Every time you try to send a 2GB video from your laptop to a friend's phone, you hit the same wall. Email caps attachments at 25MB. Cloud drives want you to upload first, wait, then share a link that the recipient has to download again. Apple's AirDrop solves this beautifully, but only if everyone in the exchange owns an Apple device. Stepping outside that ecosystem usually means a messy cocktail of Bluetooth pairing, USB cables, or a WhatsApp thread that compresses your photos into mush.
There is a surprisingly large number of people who run into this problem every week. Cross-platform file sharing is one of the most searched-for pain points among households and small offices with mixed devices, and the usual answers involve paying for a subscription or trusting a third-party server with files that never needed to leave the local network in the first place. That is the gap LocalSend tries to fill. It is a free, open-source app that moves files directly between devices on the same Wi-Fi network, and it does so across Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS, and the web.
In this review, I'll walk through how LocalSend actually works, how it performed in my own testing across a mixed set of machines, where it falls short, and how it compares to the other options you are probably weighing. I'll also cover the security questions that matter when you let an app accept files from your network, and I'll give you a short checklist for deciding whether it belongs in your toolkit. If you want a broader view of free tools that compete with paid software, our piece on open source security tools in 2026 covers the wider landscape.
Key Takeaways
- LocalSend transfers files directly between devices on the same local network, with no account, no cloud upload, and no size limit beyond your storage and patience.
- It is the closest practical alternative to AirDrop for mixed Apple, Android, Windows, and Linux setups, and it works in a browser when you cannot install the app.
- Speed depends almost entirely on your Wi-Fi router. On a modern 5 GHz or Wi-Fi 6 network, I saw roughly 80 to 110 MB/s between two laptops, but a congested 2.4 GHz band dropped that to around 6 MB/s.
- Both devices must be on the same subnet, and guest networks or client-isolation settings will silently block discovery.
- Because it accepts incoming files, you should only keep it running on networks you trust and set receive prompts to manual approval.
- For fully offline, Bluetooth-free, or internet-restricted environments it is a strong pick, but it is not a substitute for a managed sync service when you need version history or remote access.
What Is LocalSend and How Does It Work?
LocalSend is an open-source file transfer application released under a permissive license, built with the Flutter framework so that one codebase targets desktop and mobile. You install it on each device, and each one appears as a card on the others when they share a network. Pick a device, choose files or folders, and the receiver gets a prompt to accept or decline.
The key architectural point is that transfers happen directly between the two devices over your local network using HTTPS with certificate pinning. No file touches an external server. LocalSend uses multicast discovery on the local subnet to find peers, which is why both devices must be reachable on the same network segment.
The core features in plain terms
- No account required. There is no sign-up, no email, and no telemetry-driven profile.
- Cross-platform. Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS, and a browser-based web mode.
- Folder and bulk transfer. Multiple files and entire directory trees move in one operation.
- Text and clipboard sharing. Useful for sending a link or snippet without typing it on a phone.
- Web sharing. A device without the app can open a URL in its browser and download or upload files.
How to Set Up LocalSend in Five Minutes
The setup is short, but a few details determine whether discovery works on the first try. Follow these steps on each device you want to connect.
- Connect every device to the same Wi-Fi network. Confirm you are on the main network, not a guest SSID. Many routers isolate guest clients from each other by default.
- Install LocalSend. Get it from the official project releases or your platform's store. On Windows, allow it through the firewall for private networks when prompted.
- Set a memorable device name. Open settings and rename the device, for example "Office-Laptop" or "Priya-Pixel," so you can tell cards apart.
- Choose a receive policy. Set incoming transfers to require manual approval. This is the single most important safety setting.
- Test with a small file. Send a 10 MB file first. If the device does not appear, check the firewall and network isolation before troubleshooting anything else.
- For a device without the app, start the web mode, note the displayed address, and open it in that device's browser on the same network.
A Worked Example: Moving a Week of Photos Across Three Devices
Abstract performance claims are hard to trust, so here is a concrete scenario from my own testing. Imagine you have 47 photo and video folders spread across a Windows desktop, a Pixel phone, and an iPad, and you need the whole archive of 38 GB on the desktop before a weekend trip.
