qBittorrent
Free cross-platform bittorrent client with a feature rich Web UI for remote access.
Best self-hosted File Transfer - Peer-to-peer Filesharing software in 2026
Peer-to-peer file sharing is the distribution and sharing of digital media using peer-to-peer (P2P) networking technology.
We track 9 open-source, self-hosted File Transfer - Peer-to-peer Filesharing apps. 7 of them had commits in the last 90 days, 5 can run with Docker, and the most common licenses are MIT (4), GPL-3.0 (2), AGPL-3.0 (2). The most-used languages are C++, Nodejs, C#. Below are the top picks by GitHub stars, followed by every app ranked by stars weighted by maintenance health.
Top 5 by GitHub stars
| # | App | Stars | Health | Last activity | License | Language | Docker |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | qBittorrent | 41.6k | Active | 2026-11-09 | GPL-2.0 | C++ | – |
| 2 | Transmission | 15.4k | Active | 2026-11-09 | GPL-3.0 | C++, deb | – |
| 3 | DashBeam | 10.3k | Active | 2026-10-19 | AGPL-3.0 | deb, Docker | ✓ |
| 4 | bitmagnet | 4.5k | Maintained | 2026-05-21 | MIT | Go, Docker | ✓ |
| 5 | slskd | 4.3k | Active | 2026-11-09 | AGPL-3.0 | Docker, C# | ✓ |
- qBittorrent — Free cross-platform bittorrent client with a feature rich Web UI for remote access.
- Transmission — Fast, easy, free Bittorrent client.
- DashBeam — File transfer tool with peer-to-peer networking, letting you transfer any file with any size.
- bitmagnet — BitTorrent indexer, DHT crawler, content classifier and torrent search engine with web UI, GraphQL API and Servarr stack integration.
- slskd — Modern client-server application for the Soulseek file sharing network.
Head-to-head comparisons
qBittorrent vs TransmissionDashBeam vs qBittorrentbitmagnet vs qBittorrentDashBeam vs Transmissionbitmagnet vs Transmissionbitmagnet vs DashBeam
All 9 self-hosted File Transfer - Peer-to-peer Filesharing apps
Ranked by GitHub stars weighted by maintenance health.
Transmission
Fast, easy, free Bittorrent client.
DashBeam
File transfer tool with peer-to-peer networking, letting you transfer any file with any size.
slskd
Modern client-server application for the Soulseek file sharing network.
bittorrent-tracker
Simple, robust, BitTorrent tracker (client and server) implementation.
bitmagnet
BitTorrent indexer, DHT crawler, content classifier and torrent search engine with web UI, GraphQL API and Servarr stack integration.
Webtor
Web-based torrent client with instant audio/video streaming.
PrivyDrop
Simple and user-friendly, breakpoint-resumable peer-to-peer text, image, and file transfer tool based on WebRTC.
Deluge
Lightweight, cross-platform BitTorrent client.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best self-hosted File Transfer - Peer-to-peer Filesharing software in 2026?
By GitHub stars, the most popular self-hosted File Transfer - Peer-to-peer Filesharing apps are qBittorrent (41,624 stars), Transmission (15,405 stars), DashBeam (10,268 stars). Popularity is only one signal: also check maintenance health, license and whether it fits your setup.
How many self-hosted File Transfer - Peer-to-peer Filesharing apps are actively maintained?
7 of the 9 apps listed had commits in the last 90 days and 1 more in the last 12 months; for 1 we have no repository activity data.
Which self-hosted File Transfer - Peer-to-peer Filesharing apps can I run with Docker?
5 of the 9 apps can run with Docker.
Which licenses do self-hosted File Transfer - Peer-to-peer Filesharing apps use?
The most common licenses in this category are MIT (4 apps), GPL-3.0 (2 apps), AGPL-3.0 (2 apps).
How much does it cost to self-host File Transfer - Peer-to-peer Filesharing software?
The software itself is free to download. Based on our rough hardware estimates, the cheapest suitable VPS plan starts at about $3.5/month (median $5/month across apps in this category). Several light apps can share one server.
Figures from GitHub and Docker Hub as of 2026-11-15; hosting costs are rough estimates.