# s3nd vs transfer.sh

> A transfer.sh alternative with no service to run. What transfer.sh is, where the two overlap, where they differ, and when to pick each.

Canonical: https://www.s3nd.sh/alternatives/transfer-sh · Markdown: https://www.s3nd.sh/alternatives/transfer-sh.md · Français: https://www.s3nd.sh/fr/alternatives/transfer-sh

Terminal-first sharing, a short secret to hand over, and an expiry. Both are happy to store the object in an S3 bucket.

## What transfer.sh is
A file-sharing service you drive with curl: PUT a file, get a URL back, share it. Written in Go, self-hostable, with pluggable storage backends that include S3. The public instance made it famous; the self-hosted server is what teams actually run.

Website: https://github.com/dutchcoders/transfer.sh

## Where they part ways.
| | s3nd | transfer.sh |
| --- | --- | --- |
| What it is | A CLI, a library and React hooks over your own S3 bucket | Self-hostable upload service with links |
| Where the data lives | Your bucket: S3, R2, MinIO, Scaleway, Wasabi | Its server’s storage; an S3 backend is available |
| Both ends online at once | No. The code is redeemed later, until it expires | No |
| From inside your web app | Yes, through one route on your server | By URL |
| Accounts | None. The code is the whole handshake | None |
| Hosting | Your bucket, plus your server when a browser takes part | Self-hosted |
| Price | Free. You pay your storage provider for a few objects that expire | Free |
| License | MIT | MIT |

## What actually changes.
- **A server you run versus a bucket you have** — transfer.sh is a service in front of storage. The s3nd CLI is the bucket with no service in front; when you do want a server, it is a route inside the API you already deploy.
- **A URL versus a code** — A transfer.sh link carries a random path that is the secret. An s3nd code is eight characters designed to be read aloud, with the confusable letters removed and repaired on the way back.
- **Files versus files and state** — transfer.sh moves files. s3nd moves files and snapshots of application state, with schema versions and conditional writes, from a library as well as a command.

## Pick the one that fits.
### Pick transfer.sh when
- A curl-able upload endpoint for a team, with links.
- You already run it and it works.

### Pick s3nd when
- Nothing to run: the CLI talks straight to the bucket.
- Codes people can read out loud rather than URLs to paste.
- App state with versioning and expiry enforced on read.