How it works

What is device-to-device transfers?
And how does it work?

πŸ’» Device to device

With cloud-based hosting, your files need to sit around on someone else's server, waiting to be downloaded. At some point, they also need to be removed, either by you or by the provider.

Direct transfers, on the other hand, are ephemeral. They start when the sender selects the files, and end when they're received. There's nothing to clean up afterwards. We think it's easier that way. It also turns out to have many other benefits.

🧐 Why an app?

There are plenty of sites for file hosting! So why go through the hassle of downloading an app?

Well, to build a fantastic file transfer tool, the web didn't cut it for us. First, a number of important use-cases are poorly supported on web:

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Drag & drop β€” With multiple files and directories, preserving file structure
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Resumable β€” Don't lose progress if you close your laptop lid, unplug your drive or even after a reboot
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Nearby β€” Discover and transfer with nearby devices, even without an internet connection

Over time, we found more use-cases, from quality-of-life improvements to networking optimizations. We think you'll find it worthwhile too!

πŸ”’ Security

Your files belong to you and those you trust, nobody else. We use full end-to-end encryption for all transfers (including the file names), no exceptions. Nobody, not even us, can access your files.

End-to-end encryption (E2EE) is the only way to fully protect against unauthorized access. Since E2EE is difficult, many products don't bother with it. If you see any other marketing term, like "encrypted in transit", "encrypted at rest", "password protected" or the creative "military grade encryption", it's not E2EE. Without it, the provider is vulnerable to attacks both from within (rogue employees) and outside hackers.

In the last few years, many companies are increasing their security posture, and don't want their data to sit on servers they don't control, hosted by companies they don't trust, in a foreign jursidiction they don't want to rely on. E2EE doesn't solve every security problem, but it greatly reduces the amount of trust you need to give to the provider.

⚑ Speed, speed, speed

In our view, transfers should be limited only by network capacity between sender and receiver. If we're the bottleneck, we're not doing our job. Payload is built from the ground up to reach this limit.

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Start instantly β€” There are no separate upload and download phases. This alone can make transfers up to 2x faster.
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Take shortcuts β€” Nearby transfers use your local network, which is much faster. Online, we use peer-to-peer if possible. If not, we have dumb relay servers that forward traffic (still protected by E2EE, of course).
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Secret sauce β€” We have some tricks up our sleeves to push data faster than what's possible with a web browser. This boosts speed especially on difficult networks, such as over a flaky Wifi or long distances.

Web-based transfers just can't reach the same speeds. In fact, some providers throttle your speed deliberately, to prevent "excessive use" of their service. Clearly, we don't roll that way. But don't take our word for it. Try it out, and let us know how we did.

That said, sometimes your network is just... slow. Payload is (currently) limited by physics, so we can't do anything about that. But there are things you can do! For instance, simply switching from Wifi to cable can help a lot. We're working on a practical speed guide with all these tips and tricks. Stay tuned!

πŸ“¦ How does data work?

To transfer online, you need data (nearby transfers are always free). When you sign up, you get a bunch of monthly data to use. Note that you can use your data with guests (people who don't have an account). See our plans.

πŸ“± What about mobile?

We are working on bringing Payload to Android and iOS! If you want it too, let us know and we might work a little faster.