FilePizza vs Magic Wormhole
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted file sync & storage options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
FilePizza
Peer-to-peer file transfers in your browser
VS
Magic Wormhole
Get things from one computer to another, safely
| Feature | FilePizza | Magic Wormhole |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Read-the-docs project |
| Health score | 91 · Excellent | 96 · Excellent |
| Category | File Sync & Storage | File Sync & Storage |
| License | BSD-3-Clause | MIT |
| Language | TypeScript | Python |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 50 MB | 32 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal | binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 10,189 | ★ 22,946 |
| First released | 2023 | 2016 |
| Replaces | WeTransfer | WeTransfer, AirDrop |
What are FilePizza and Magic Wormhole?
FilePizza
Peer-to-peer file transfers in your browser.
Magic Wormhole
Magic Wormhole is a library and CLI tool for securely transferring files and directories between computers. It uses short human-pronounceable codes and PAKE encryption for safe transfers.
- PAKE-based encryption
- Human-readable transfer codes
- Self-hostable relay and mailbox
FilePizza vs Magic Wormhole: key differences
FilePizza is written in TypeScript, while Magic Wormhole is built with Python. Licensing differs — BSD-3-Clause for FilePizza versus MIT for Magic Wormhole. Magic Wormhole is the lighter option, starting around 32 MB of RAM against 50 MB for FilePizza. Magic Wormhole is the more established project (first released 2016), while FilePizza arrived in 2023. Magic Wormhole has the considerably larger community, at 22,946 GitHub stars versus 10,189.
Why pick each one
Choose FilePizza if…
- Released under the BSD-3-Clause license
- Mature project with 10.2k GitHub stars
- Written in TypeScript
- Tiny footprint — runs in 50 MB RAM
Choose Magic Wormhole if…
- Dead-simple pairing codes
- End-to-end encrypted
- No account needed
Watch out for
- Terminal-based workflow
- Both ends online simultaneously
Frequently asked questions
Is FilePizza or Magic Wormhole better?
Magic Wormhole is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider FilePizza if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are FilePizza and Magic Wormhole free and open-source?
Yes. FilePizza is licensed under BSD-3-Clause and Magic Wormhole under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run FilePizza and Magic Wormhole with Docker?
FilePizza: check the project docs for container support. Magic Wormhole: check the project docs for container support.
Which is lighter on resources, FilePizza or Magic Wormhole?
Magic Wormhole has the smaller minimum footprint at 32 MB of RAM, compared to about 50 MB for FilePizza. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.