I Tested Every AirDrop Alternative So You Don't Have To

Last week I needed to send a 3 GB video from my Android phone to a friend's MacBook. Should be easy, right? In 2026, sending a file between two devices sitting on the same table shouldn't require a computer science degree.

But here I was, staring at my phone, running through the options. AirDrop? Apple only. Quick Share? No Mac support. Email? 25 MB limit. Google Drive? Upload, wait, share link, wait for download. That's a 20-minute round trip through a data center in Virginia for a file traveling three feet.

So I went down the rabbit hole. I tested every file sharing tool I could find — the built-in ones, the indie ones, the ones with millions of users, and the ones nobody talks about. Here's what I found.

The Built-In Options (And Why They All Disappoint)

Let's get the obvious ones out of the way first.

AirDrop

Works great. If you own Apple products — and increasingly, select Android phones too.

AirDrop uses Bluetooth for discovery and Wi-Fi Direct for transfer. It's fast, it's seamless, and it has zero file size limit. The big news: as of late 2025, AirDrop interoperability with Android launched on the Pixel 10 via Quick Share, and it's expanding to Pixel 9 and more Android devices throughout 2026 (driven by EU Digital Markets Act requirements). Android users can send files directly to iPhones, iPads, and Macs.

The catch: it's still limited to a handful of Android phones right now. No Windows support. No Linux. And it only works with nearby devices — no internet transfers. If your friend has a Samsung phone or a Windows laptop, you're still out of luck.

AirDrop is getting better, but it's far from universal.

Quick Share (Google)

Google's answer to AirDrop. It's built into Android and has a Windows app you can download. Android-to-Android works well. Android-to-Windows is decent once you get the app installed. Samsung's Quick Share merged with Google's in early 2024, so it's now one unified system.

The new AirDrop interop means Pixel 10 and Pixel 9 phones can send files to iPhones, iPads, and Macs — a genuine breakthrough. But there's no official Mac or Linux app (only third-party open-source alternatives like RQuickShare). The Windows app needs both Bluetooth and Wi-Fi hardware, which some desktops don't have.

Quick Share is improving fast, especially with AirDrop interop. But it still doesn't cover Linux, desktop Macs (without third-party tools), or over-the-internet transfers. For mixed-device environments, gaps remain.

Bluetooth

I tested Bluetooth file transfer because I wanted to see if it was as slow as I remembered. It was worse. A 200 MB file took over 8 minutes between two phones sitting next to each other. Bluetooth caps out around 3 Mbps on a good day.

For a playlist or a single document, fine. For anything real, no.

The Web-Based Tools

This is where it gets interesting. Web-based tools run in your browser — no app install, works on any device. But they're not all built the same.

WeTransfer

The name everyone knows. You upload a file, get a link, send the link. Simple.

But it's cloud-based — your file gets uploaded to WeTransfer's servers, sits there for a week, and then the recipient downloads it. For a 3 GB video, that means uploading for 15 minutes on my connection, then my friend downloading for another 5. Twenty minutes for a file that could travel directly in two.

The free tier now limits you to 3 GB per transfer, 3 GB total per month, and 10 transfers per month — whichever cap you hit first. Links expire after 3 days. That's tight. And in 2025, they updated their Terms of Service to claim broad rights over uploaded content — including commercial use and AI training. They walked it back after the backlash, but the trust hit was real. Your files sit on their servers unencrypted. They can access them if they want to.

WeTransfer is fine for non-sensitive files when the other person isn't online. But for large or private files, you're paying with time and privacy.

PairDrop

PairDrop is the spiritual successor to Snapdrop (which most people remember as "that AirDrop clone for browsers"). Open source, actively maintained, runs at pairdrop.net, no account needed. It auto-discovers devices on your local network, which is a nice touch. You can also pair devices across different networks using a room code.

The transfer is peer-to-peer via WebRTC, so your files don't touch a server. On the same Wi-Fi, it's fast. It supports multi-file transfer — multiple files get bundled into a ZIP on the receiving end.

The main limitation is large file reliability. PairDrop works great for small to medium files, but multi-gigabyte transfers can get flaky, especially on mobile browsers where memory is constrained. There's no sender approval — anyone on the same network can see your device and attempt to send you files. And cross-network transfers can be slow for large files.

