PairDrop vs rclone
PairDrop
pairdrop.apprclone
rclone.orgSide by side
| Figure | PairDrop | rclone |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Windows | — | Yes |
| macOS | — | Yes |
| Linux | — | Yes |
| Android | — | Yes |
| API | — | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 1 | 1 |
| Spec score · File transfer services | 7.7 (#70) | 8.9 (#11) |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Integrations | The FAQ says files can be sent directly from Windows’ context menu, iOS and Android share menus, and a command-line interface. | The site lists more than 70 cloud storage products, including Amazon S3, Google Drive, Dropbox, Microsoft OneDrive, and Backblaze B2. |
| Security caveat | The FAQ says users still have to trust the PairDrop server and describes zero-trust signaling and verification as a planned improvement. | Rclone stores the encryption password in its configuration file in lightly obscured form and recommends configuration encryption if that file cannot be kept secure. |
| Support | The project invites bug reports and feature requests through GitHub issues and says users can support it with donations. | The project describes a friendly support community and says business sponsorship can include support contracts, advertising deals, and consultancy. |
| What it does | PairDrop is a browser-based file-sharing app for sending images, documents, and text between devices. | Rclone is a command-line program for managing files on cloud storage and offers cloud equivalents of commands such as rsync, cp, mv, mount, and ls. |
Plans
In their own words
rclone
Rclone is a free command-line program for managing files on cloud storage. It can back up and restore files, mirror or migrate data, mount storage as a disk, and combine file systems. The project lists more than 70 cloud storage products, including Amazon S3, Google Drive, Dropbox, Microsoft OneDrive, and Backblaze B2. Sync options include copying changed files, one-way sync, and two-way bisync. Rclone checks MD5 and SHA1 hashes, preserves timestamps, and can restart operations. Where supported, it transfers between providers without using local disk. It can mount local, cloud, or virtual file systems and serve files over SFTP, HTTP, WebDAV, FTP, and DLNA. Rclone is also available through scripts and an API. Its crypt remote encrypts files before upload and decrypts them after download, but leaves file length and modification time unencrypted. The crypt password in the configuration file is only lightly obscured unless configuration encryption is enabled. The web-based GUI is described as experimental, and Android builds are not yet first-class builds.