Flying Carpet 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.
Not the right match-up?
Flying Carpet
Wireless file transfer between devices with no shared network
VS
Magic Wormhole
Get things from one computer to another, safely
| Feature | Flying Carpet | Magic Wormhole |
|---|---|---|
| Category | File Sync & Storage | File Sync & Storage |
| License | GPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Language | Rust | Python |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 32 MB |
| Deployment | binary, bare-metal | binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 5,266 | ★ 22,792 |
| First released | 2017 | 2016 |
| Replaces | AirDrop, Snapdrop | WeTransfer, AirDrop |
Why pick each one
Choose Magic Wormhole if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- Mature project with 22.8k GitHub stars
- Written in Python
Frequently asked questions
Is Flying Carpet or Magic Wormhole better?
Neither is universally better. Magic Wormhole has the larger community; both share a easy setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Flying Carpet and Magic Wormhole free and open-source?
Yes. Flying Carpet is licensed under GPL-3.0 and Magic Wormhole under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Flying Carpet and Magic Wormhole with Docker?
Flying Carpet: check the project docs for container support. Magic Wormhole: check the project docs for container support.