Looking for a quick replacement? Try secure file sharing — encrypted one-time file links, no account needed.
What Was Firefox Send?
Firefox Send launched in 2019 as a free, encrypted file sharing service by Mozilla. The concept was simple: upload a file, get a link, the file gets deleted after download or after a set expiry time. Files were encrypted in the browser before upload, so Mozilla's servers never saw the contents.
It was fast, free, required no account (for files under 1 GB), and backed by a name people trusted. For anyone who needed to share a file without leaving it sitting in email or a cloud drive forever, Firefox Send was the answer.
Why Did Mozilla Kill Firefox Send?
In September 2020, Mozilla permanently shut down Firefox Send. The reason: abuse. Malware distributors had started using the service to host payloads. The encrypted, ephemeral nature that made it great for privacy also made it attractive for distributing malicious files that were hard to scan or take down.
Mozilla took it offline "temporarily" to add abuse reporting, but it never came back. The project was archived and the service was discontinued for good.
The abuse problem is real. Any encrypted file sharing tool faces this tension. The solution is not to avoid encryption but to add size limits, rate limiting, and short default expiry times that make the tool useful for legitimate one-off sharing but impractical for large-scale abuse.
What People Liked About Firefox Send
- Browser-side encryption — files were encrypted before upload, so the server never saw the contents.
- One-time download links — you could set the link to expire after a single download.
- No account required — for files under 1 GB, you could share without signing up.
- Password protection — optional extra passphrase for the download link.
- Expiry controls — set the link to expire after a number of downloads or a time period.
- Trusted brand — backed by Mozilla, a nonprofit known for fighting for user privacy.
If you are searching for a Firefox Send alternative, you are probably looking for something with most or all of these properties.
Common Firefox Send Alternatives (and Their Tradeoffs)
WeTransfer
WeTransfer is popular for sending large files but has no end-to-end encryption. Files are stored on WeTransfer servers in a form the company can access. Links expire after 7 days (free) or are configurable on paid plans. Not a privacy tool — it is a convenience tool.
OnionShare
OnionShare routes transfers through the Tor network and is fully open source. Great for high-threat-model use cases. The downside: both sender and recipient need to install software, the sender's computer must stay online during the transfer, and Tor speeds are slow. Not practical for quick everyday sharing.
Wormhole (magic-wormhole)
A peer-to-peer encrypted transfer tool. Excellent for developers comfortable with the command line. Requires both parties to be online simultaneously and use a terminal. Not usable by non-technical recipients.
Send (send.vis.ee and forks)
Community forks of the original Firefox Send codebase. Some are still running, but they rely on volunteer hosting with no guarantees of uptime, maintenance, or security updates. The original codebase is archived and no longer receives patches.
1time.io as a Firefox Send Alternative
We built secure file sharing on 1time.io to solve the same problem Firefox Send did: share a file once, securely, without it lingering on a server. Here is how it compares.
| Feature | 1time.io | Firefox Send (was) |
|---|---|---|
| Status | ✓ Active | ✗ Shut down (Sep 2020) |
| Browser-side encryption | ✓ AES-256-GCM | ✓ AES-128-GCM |
| Zero-knowledge | ✓ Key in URL hash only | ✓ Key in URL hash |
| One-time download | ✓ Always one-time | ~ Configurable (1-100 downloads) |
| Password protection | ✓ | ✓ |
| Max file size | 10 MB | 1 GB (no account) / 2.5 GB (account) |
| Account required | ✓ Never | ✓ Not for files under 1 GB |
| Text secret sharing | ✓ Built-in | ✗ Files only |
| Self-hostable | ✓ Docker Compose | ~ Was self-hostable |
| Open source | ✓ MIT license | ✓ MPL 2.0 (archived) |
| CLI | ✓ npm @1time/cli | ✗ |
Where Firefox Send Had the Edge
- File size. Firefox Send supported files up to 2.5 GB. 1time.io currently supports up to 10 MB. For large file transfers, this is a real limitation. 1time.io is designed for sensitive documents, certificates, and config files — not video files or disk images.
- Multi-download links. Firefox Send allowed up to 100 downloads per link. 1time.io is strictly one-time — one download, then the file is gone. This is a security feature, not a limitation, but it does mean you cannot share one link with a group.
- Brand recognition. Mozilla is a household name. 1time.io is an independent project. You can verify the security model by reading the source code.
Where 1time.io Has the Edge
- It exists. Firefox Send has been offline for over five years. 1time.io is actively maintained and running.
- Stronger encryption. AES-256-GCM with HKDF key derivation, compared to Firefox Send's AES-128-GCM.
- Text and files. Firefox Send was files only. 1time.io handles both text secrets and encrypted files in one tool.
- CLI support. Share files and secrets from the terminal with
@1time/cli. Firefox Send had no official CLI. - Self-hostable today. Deploy with Docker Compose in 2 minutes. Your files, your server, your rules.
- Built-in tools. Password generator, API key generator, and QR code sharing are all part of the same platform.
The 10 MB Limit — Why?
Firefox Send handled large files because Mozilla had the infrastructure and funding for it. 1time.io is a solo-maintained, free, open-source project. The 10 MB limit exists to keep the service fast, free, and sustainable.
In practice, 10 MB covers the files that actually need one-time encrypted sharing: PDFs, certificates, .env files, config exports, private keys, screenshots with sensitive data, and most office documents. If you need to transfer a 500 MB video file, a bulk file transfer tool like WeTransfer or rsync is the right choice — the security model is different.
Self-hosting removes the limit. If you deploy 1time.io on your own server, you can adjust the file size limit to whatever your infrastructure supports.
How to Share a File with 1time.io
- Open 1time.io/secure-file-sharing.
- Select a file (up to 10 MB).
- Optionally add a passphrase for extra protection.
- Click create. Your browser encrypts the file and uploads only the encrypted blob.
- Copy the one-time download link and send it to the recipient.
- The recipient opens the link, the browser decrypts the file, and the server copy is destroyed.
The entire process takes under 15 seconds. No account, no signup, no tracking.
Who Should Use This?
If you used Firefox Send for any of these, 1time.io covers the same use cases:
- Sending an NDA or contract to a client without it sitting in email forever.
- Sharing a certificate or private key with a developer.
- Delivering a config export or database backup to a teammate.
- Sending screenshots with sensitive data that should not persist.
- Any file handoff where the recipient should get it once and it should not exist after.
Share a file like Firefox Send used to
Encrypted in your browser, one-time download, auto-destroyed. No account needed.
Share a file securely