Firefox Send alternative: what to use now that Send is gone
Mozilla shut Firefox Send down in 2020. Here is what replaced it — and when each option fits.
Short answer: OncePad is a free, no-account service for sharing a password, secret, or file through an end-to-end encrypted link. The link contains no decryption key, works once, and expires after 24 hours. Files may be up to 25 MB.
What happened to Firefox Send
Firefox Send was Mozilla's free, end-to-end encrypted file-sharing service: files were encrypted in the browser, uploaded, and shared through a link that expired after a chosen number of downloads or days. Mozilla took it offline in July 2020 after it was abused to distribute malware and phishing pages, and on September 17, 2020 announced it would not return. The send.firefox.com links people still search for no longer work.
Its direct successor: the Send fork
Mozilla's code lives on as Send, a community fork maintained by Tim Visée with the Mozilla branding removed so anyone can host it. It keeps the original design — browser-side encryption, the key in the link's #fragment, download and time limits — and works with the ffsend command-line client. If you want Firefox Send exactly as it was, that is the closest thing, either self-hosted or on a public instance.
Where OncePad is different
OncePad is narrower. It is built for handing one secret to one person: a password, an API key, a .env file, or a document up to 25 MB. The file is encrypted in your browser and its name is hidden inside the encryption. The link carries no key — reading it needs a generated seven-word passphrase you send on a second channel — so a forwarded email or a leaked chat log exposes nothing. It downloads once and is gone, or expires unopened after 24 hours.
Side by side
| Feature | OncePad | Firefox Send |
|---|---|---|
| Status | Live, free, no account | Discontinued September 2020; continued as the community Send fork |
| Encryption location | Browser, before upload (AES-256-GCM) | Browser, before upload (AES-GCM) |
| Key placement | Generated 7-word passphrase sent separately; no key in link | Key in the URL fragment; optional password |
| File size | One file up to 25 MB, or text up to ~64 KB | Up to 1 GB, or 2.5 GB with a Firefox account (fork: set by the host) |
| Expiry | Exactly one download or 24 hours | A chosen number of downloads or days |
| Source | Hosted app source not publicly released | Mozilla's code was public; the fork is open source and self-hostable |
When the Send fork may suit you better
Choose the Send fork when the file is large — a video, a disk image, a design archive — when several people need to download it, when you want the link to live for days, or when you want to run the service yourself. Those are things OncePad deliberately does not do.
When OncePad is the better fit
Choose OncePad when what you are sending is a credential or a sensitive document, and the link should be harmless on its own — safe to paste into email, Slack, or a ticket. One read, a fixed 24-hour ceiling, nothing to install, no account on either side.
Last verified: October 5, 2026. Descriptions of Firefox Send are based on Mozilla's shutdown announcement and the Send fork's documentation, and are given in good faith; verify them before deciding. Firefox is a trademark of its respective owner, the Mozilla Foundation, which is not affiliated with OncePad.