For quick transfers on the same network, PairDrop is solid. For large files over the internet or when you need access control, you need something else.

ShareDrop

ShareDrop was one of the original browser-based P2P file sharing tools. Key word: was. LimeWire acquired it in early 2025, the GitHub repo is archived, and the domain now redirects to LimeWire.

You can still self-host the old code if you're into that, but as a product, ShareDrop is dead. Mentioning it here because it still shows up in search results and recommendation lists that haven't been updated.

ToffeeShare

ToffeeShare gets the basics right — P2P via WebRTC, no file size limit, no account, end-to-end encrypted. The interface is clean. You can drag multiple files into a single transfer.

The dealbreaker is that there's no transfer resume. If either side loses connection — which happens all the time on mobile — the transfer fails completely and you start over. With a 10 GB file, that's a real problem. No sender approval either — anyone with the link connects immediately.

For transfers between two stable connections, ToffeeShare works well. The moment real-world conditions creep in (mobile, spotty WiFi), it falls apart.

Wormhole

Wormhole (wormhole.app) has a clever hybrid approach. Files under 5 GB get encrypted and uploaded to their servers — so the sender can close their browser and the link still works. Files over 5 GB are P2P.

The encryption is solid: the key is embedded in the URL fragment, so Wormhole's servers can't read your files. Links expire after 24 hours. You can send multiple files in a single transfer.

But there's a hard 10 GB cap. Not fully open source. No sender approval — anyone with the link downloads your files. And for the P2P mode (5-10 GB), the sender has to keep their browser open — same limitation as everyone else.

Good for one-off transfers under 10 GB, especially when the other person isn't online yet. Not suitable for anything larger.

The Native App Contender

LocalSend

LocalSend deserves special mention because it's genuinely excellent at what it does. Open source, 75,000+ GitHub stars, runs on everything — Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, iOS. Direct P2P over your local network, so it's fast. No internet required at all.

For same-network transfers, LocalSend is arguably the best option. It's what AirDrop should have been — cross-platform, open source, and fast.

The limitation is right there in the name: local. Both devices must be on the same Wi-Fi network. Need to send a file to someone across town? LocalSend can't do it. It also requires installing an app on every device, which isn't always possible on work computers.

If all your transfers happen between devices in the same room, install LocalSend. For anything over the internet, you need something else.

Send Anywhere

Send Anywhere has been around for years. It works across every platform (apps plus web), uses a 6-digit key for P2P transfers, and supports link-based sharing through their servers.

The free tier has gotten stingy: 10 GB monthly download cap, ads, and no password protection on links. The 6-digit key expires quickly, so both people need to be ready at the same time. Paid plans start at ~$6/month, which adds up.

It works, but it feels like a product that's slowly pushing everyone toward a subscription.

What I Actually Use Now

After testing all of these, my setup is straightforward:

Same room, same Wi-Fi — LocalSend for quick transfers between my own devices. The speed is hard to beat.

Across the internet, large files, or mixed devices — DirectFileTransfer. It's browser-based (works on anything), peer-to-peer (files don't touch a server), and has no file size limit or monthly cap. The sender approval feature means I know exactly who's receiving my files before anything sends — no other P2P tool does this. Auto-accept means the receiver confirms once and all subsequent files transfer automatically. On the same network, it detects LAN automatically and transfers locally.

The reason I keep coming back to browser-based P2P is that it just works everywhere. No "install this app first." No "oh wait, that only works on Mac." Open a URL on any device, connect, send. That's it.

The Comparison Table

Here's the full breakdown:

DirectFileTransfer is the only tool where both sides can send files to each other within the same session — no new room, no new link, no role reversal needed. Combined with sender approval, auto-accept, no size limits, and no monthly caps, it covers ground no other single tool does.

What Most People Actually Need

Here's the thing: most file transfer situations aren't complicated. You have a file on one device. You want it on another device. The two devices might be in the same room or different cities. The file might be 5 MB or 5 GB.

The fact that this is still a problem in 2026 says more about how tech companies have sliced up the ecosystem than about any technical limitation. The technology to send a file directly between any two devices has existed for years. The fragmentation is a business choice, not a technical one.

Pick a tool that works across everything you own. Stop fighting with ecosystem walls.