Show HN: FileShot – zero-knowledge file sharing, nothing locked behind accounts

3 points

3 months ago

I'm a CIS student who built this after getting fed up with every file sharing platform making the wrong tradeoffs. They're either expensive with good encryption, free with no encryption, or free but lock basic features behind signups and paywalls.

Technical implementation: - AES-256-GCM encryption runs entirely in the browser before upload - Decryption key lives only in the URL fragment — the server receives and stores only ciphertext. Zero-knowledge is real, not marketing - P2P mode: WebRTC direct transfer, nothing touches our servers at all

What's free without an account (competitors charge or require signup for these): - Password-protected links - 50GB per file, unlimited storage total - File previews on the download page - Full tool suite (file conversion, image tools, etc.)

The only reason to create an account: persistent file management. That's it. No dark patterns, no feature gating to force signups.

I noticed some "zero-knowledge" competitors literally ask for your name on signup. If you're privacy-first, why do you need my name? FileShot asks for nothing — you can use every feature anonymously.

Desktop app (Electron), browser extension (Chrome), and PWA also available.

Happy to answer questions about the encryption implementation, P2P architecture, or anything else.