Clipcroft vs PairDrop

PairDrop is the most actively maintained Snapdrop fork — open-source under GPL-3.0, browser-based, and the first in this family to support cross-network device pairing and ad-hoc public rooms. Clipcroft is a different shape of WebRTC clipboard: a real-time text and file clipboard with persistent history, multiple independent clipboards per device, optional end-to-end encryption with idle auto-lock, and a multi-file transfer queue that survives interruptions.

Feature comparison

Note: third-party feature details change. The summary above reflects what was publicly documented at the time of writing.

Where PairDrop wins

• It's open source under GPL-3.0. The whole codebase is on GitHub; you can read it, audit it, fork it, contribute back. For users where open source is a hard requirement (corporate audits, threat modelling, "no closed-source software touches my files"), PairDrop is the right pick over Clipcroft. We're not OSS.
• Self-hostable. The repo ships Docker and docker-compose configurations. You can run PairDrop on your own domain with your own TURN credentials and stop trusting any third-party host — including PairDrop's. Clipcroft is currently a hosted service only.
• Public rooms by code. The 5-letter public-room shortcut is a clean ad-hoc-group UX — type a code, anyone with the same code joins. Clipcroft's clipboard ID model is similar in shape (3-digit IDs today, longer alphanumeric on the roadmap) but PairDrop's framing is more familiar to anyone coming from Snapdrop.
• Snapdrop UI legacy. The "devices on the canvas, click to send" interaction is the iconic Snapdrop pattern. If you and the people you share with already know it, PairDrop minimises retraining.

Where Clipcroft wins

• Real-time text clipboard, not just file transfer. PairDrop is built around "pick a paired device, send a file or message". Clipcroft is built around a continuously synced clipboard — text, URLs, images, and files all appear live on every connected device the moment they're added. If most of what you share is text snippets between your own devices, that flow is much faster in Clipcroft.
• Persistent history with bulk export. Clipcroft keeps thousands of items per clipboard, automatically organised into Texts / URLs / Files / Images sections, with bulk operations per category (download all, share all, ZIP all, export URLs as HTML). PairDrop has no history concept; once a transfer is done, the artefact only exists where the receiver saved it.
• Multiple clipboards per device. One browser holds many independent clipboards (work, personal, family, project, kiosk), each with its own history, password, retention, and device list. PairDrop has the device-pool concept but everything paired ends up in the same pool.
• Optional end-to-end encryption with locally-derived keys. PairDrop relies on WebRTC's DTLS for transport encryption between peers — strong, but the keys are negotiated by browsers, not derived from a password you control. Clipcroft adds an optional per-clipboard password that derives an AES-GCM key in your browser via PBKDF2; contents are encrypted before they leave the device, including the localStorage at rest. The key never leaves either browser.
• AutoForget — idle auto-lock for protected clipboards. Set a 5-minute (or configurable) idle window; if you walk away from an unlocked clipboard, Clipcroft drops the AES key handle and the persisted raw key, then re-prompts on next interaction. Active transfers defer the lock so you don't lose work mid-upload. PairDrop has no protected-session concept to lock.
• Multi-file transfer queue with eight lifecycle states. Drop any number of files; each one tracks its own state (Queued, Preparing, Connecting, Transferring, Retrying, Completed, Failed, Canceled). Cancel one file without disturbing the rest of the queue. Retry a failed file without re-selecting it. Auto-resume from the last received byte if the network drops. PairDrop's per-transfer model is simpler and fine for one-off shares but doesn't have queue semantics.
• Multi-device fan-out from a single sender. Up to 20 devices on the same clipboard, with a single drop reaching all of them via parallel WebRTC pipes from one sender. PairDrop's model is "pick one receiver per file"; sending a 1 GB file to three devices means three separate selections and three uplink traversals.

Use-case recommendations

Use PairDrop when: open source is a hard requirement; you want to self-host; you mostly transfer files (not text) between paired devices; or you and your group are coming straight from Snapdrop and want the familiar UI.

Use Clipcroft when: you want a real online clipboard with text + files + persistent history; you want multi-device live sync and parallel fan-out; you want optional end-to-end encryption with idle auto-lock; or you want multiple separate clipboards (work / personal / family) without an account or self-hosting.

Frequently asked questions

What is PairDrop?

PairDrop is an open-source (GPL-3.0) Snapdrop fork that adds cross-network device pairing through 6-digit codes or 5-letter public rooms, plus a TURN relay for connections that can't go peer-to-peer. It runs in any modern browser and is community-maintained on GitHub.

How is PairDrop different from Snapdrop?

Snapdrop is local-network-only — devices on the same Wi-Fi see each other and can transfer. PairDrop adds "persistent device pairing" (a 6-digit code remembers paired devices across networks) and "temporary public rooms" (a 5-letter code for ad-hoc cross-network groups). PairDrop is also actively maintained while Snapdrop's upstream project went quiet for long stretches.

Is PairDrop encrypted end-to-end?

PairDrop uses WebRTC, which gives transport-level DTLS encryption between peers by default. The PairDrop docs do not document an additional application-layer end-to-end encryption with user-derived keys. Clipcroft adds optional per-clipboard end-to-end encryption — when a password is set, contents are encrypted in the browser with a PBKDF2-derived key before they leave the device, including the localStorage at rest.

Does PairDrop have a clipboard history?

No. PairDrop is built around discrete file and message transfers — pick a paired device, send, done. There is no persistent clipboard history. Clipcroft keeps thousands of items per clipboard, organised into Texts / URLs / Files / Images sections, with bulk operations per category and a configurable 3-day default retention TTL.

Can I run PairDrop on my own server?

Yes — that's one of PairDrop's main strengths. The repo is GPL-3.0 and includes Docker / docker-compose deployment instructions. You can host your own pairdrop instance on any domain. Clipcroft is currently a hosted service only; self-hosting is not supported today.

Which one should I use?

Use PairDrop when you want an open-source, self-hostable, community-driven Snapdrop replacement that crosses networks. Use Clipcroft when you also want a real-time text clipboard with persistent history, multi-context clipboards (work / personal / family), end-to-end encryption with idle auto-lock, and a multi-file upload queue that survives interruptions.