PairDrop vs tosstome
PairDrop is the most complete open source Snapdrop successor, and for browser-to-browser sharing it is excellent. tosstome overlaps with it on purpose, and differs in one place: receiving on a computer that has no browser open.
What PairDrop does well
From the PairDrop README (checked 2026-10-28):
- Peer-to-peer sharing between devices on the same local network, in the browser
- Persistent pairing with a 6-digit code or QR code, so paired devices find each other on any network
- Temporary public rooms for one-off transfers over the internet
- A TURN server for devices behind NAT, so connections work on public Wi-Fi, company networks and VPNs
- Sending from the Share menu on iOS and Android, and a
pairdrop-clifor sending from a terminal - Translated into dozens of languages, GPL-3.0, self-hostable
The gap: receiving without a browser
PairDrop receives in a browser tab. Users have asked for a headless receiver, for example "a headless container / VM which is constantly open for receiving data and linked to my NAS" (issue #357) and "send files from my phone to home server (headless, cli only)" (issue #430). The maintainer answered that it is out of scope and will not be implemented in the near term. That is a fair call for PairDrop, and it is the gap tosstome was built around.
Side by side
| PairDrop | tosstome | |
|---|---|---|
| Nearby discovery in the browser | Yes | Yes |
| Across networks | Paired devices, public rooms, TURN | 6-digit code, relay fallback on Cloudflare |
| Persistent pairing in the browser | Yes | Not yet |
| Receive on a headless computer | No (declined in #357 and #430) | Yes, tosstome listen with a fixed link and QR code |
| Send from a terminal | Yes, pairdrop-cli | Yes, tosstome send FILE --to LINK |
| Languages | Many | English |
| Files stored | No | No |
| Self-host | Node.js / Docker | One Cloudflare Worker |
Which one to use
For sharing between phones and laptops that all have a browser open, PairDrop is the more polished choice today. Pick tosstome when the receiver is a server, a NAS, a home computer or a script, something that should accept files from your phone at any time without a tab open.
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. - 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.
Last checked 2026-10-28.