Oxolan vs LocalSend vs Syncthing — the three-way office decision
Three good tools, three different jobs. LocalSend: free AirDrop-style sending — perfect for occasional transfers and phones. Syncthing: free continuous folder mirroring — perfect for a technical user’s own devices. Oxolan: the paid office pick — every PC permanently visible, drag-and-drop plus remote browse, file locking, resumable large transfers, support. Ask "how often does the team move files?" — daily means the workflow tool earns its license.
Feature by feature
| Oxolan | LocalSend | Syncthing | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | Paid — flat per office, 14-day free trial | Free | Free |
| Model | Office workflow: on-demand + workspaces | Send-to-device | Continuous folder sync |
| Platforms | Windows 10/11 + macOS 12+ | Win/mac/Linux/iOS/Android | Win/mac/Linux/Android |
| PCs stay visible | Automatic, ~300 ms — PCs stay visible | Per-session only | Configured devices only |
| Send one file now | Drag & drop | Yes — its specialty | No — folder model |
| Team edits same files | Built-in file locking | N/A | Conflict copies |
| Huge files (10 GB+) | Resumes 60 GB+ transfers after a drop | Restart on interrupt | Handles well (block sync) |
| Setup burden | Install and done | Install and done | IDs + folder config per device |
| Support | Email support included | Community | Community |
Speed, with real numbers
All three avoid the cloud round-trip, which is the big win. Oxolan’s verified gigabit numbers are 60–115 MB/s with parallel connections and resume on 60 GB+ transfers; LocalSend is quick for ad-hoc sends; Syncthing’s block-level sync is efficient for keeping folders mirrored.
Pricing
Two of the three are free — try them. Oxolan’s flat per-office license (14-day trial) is for teams whose daily file movement deserves a workflow, not just a transfer. Oxolan plans run $149–$999/yr by office size (5 to 50 PCs) — see current pricing.
The honest test: run it on two PCs
Install Oxolan next to whatever you use today and let the transfers decide. Free 14 days, no card.
Try Oxolan side by side — freeFrequently asked questions
Which should a small office pick?
If transfers are occasional: LocalSend, it’s free and excellent. If one technical person wants folders mirrored between their machines: Syncthing. If the whole team moves files all day and loses time to Windows sharing: Oxolan — that’s the daily-workflow case the license is for.
Can these tools coexist?
Completely. None of them interfere. A common combo: Oxolan for PC-to-PC office work, LocalSend for phone handoffs (Oxolan is desktop-only), Syncthing for a personal off-hours mirror.
Do any of them send files through the cloud?
No — all three transfer peer-to-peer. Oxolan is LAN-only by design (TLS 1.3, certificate-pinned). LocalSend is LAN-based. Syncthing is P2P and can use public relays if devices can’t connect directly — disable relays to force LAN.