croc
Hacker ApprovedRanked 4 of 17 file transfer apps by recommenders
Recommended for sending files between machines, even behind NATs, for reliability and speed; the common caveat is its command-line interface, hard for non-technical users.
Recommended for sending files between machines, even behind NATs, for reliability and speed; the common caveat is its command-line interface, hard for non-technical users.
16 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 13
- criticize it
- 3
- approval share
- 81%
Recommended in 5 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 13 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 4.3 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 5 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Reliable and fast transfers
“In my testing the throughput is higher than magic wormhole because it uses multiple TCP connections to transfer the files.”
Comment from 12 Jul 2026 in “Croc: Securely transfer files and folders between two computers” “I've found croc to be more reliable than MW in across different network architectures”
Comment from 12 Jul 2026 in “Croc: Securely transfer files and folders between two computers” “it's just the most flexible and seems to be reliable and fast from my use”
Comment from 17 Sep 2026 in “Show HN: Snapdrop: Instantly share files between devices. No setup, no signup” Works behind different NATs
“you can transfer files between two PCs on both behind different NATs”
Comment from 12 Jul 2026 in “Croc: Securely transfer files and folders between two computers” “I've found croc to be more reliable than MW in across different network architectures”
Comment from 12 Jul 2026 in “Croc: Securely transfer files and folders between two computers” Simple, gets the job done
“Sometimes it just does the job and is finished”
Comment from 13 Jul 2026 in “Croc: Securely transfer files and folders between two computers” “Used it a few times to send files from A to B”
Comment from 2 Dec 2025 in “YesNotice” Easy to install and packaged
“without having to resort to "weird" installation methods like Obtanium or Fdroid”
Comment from 18 Sep 2026 in “Show HN: Snapdrop: Instantly share files between devices. No setup, no signup” “It is a bit more commonly packaged.”
Comment from 14 Aug 2026 in “36 Ways to Send a File”
Other file transfer apps people recommend
The four most recommended other file transfer apps, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LocalSend | 81 | 25 | 76% | 11 | — | Approved |
| Magic Wormhole | 21 | 6 | 78% | 8 | — | Approved |
| Kermit | 15 | 4 | 79% | 2 | — | — |
| crocThis page | 13 | 3 | 81% | 5 | — | Approved |
| OpenSSH scp | 12 | 10 | 55% | 6 | — | — |
What people said
14 of the 18 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“without having to resort to "weird" installation methods like Obtanium or Fdroid”
“my go to is croc or Bitwarden Send (I'm on a paid acct), depending on the person”
“it's just the most flexible and seems to be reliable and fast from my use”
“It is a bit more commonly packaged.”
“Sometimes it just does the job and is finished”
“croc is great. been using it for unimportant transfers for years”
“you can transfer files between two PCs on both behind different NATs”
“I had the exact opposite experience.”
“Croc has broke down for me quite a few times when transferring large files”
“In my testing the throughput is higher than magic wormhole because it uses multiple TCP connections to transfer the files.”
“Hard-coded to use his relay server and then asking for donations for bandwidth?”
“I've found croc to be more reliable than MW in across different network architectures”
“croc is a CLI utility which will be hard to use by mom-and-pop users”
“Used it a few times to send files from A to B”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.