Firefox Send is gone. Here is what replaced the idea.
Firefox Send was a small, honest tool. You dropped a file into a page, it was encrypted in your browser, and you got a link that stopped working after a set number of downloads or a few days. Mozilla never saw the file. The key travelled in the part of the link after the #, which browsers do not send to the server.
Mozilla launched it in 2019, paused it in July 2020 after it was abused to spread malware, and shut it down for good that September. Many people still search for it, because nothing mainstream took its place.
VitalSend is built on the same model, with one rule made strict.
What Firefox Send got right
- Encryption in the browser. The file was encrypted before upload. The server stored ciphertext only.
- The key in the fragment. The decryption key sat after the
#in the link, so it never reached Mozilla. - Links that expire. You chose how many downloads (up to 100) and how many days (up to 7).
VitalSend works the same way on the first two points. The file is encrypted on your device with XChaCha20-Poly1305 before any of it leaves, and the key lives only in the link fragment. The encryption code is open source, so you can check this instead of trusting it.
Where VitalSend is stricter
Firefox Send let you allow many downloads. VitalSend allows one.
After one complete download the file is destroyed. If nobody downloads it within 7 days, it is destroyed then. There is no setting for a second download, no resend and no recovery. A link that has been used is dead, so a forwarded or leaked link gives nobody the file.
If you add a password, the recipient must enter it before the download starts, and repeated wrong attempts destroy the transfer.
How they compare
| VitalSend | Firefox Send (2019–2020) | |
|---|---|---|
| Encrypted in the browser | Yes | Yes |
| Key kept out of the server | Yes, in the link fragment | Yes, in the link fragment |
| Downloads per link | One | 1 to 100 |
| Expiry | After one download, or 7 days | Chosen by sender, up to 7 days |
| File size | Up to 1 TB | 1 GB, or 2.5 GB signed in |
| Password | Optional | Optional |
| Account | Optional | Optional |
| Available today | Yes | No |
When this is the right tool
VitalSend is for files that should exist on the recipient's machine and nowhere else: a contract draft, an HR document, credentials for a new system, a report under embargo. If you want a link several people can use, or a file that stays online for a week, a general-purpose tool fits better. How VitalSend differs from WeTransfer covers that difference.
You can send one file without an account and pay once, or create a free account for one send a month up to 1 GB.