SkySend

SkySend is an open-source alternative to commercial file sharing services like WeTransfer and Firefox Send, built from scratch around modern cryptographic primitives and a strict zero-knowledge architecture. Inspired by Mozilla Send and PrivateBin, it uses AES-256-GCM streaming encryption with HKDF-SHA256 key derivation and Argon2id password protection to keep shared content unreadable to anyone but the intended recipient. The encryption key never leaves the sender's browser — it travels only in the URL fragment, which is never transmitted to the server. This means the server operator, an attacker compromising the server, or even SkySend itself cannot decrypt the files and notes it stores. The project is AGPL-3.0 licensed and pairs a lightweight Node.js and Hono backend with a Vite + React 19 frontend, making it fast, auditable, and easy to self-host.

Common Use Cases

Privacy-conscious individuals use SkySend to share sensitive documents, photos, and notes with friends, family, or colleagues without trusting third-party cloud services with their plaintext data. Journalists and researchers rely on its zero-knowledge guarantees to exchange source materials and drafts where confidentiality is critical. Development teams share code snippets, configuration files, and SSH keys with built-in syntax highlighting and key generation, while IT and DevOps engineers transmit credentials and one-time secrets using burn-after-reading notes that self-destruct after a single view. Small businesses and freelancers send client deliverables with configurable expiry and download limits to enforce access policies, and security teams use password-protected uploads with Argon2id key derivation to protect against brute-force attacks on intercepted links.

Key Features

• End-to-end AES-256-GCM streaming encryption with 64KB record size
• Zero-knowledge server design — the decryption key never leaves the browser
• HKDF-SHA256 key derivation with domain-separated keys
• Argon2id password protection (memory-hard, GPU-resistant)
• Drag-and-drop file and folder uploads, up to 32 files per share
• Encrypted notes for text, passwords, code, Markdown, and SSH keys
• Burn-after-reading and configurable view limits for notes
• Configurable expiry times and download limits per upload
• S3-compatible storage backends (Cloudflare R2, AWS S3, MinIO, Hetzner, Wasabi)
• Presigned URLs for direct downloads with enforced limits
• Local upload dashboard backed by IndexedDB — no account needed
• Multi-language UI with automatic browser language detection
• Dark mode with automatic OS detection
• Per-IP rate limiting and privacy-preserving upload quotas
• Cross-platform CLI client for Linux, macOS, and Windows
• AGPL-3.0 licensed and fully open source

Why deploy SkySend on Hostinger VPS

Deploying SkySend on Hostinger VPS gives you complete control over a privacy-critical service while taking advantage of reliable, always-on infrastructure. Self-hosting on your own VPS removes any dependence on third-party file sharing providers that could log metadata, scan content, or change pricing and retention policies without notice. The VPS environment provides predictable performance for browser-side encryption and large uploads, dedicated storage for retained shares, and the bandwidth needed to serve files quickly to recipients. You benefit from secure hosting with snapshot-based backups protecting your encrypted store, the ability to plug SkySend into S3-compatible object storage for unlimited capacity, and the option to expose it on a custom domain with automatic HTTPS via Traefik. Because SkySend is AGPL-3.0 licensed and zero-knowledge by design, running it on your own VPS guarantees that no plaintext content, metadata, or analytics ever reach a vendor — only you decide what is logged, retained, and shared.