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LocalSend vs KDE Connect vs Quick Share

LocalSend, KDE Connect and Quick Share all move files between your phone and your computer without a cable. All three are free. They differ in which devices they cover, whether they share your clipboard, and how much they do beyond files. Here is which one to pick, a side-by-side table, and where each one falls down. Everything below was checked against each project's own pages in September 2026.

Jordan Gibbs September 28, 2026 7 min read

Which one should you pick?

The short answer, by situation:

  • You have an iPhone, or a mix of brands: LocalSend. It’s the only one of the three that works fully on Windows, Mac, Linux, Android and iPhone.
  • You have an Android phone and use your computer all day: KDE Connect. It shares the clipboard, shows phone notifications on the computer, and turns the phone into a remote.
  • You have an Android phone and a Windows PC or Chromebook: Quick Share. It’s already in your phone’s Share menu, so there’s nothing to set up on that side.
  • You have a newer Android phone and your friends have iPhones: Quick Share. On phones like the Pixel 10 and Galaxy S26 it now shows up in the iPhone’s AirDrop list.
  • You need something to work away from home Wi-Fi: none of the three is built for it. See the end of this page.

LocalSend vs KDE Connect vs Quick Share, side by side

This is how things stood in September 2026. “Same Wi-Fi” means both devices have to be on the same local network to find each other.

LocalSendKDE ConnectQuick Share
WindowsYesYesYes
MacYesYesNo app. Some phones can AirDrop to a Mac
LinuxYesYesNo
AndroidYesYesYes
iPhoneYesFewer featuresThrough AirDrop, on some Android phones
Needs the same Wi-FiYesYes (Bluetooth also works on Android and Linux)Not phone to phone. Yes with a Windows PC
Needs the internetNoNoOnly for the QR code option
Needs an accountNoNoNo. Google sign-in adds options on Windows
Open sourceYesYesNo
Encrypted in transitYesYesYes
Clipboard sharingNo. You can send a text messageYes, with limits on newer Android and iPhoneSends it once, on some Android 13+ phones
Sends filesYesYesYes
ExtrasNoneNotifications, texts, media and mouse controlLink sharing on Samsung phones
CostFreeFreeFree

LocalSend

LocalSenddoes one job. You open it on two devices, pick a file, and tap the device you want to send it to. It runs on Windows, Mac, Linux, Android and iPhone, and it looks and works the same on all of them. There’s no account and no pairing step. Its site says it “works completely offline” and that your data never leaves your local network. The project says all transfers are encrypted using HTTPS.

It’s open source under the Apache 2.0 license, and one of the most popular projects of its kind on GitHub, with more than 90,000 stars. The iPhone app is free and needs iOS 13 or later. Version 1.18.2 came out in August 2026. The GitHub page lists Android 5.0, Windows 10 and macOS 11 as the oldest versions it supports.

You can send photos, videos, any kind of file, or a bit of text. The text shows up on the other device and you can copy it from there. It has no shared clipboard, though. Nothing you copy moves over by itself.

KDE Connect

KDE Connect is older and does a lot more. It comes from KDE, the group behind the Plasma desktop on Linux. Once you pair a phone with a computer, the two stay linked. According to the KDE UserBase wiki, you can:

  • Send files, links and text either way.
  • Share the clipboard between the phone and the computer.
  • See phone notifications on the computer and reply to messages.
  • Send texts from the computer.
  • Pause music, change the volume, or use the phone as a touchpad and keyboard.
  • Ring the phone when you can’t find it, and check its battery.

The download pagelists Linux, Android (Google Play or F-Droid), Windows (Microsoft Store), Mac and iPhone. It’s free and open source. On a GNOME Linux desktop, many people use GSConnect instead, which works with the same Android app.

KDE Connect on iPhone

There is an official iPhone app. It’s free and needs iOS 14 or later. It does much less than the Android app, and KDE says so plainly. The wiki lists these as missing on iPhone: notification sync, texts, and staying connected when the app isn’t on screen. The clipboard only goes from the iPhone to the computer, and you tap “push clipboard” in the app each time. The project’s own notes explain why. iOS doesn’t let an app like this keep running in the background, or read other apps’ notifications.

Quick Share

Quick Share is Google and Samsung’s version of AirDrop. It’s built into Android phones and Chromebooks. Google also makes a free Quick Share app for Windows. It isn’t open source, and there’s no Google version for Mac or Linux.

Between two Android phones, it uses Bluetooth to find the other phone and then a direct Wi-Fi link to send. The phones don’t need to be on the same network. The Windows app is stricter. Google’s page says the PC and the phone need Bluetooth on and have to be “connected to the same network”, within about 16 feet. Our Quick Share on Windows and iPhone guide walks through the setup.

It can do a little with the clipboard. Google’s help page says that on select phones with Android 13 and above you can share what’s on your clipboard, and it gets copied on the other side when it arrives. That’s a one-time send to one nearby device. It doesn’t keep two clipboards in step.

Samsung phones add one more trick. Samsung’s pagesays you can share a cloud link with no distance limit. The sender needs a Samsung account, both sides need the internet, and in the US there’s a cap of 3 GB per file and 5 GB a day. The link expires after two days.