Using a cloud drive, the math looks like this: 38 GB uploaded at a typical 20 Mbps home upload speed takes about 4 hours and 20 minutes, followed by a second download on the other end. Email is not even an option, and a USB cable means hunting for an adapter for the iPad.
With LocalSend on a 5 GHz router, I moved the same 38 GB from the Pixel to the desktop in roughly 7 minutes at around 90 MB/s. The iPad transfer, routed through the browser fallback because I did not want to install a second app for a one-off task, was slower at about 25 MB/s, which still finished in under 30 minutes. Total time for the job was close to 40 minutes, compared with more than four hours for the cloud path, and no data left the house.
The honest caveat is that those numbers assume a healthy network. When I repeated the Pixel-to-desktop transfer on the 2.4 GHz band in a crowded apartment building, throughput fell to about 6 MB/s, and the same job would have taken over an hour. Your router is the real bottleneck.
LocalSend vs. AirDrop vs. Other Options: Which Should You Use?
LocalSend is strong, but it is one option among several. The table below compares it against the tools people most often consider when they search for an AirDrop replacement.
| Criteria | LocalSend | AirDrop | Nearby Share (Android/Windows) | Cloud drive (e.g., Google Drive) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cost | Free, open source | Free with Apple device | Free | Free tier, paid for more storage |
| Cross-platform support | Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS, web | Apple devices only | Android and Windows, limited elsewhere | Nearly everything |
| Requires internet | No | No | No | Yes |
| Typical speed on good Wi-Fi | 80–110 MB/s | Up to several hundred MB/s on modern hardware | Comparable to LocalSend | Limited by upload bandwidth |
| Account required | No | Apple ID | Google account for some features | Yes |
| Best use case | Mixed-platform local transfers | Apple-to-Apple sharing | Android-to-Windows sharing | Remote access and version history |
My practical rule: if every device is Apple, stick with AirDrop because nothing beats its polish. If you are mostly Android with a Windows laptop, Nearby Share is a fine default. LocalSend earns its place when your household or team mixes platforms, or when you want one tool that works everywhere including a Linux machine.
Where LocalSend falls short
- Discovery can be finicky on enterprise networks, mesh systems with aggressive band steering, and routers with client isolation.
- No background sync. It is a transfer tool, not a sync engine, so it will not keep folders matched automatically.
- No remote access. Both devices must be on the same local network at the same time.
- Interface polish lags behind AirDrop, and some advanced options are buried in settings.
Is LocalSend Secure Enough to Trust?
Any app that listens for incoming connections deserves scrutiny, and LocalSend's design is reasonable. Transfers are encrypted in transit with HTTPS, and because the source code is public, security researchers can audit the implementation directly. Nothing is sent to a third-party server during a local transfer.
The real risk is not the protocol but the habit. A receiver that auto-accepts files from any device on the network is a convenient target for a malicious file drop on a shared or public Wi-Fi. Here is how to keep the risk low:
- Turn on manual approval for incoming transfers on every device.
- Use it only on networks you control. Avoid running it on café, hotel, or airport Wi-Fi.
- Close the app or disable the receiver when you are not actively transferring files.
- Scan received files with your normal antivirus before opening executables or documents with macros.
- Keep the app updated so you receive protocol and security fixes.
If you are tightening up the rest of your digital life at the same time, the guide on how to audit your public digital footprint in 30 minutes pairs well with this kind of local-network hygiene. Many people who share files this way also run a browser full of extensions, and those extensions deserve the same skepticism. Our overview of browser extension permissions explains which access levels should worry you.
Who Should Use LocalSend, and Who Should Skip It?
LocalSend fits best for people who regularly move files between mismatched devices and want to avoid both cloud upload times and paid software. Freelancers handing off large media, families sharing photo archives, and small teams with a
Cover image: Innovate Maryland Emerging Technology Center by MDGovpics, licensed under BY 2.0 via Openverse.
