SkySend

SkySend is an open-source alternative to commercial file sharing services like WeTransfer and Firefox Send, developed from the ground up with modern cryptographic primitives and a strict zero-knowledge architecture. Taking inspiration from Mozilla Send and PrivateBin, it utilises AES-256-GCM streaming encryption, HKDF-SHA256 key derivation, and Argon2id password protection to ensure shared content remains unreadable to anyone except the intended recipient. The encryption key never leaves the sender's browser; it only travels within the URL fragment, which is never transmitted to the server. This means that neither the server operator, nor an attacker compromising the server, nor even SkySend itself can decrypt the files and notes it stores. The project is AGPL-3.0 licensed and combines 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

Individuals who are privacy-conscious utilise SkySend to share sensitive documents, photos, and notes with friends, family, or colleagues without having to trust third-party cloud services with their plaintext data. Journalists and researchers depend on its zero-knowledge guarantees to exchange source materials and drafts where confidentiality is paramount. Development teams share code snippets, configuration files, and SSH keys, benefiting from 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 utilise password-protected uploads with Argon2id key derivation to safeguard 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, supporting up to 32 files per share
• Encrypted notes for text, passwords, code, Markdown, and SSH keys
• 'Burn-after-reading' functionality 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 required
• 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.