Comparison
Snapdrop alternatives that never upload your file
Most tools that replaced Snapdrop quietly solved cross-network transfer by putting your file on somebody's server. PrivyDrop does not have an endpoint that accepts a file, so it cannot. Here is the full picture, including the cases where we are the worse option.
What happened to Snapdrop
Snapdrop and ShareDrop were acquired by LimeWire in February 2025. Checked in October 2026, the site still loads but it is no longer the same product: the upload script posts to api.limewire.com, the logo is signed “by lw”, and the file that used to negotiate a browser-to-browser connection contains no WebRTC code at all. Uploads now go through LimeWire's servers, which is the one thing Snapdrop originally existed to avoid. A room is a short-lived upload slot rather than a peer-to-peer connection between two browsers. None of this needs taking on trust: the site is still open source and every script above is still served from snapdrop.net.
Why almost every alternative uploads to a server
Snapdrop's original limitation was real: it only worked when both devices were on the same network. Nearly every replacement solved this the same way, by routing the file through a hosted server. It is the obvious engineering answer, and it has one consequence worth being explicit about: whoever runs that server now handles your file in plaintext. That is fine for a holiday photo. It is a different question for a passport scan, a contract or a customer list.
How PrivyDrop moves a file
- Your browser asks our server to open a room. The server creates a short random ID and remembers nothing else about it.
- You share that room ID with the other person however you like. There is no account to create and no link that can outlive the transfer.
- The two browsers negotiate a WebRTC connection directly. Your file travels over that connection, encrypted end to end between the two devices.
- If a direct path is blocked by a corporate firewall or a mobile network, ICE falls back to a relay. The relay forwards packets it has no key for and cannot read.
- When the last person leaves, the room is dropped after 15 minutes. A room nobody leaves properly lingers for up to 24 hours. Either way there is no copy of anything, because there never was one.
Side by side
| Snapdrop (today) | Typical alternative | PrivyDrop | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who can read your file | LimeWire's servers, during transfer | The operator's servers, during transfer | Nobody. There is no endpoint that accepts a file |
| Works across networks | Yes, via LimeWire's servers | Yes, via the operator's servers | Yes, peer to peer; the relay forwards ciphertext |
| Install or sign up | No | Usually no | No |
| Source code | Closed | Varies | MIT, and you can host it yourself |
| File size limit | Set by LimeWire | Set by the operator | No limit set by us |
| Survives a restricted network | Server-assisted | Server-assisted | Depends on WebRTC being allowed |
Where PrivyDrop is the worse choice
- Some corporate networks block WebRTC outright. If that is your situation, use a server-based tool; we would rather you transfer the file than spend an hour fighting the firewall.
- A relayed transfer consumes our bandwidth, so we are not the right tool for moving a 40 GB dataset. For bulk transfer, a proper sync tool is what you want.
- A direct transfer is limited by the slower of the two upload speeds, not by the path in between. A datacentre can receive from you quickly and then push to the recipient down a fat pipe, which is why it often wins for large files between distant people.
- A room id issued by default is four digits, which is short enough to read aloud across a desk and short enough that someone could guess it: anyone who does can join your transfer. The send screen also generates a 36-character UUID if you tap the toggle, and that is the better choice for anything sensitive. Treat a short id like a PIN you would say out loud in a cafe, not like a password.
- We cannot offer you a password reset, because we never asked for a password. If you lose the room ID, the transfer is over.
FAQ
- Does PrivyDrop upload my file to a server?
- No. The backend exposes endpoints for opening a room, checking whether one exists, joining, leaving, and anonymous counters. None of them accepts a file, and none of them can tell you who is in a room. You can confirm this yourself: the source is MIT licensed, and the endpoints are in backend/src/routes/api.ts with the health checks in backend/src/routes/health.ts.
- What does your server actually see?
- That a room with a given ID exists, and which peers are currently in it. That is the minimum needed to introduce two browsers to each other, and it says nothing about the file, its name, or its contents.
- What happens when the direct connection fails?
- ICE falls back to a TURN relay we operate. WebRTC encrypts the data channel end to end between your two devices, so the relay forwards ciphertext it has no key for. It can see that a transfer is happening and roughly how much data is moving, and nothing about what that data is.
- Is Snapdrop really gone?
- The company was acquired by LimeWire in February 2025, along with ShareDrop. The site still works, but its upload script now posts to api.limewire.com and the file that used to negotiate a browser-to-browser connection contains no WebRTC code, so uploads are handled by LimeWire's servers rather than sent directly between browsers.
- Do I need to install anything or create an account?
- No. Open the page, share a room ID, send your file. There is no account and no file is kept, so there is nothing to sign in to next time.