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ShareDrop Vs Snapdrop: Which is Best For File Transfer?
Both Snapdrop.net and ShareDrop.io are fantastic open-source websites to transfer files between your devices, both use the same technology to work. This creates confusion: which is better for file transfer? In this article, we’ll find out which might suit you best, so let’s go!
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What Is Snapdrop?
Snapdrop.net is an open-source project to transfer files between your devices. You just have to open snapdrop.net on both of your devices with the same wifi network, select the device, browse for the file and you are done.
It works with pdfs, images, videos, or any file type you can imagine! It uses technologies like webRTC, and WebSocket to achieve it.
Snapdrop is a project that is more popular with faster development which can be seen on its GitHub page. The product comes with the GPL-3.0 license key.
What Is ShareDrop?
Sharedrop.io is also an open-source project to transfer files between your devices just like Snapdrop, it works the same way snapdrop works, open the website on your devices running on the same network, browse for the file, and you are done.
ShareDrop even uses the same technologies like webRTC and peer-to-peer to work which is also used by Snapdrop.
ShareDrop is still a growing project though the project was started earlier than that of snapdrop so it receives fewer updates.
Pros and Cons Of Snapdrop
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Good looking interface | Service experiences outages |
| Official Progressive web app support | No support for outside networks |
Snapdrop ships with a prettier-looking interface with support for dark and light themes and even adapts to the system accordingly.
Snapdrop even officially supports progressive web apps or also known as PWA, which means you can have it open with its separate window safely integrated into your operating system which makes it easy to access even from your app drawer.
The file transfer speed is fast too, though the service sometimes experiences outages and the whole service breaks out. Btw we did a detailed article on fixing snapdrop, you can check it out if you experience issues too.
For now, Snapdrop does not work on outside networks.
Pros And Cons Of ShareDrop
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Support for the outside network | Not the prettiest-looking interface |
| Experiences fewer outages | No support for Progressive web app |
Sharedrop looks a bit outdated as compared to snapdrop and does not even come with a dark theme at all.
Sharedrop does not officially support PWA though any website can be converted to a web app using the options available on modern browsers these days.
Still, it is limited to Desktop-only as of now. Sharedrop even provides good transfer speeds as the services are maintained quite well so the sharedrop does not experience outages as compared to the snapdrop.
For the best part, sharedrop even supports the ability to transfer files outside the same network. Just visit sharedrop.io then click on the “+” icon then just copy or scan the QR code on your other device and it should work right away! This stands out from snapdrop.
Side-by-side Comparison
| Feature | SnapDrop | Sharedrop |
|---|---|---|
| Interface | 9/10 | 6/10 |
| Official Web APP support | Yes | No |
| File transfer speed | 7/10 | 9/10 |
| Support for outside network | NO | Yes |
| Server outages | Experiences more outages | Experiences fewer outages |
Which One Is Best For File Transfer?
Both snapdrop and snapdrop are incredible, though I would personally recommend you to use ShareDrop.io as the sharedrop experiences fewer outages and it even allows you to transfer files outside of your home network, which makes such a difference if you want to share files with your friends or neighbors who are not connected to your network still want to receive your files.