Quick Share and AirDrop

Since November 2025, some Android phones can swap files with iPhones through AirDrop. The iPhone doesn’t need a new app. The Android phone just appears in its AirDrop list. Google’s listin September 2026 has the Pixel 10 series, the Pixel 9 series and the Pixel 8a. It has Samsung’s Galaxy S26, S25 and S24 series, the Z Fold7, Z Flip7, Z Fold6, Z Flip6 and Z TriFold. It also has the Xiaomi 17T Pro, OnePlus 15, OPPO Find X9 series, HONOR Magic V6 and vivo X300 Ultra. More phones are marked as coming soon.

The iPhone has to set AirDrop to Everyone for 10 minutes. On a Galaxy phone you also turn on “Share with Apple devices” in Quick Share settings. Phones not on the list can still send to an iPhone, iPad or Mac with a QR code. The iPhone scans it and downloads the file in its browser. Google says that route is end-to-end encrypted, keeps the file on its servers for 24 hours, needs the internet on both sides, and allows up to 10 GB a day. There’s more on all of this in can you AirDrop to Android?

Where each one falls down

LocalSend

  • Both devices have to be on the same network. A phone on mobile data can’t reach a computer at home.
  • Office, hotel and guest Wi-Fi often stop devices from seeing each other. The GitHub page says to turn off a router setting called AP isolation, set Windows networks to private, and pause any VPN.
  • The app has to be open on the phone to send or receive.
  • It only moves what you pick. There’s no clipboard sync and no history of what you sent.

KDE Connect

  • The iPhone app is a much smaller version, as covered above.
  • Android 10 and newer block apps from reading the clipboard in the background. KDE’s workaround is a Send clipboard button in the notification, or a quick settings tile on Android 14.
  • It needs a range of network ports open (1714 to 1764). A strict firewall will hide your devices from each other.
  • It only works on the same network. The wiki’s way around this is to set up your own VPN, which most people won’t do.
  • Features are built for KDE’s Plasma desktop first. The wiki says some things can break on other desktops.

Quick Share

  • There’s no Google app for Mac or Linux.
  • An iPhone still can’t send to a Windows PC. The AirDrop link only works with the Android phones on Google’s list.
  • The devices have to be close together. Google says to keep them within about a foot while they search.
  • The clipboard feature is a one-time send, and only on some phones.
  • It isn’t open source, if that matters to you.
If you just want one app that sends files between any two of your devices at home, install LocalSend. If your phone runs Android and you’d like it tied to your computer all day, try KDE Connect. If you only have Android and Windows, try the Quick Share you already have first.

When Relic fits instead

Relic is our app, so read this part with that in mind. All three tools above send a file when you ask them to. Relic does something else. It keeps what you copy and share, and syncs it across your own devices on Windows, Mac, Linux, Android and iPhone. That covers text, links, screenshots, images and small files. Copy a link on your laptop and it’s on your phone a moment later, and you can search back through all of it later.

Sync goes through Relic’s server, so your devices don’t need to be on the same Wi-Fi. That’s the main gap it fills. Each item is encrypted on your device before it’s sent, so the server can’t read it. Relic is open source too.

It’s the wrong tool for big files. The free plan allows 10 MB per item and 250 MB in total. Use LocalSend or Quick Share for a folder of videos. On an iPhone, Relic can’t watch your clipboard in the background, because iOS doesn’t allow it. You share things into the iPhone app from the Share menu. For an iPhone and a Windows PC in particular, our AirDrop for Windows guide compares more options.

Sources

Frequently asked questions

Is LocalSend better than KDE Connect?

For sending files, yes. LocalSend is simpler, has no pairing step, and works the same on Windows, Mac, Linux, Android and iPhone. KDE Connect does more. It shares your clipboard, shows your phone's notifications on your computer, and lets your phone control your computer's music and mouse. If you only move files, pick LocalSend. If you want your Android phone and your computer tied together all day, pick KDE Connect.

Does KDE Connect work on iPhone?

Yes, but with fewer features. KDE Connect is on the App Store for iPhone, iPad and Mac. KDE's own wiki says the iPhone version can't sync notifications or send texts, and it loses its connection when the app isn't on screen. Sharing the clipboard works one way, and you have to tap a button in the app to send it to the computer.

Can LocalSend work over the internet?

No. LocalSend only works between devices on the same local network. Its website says your data never leaves your local network. If your phone is on mobile data and your computer is at home, they won't see each other.

Does Quick Share work with iPhone?

Only from certain Android phones. Google's list includes the Pixel 10, Pixel 9 and Pixel 8a, the Galaxy S26, S25 and S24 series, and some Xiaomi, OnePlus, Oppo, Honor and vivo phones. These phones show up in the iPhone's AirDrop list. The iPhone needs AirDrop set to Everyone for 10 minutes. Other Android phones can send to an iPhone with a QR code, and the file goes through Google's servers.

Is Quick Share open source?

No. Quick Share is made by Google and Samsung and its code isn't public. LocalSend and KDE Connect are both open source. All three are free.

Which one can share the clipboard?

KDE Connect has a real shared clipboard between an Android phone and a computer, though newer Android versions make you tap a Send clipboard button. Quick Share on some Android 13 and newer phones can send what's on your clipboard once, to one nearby device. LocalSend can send a text message, and the other side can copy it.

Written by
Jordan GibbsFounder, Relic

Jordan Gibbs is the founder of Relic, an end-to-end encrypted, permanent, searchable memory for everything you copy. He writes widely about AI, agents, and practical tooling on Medium, where he is read by tens of thousands, and builds privacy-first software. Here he covers how everyday tools like the clipboard actually work, and how to use them without handing your data to someone else.

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