> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://www.floe.one/docs/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Which app should I use? > Compare the Floe web app, Floe Desktop for Windows, and the floe CLI: what each one can send, where files land, and which features only one of them has. There are three Floes and they all talk to each other, so the one you pick is about convenience rather than compatibility. Any of them can send to any other, in any direction, across different networks. If you only want one sentence: **use the browser unless you need folders, a place on disk, or a script.** Nothing to install. Best for a one-off, and the only one your recipient definitely already has. Windows only, in beta. Best for folders, large files, and sending the same way every day. macOS, Windows, Linux. Best for servers, scripts, and anything headless. ## Pick by what you are doing **Sending one file to someone who has never heard of Floe.** Use the browser. You send them a link, they open it, and the transfer starts on its own. They install nothing and no part of the exchange needs explaining. **Sending a folder.** Use Floe Desktop or the CLI. The browser has no folder picker, and dropping a folder onto the page adds nothing. Both of the others walk the folder for you and rebuild the same structure on the other side. **Receiving something very large.** Use Floe Desktop or the CLI. A browser receiver keeps each file in memory until that file is complete, so a multi-gigabyte file can exhaust a phone or a laptop tab. The other two write straight to disk as bytes arrive and have no such ceiling. **Transferring from a machine with no screen.** Use the CLI. It is one self-contained binary with no runtime dependencies, and it runs anywhere Go runs. **Sending regularly from Windows.** Use Floe Desktop. It keeps a local history of the last 50 transfers, remembers where you save things, and can put **Send with Floe** in the File Explorer right-click menu. ## Feature by feature | | Web app | Floe Desktop | CLI | | ------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------- | | Platforms | Any modern browser | Windows 10 or later, x64, beta | macOS, Windows, Linux, on Intel and ARM | | Install | None | Microsoft Store or a download | Package manager, one-line script, or `go install` | | Send files | Yes | Yes | Yes | | Send a folder | No | Yes | Yes | | Send a typed note | No | Yes, as `message.txt` | No | | Paste files or a screenshot | No | Yes, with `Ctrl` `V` | No | | Share a link | Yes | Yes | Yes | | Share a short code | No | Yes | Yes | | Show a QR code | Yes | Yes | No | | Join with a link | Yes | Yes | Yes | | Join with a short code | No | Yes | Yes | | Where received files go | Your browser's downloads, after the whole file is in memory | Straight to disk, in a folder you choose | Straight to disk, in `-o` or the current directory | | Folder structure on arrival | Flattened when saved one at a time, rebuilt inside **Download ZIP** | Rebuilt | Rebuilt | | Confirm before receiving | No, it starts on its own | No, it starts on its own | Yes, unless you pass `-y` | | Refuse the relay | Yes, the **Network relay fallback** checkbox | No | Yes, `--no-relay` | | Force the relay to hide your IP | No | Yes, **Hide my IP address** | Yes, `--relay-only` | | Transfer history | No | The last 50, stored on your device | No | | File Explorer right-click entry | No | Yes, on the build from GitHub | No | | Point at a self-hosted server | Automatic, it is served by that instance | **Settings**, then **Server address** | `--server` or `FLOE_SERVER` | ## What is the same everywhere These are properties of the transfer itself, so they do not change with the client you pick. * **Encryption.** Every transfer runs over an encrypted WebRTC data channel. See [Encryption](/docs/how-it-works/encryption). * **No size limit on a direct connection**, and a 2 GB cap when the connection has to fall back to the relay. See [File size limits](/docs/how-it-works/2gb-limit). * **One receiver per transfer.** A room holds exactly two peers, so while one recipient is connected, a second one is turned away. * **The sender stays connected** for the whole transfer. Closing the tab, quitting the app, or stopping the process ends it. * **Versions do not need to match.** A browser sender and a two-year-old CLI receiver transfer normally. See [Protocol versioning](/docs/reference/transfer-protocol#protocol-versioning). ## Mixing them Every combination works, and neither side needs to know what the other is using. The browser speaks to the signaling server over Socket.IO while the desktop app and the CLI use a WebSocket, but both land in the same room and the server routes between them. The one asymmetry worth remembering: **a browser recipient needs the link.** There is no place to type a short code in the web UI, and a browser sender never mints one. Short codes are a desktop and CLI feature in both directions. When you are not sure what the person on the other end will use, share the link, because every client accepts it. See the [cross-platform table](/docs/quickstart#cross-platform-transfers) for how each pairing joins. ## Related topics - [Frequently asked questions](/docs/faq.md) - [Introduction](/docs/introduction.md) - [Send your first file](/docs/quickstart.md) - [File size limits and the 2 GB relay cap](/docs/how-it-works/2gb-limit.md) - [Send files from your browser](/docs/web-app/sending.md)