KDE Connect vs tosstome
KDE Connect is much more than file transfer: it pairs your phone with your computer so they behave like one setup. tosstome only moves files and text, and needs nothing installed. If you want the whole bundle, KDE Connect is hard to beat.
What KDE Connect does
From kdeconnect.kde.org (checked 2026-10-29):
- Files and links shared between devices, and browsing the phone's files remotely.
- Phone notifications on the desktop, and replying to text messages from the computer.
- Custom commands, media control, presentation remote, virtual trackpad, ringing a lost phone, battery level.
- VPN support for networks that do not let devices talk to each other.
- "Open Source. Free to use. For any purpose. Forever."
Side by side
| KDE Connect | tosstome | |
|---|---|---|
| Install | An app on each device, paired once | Nothing; a browser on each device |
| Files and links | Yes | Yes, and text messages |
| Notifications, SMS, remote control | Yes | No |
| Different networks | Same network, or through a VPN | Yes, with a 6-digit code or inbox link |
| Someone else's device | Needs the app and pairing | Open a web page |
| Open source | Yes | Yes |
Which one to use
For your own phone and your own computer, used every day, KDE Connect gives you far more. tosstome is for the moments KDE Connect is not set up: a friend's phone, a work laptop where you cannot install software, a server with no desktop, or two devices on different networks.
What tosstome does
- Runs in the browser. Nothing to install on the sending side.
- Devices on the same network see each other automatically. On different networks, one device shows a 6-digit code and the other types it in.
- Files go device to device over WebRTC when the networks allow it. If a direct connection does not come up within a few seconds, they go through a relay on Cloudflare that forwards the bytes and keeps nothing.
- An optional command line tool,
tosstome listen, keeps an always-on inbox on a computer. It prints a link and QR code; open it on a phone and files land in a folder on that computer, with no browser open on the computer side. - Text messages and links travel the same way as files, with a Copy button on the receiving side.
- Nothing is stored. If the receiver is offline, nothing is sent.
What tosstome does not do (yet)
- The relay is protected by TLS between each device and Cloudflare, but it is not end-to-end encrypted yet. Direct WebRTC transfers are encrypted end to end by the browser (DTLS).
- A receiving browser keeps the file in memory until you save it, so very large files are better received with the command line tool, which writes straight to disk.
- Both sides must be online at the same time. There is no "upload now, download tomorrow".
- It is new. Browser-side device pairing and end-to-end encryption on the relay are still being built.
Related
- Warpinator vs tosstome
- Pushbullet vs tosstome
- Send files from Android to a PC without USB
- Snapdrop alternatives that still send peer to peer
Last checked 2026-10-28.