings it up locally on port 8080.

FileShelter is a self-hosted web application for sharing files over the internet. You upload one or more files and receive a URL to pass on, which keeps the workflow light for people who want to run their own sharing service instead of using a public one. A public demo instance exists with limits of three days and 1 MB per file.

Shares have a validity period from one hour to many years, optional password protection for downloads and uploads, and hard-to-guess UUID-based links. Multi-file shares are zipped on the fly, and a private edit link lets the uploader remove files or check download counters. It supports customizable terms of service, multiple languages and a command-line tool, fileshelter-cmd, to list, create and destroy shares.

FileShelter is written in C++ with low memory needs, and its demo runs on a Raspberry Pi. After a share expires, files are deleted roughly two hours later so that in-progress downloads are not interrupted. It is released under GPL-3.0, with installation steps in the repository.

YouTransfer is a self-hosted file transfer and sharing application built as an alternative to paid services such as Dropbox and WeTransfer. It is aimed at organizations and individuals who want similar file-sharing convenience but without usage limitations, pricing tiers or a lengthy third-party privacy policy, since files stay on infrastructure the operator controls.

It is designed to be installed behind a firewall on private servers, letting teams combine easy-to-use file transfer with the security and control of self-hosting. A live but limited public demo is available, and the README recommends running it locally for the full experience.

YouTransfer can be installed quickly using a published Docker image, with additional documentation on the project's GitHub Wiki covering installation and usage in more depth. It is written in JavaScript and released under an Apache license. The README explicitly states the project is looking for a new maintainer to update outdated packages, merge pull requests and continue improving it, so prospective users should weigh its current maintenance status.