WeTransfer alternatives: where to go and how to switch cleanly

Why switch to SwissTransfer. It does what WeTransfer Free used to do, only bigger. You send up to 50 GB per transfer, the files combined, for free, and there's no monthly cap on the number of transfers. Neither you nor your recipient needs an account: the first send from a new device asks you to confirm your email, and that's it. You set the link to last anywhere from 1 to 30 days, and it allows up to 250 downloads. Compare that with WeTransfer Free, where 3 GB in total over 30 days is the whole budget.

Who it's for. Freelancers, photographers and small teams who send big files a few times a month and don't want to pay for it. Also anyone who wants files stored in Switzerland: Infomaniak keeps them only in its own Swiss data centers.

Who it's not for. Anyone who needs a branded download page, an archive, or files that stay online for months. It's a temporary service. When the link expires, the files are deleted for good and the link can't be brought back.

The catch. Sending is not available from some countries, including Mexico, China, India and the United Arab Emirates. Receiving works everywhere. If part of your team travels or works from one of those countries, they can download but not send. And with only a few hundred public reviews, its reputation is thinner than the big names, with some complaints about blocked transfers.

How to switch. Nothing to migrate: open swisstransfer.com, drop your files, add an email or copy the link. Pick the expiry on purpose. Thirty days is the max, so for a client who downloads late, choose it rather than the default.

Why switch to Smash. Smash's free plan doesn't stop you at a size limit. Up to 2 GB, your transfer goes out at full priority. Above 2 GB it still goes out, but it waits in line behind paying users. No payment, no storage, one user, links valid for 7 days. That queue is the trade: you send a 20 GB folder for free, you just don't control when it lands.

Who it's for. People who send big files now and then and can live with a delay, and creatives who like a clean download page. On public review sites it holds one of the strongest scores in the category, with tens of thousands of reviews and almost no one-star ratings.

Who it's not for. A deadline delivery on the free plan. If the client needs the 15 GB cut before tonight's call, the queue is a risk you don't control.

The catch. Smash doesn't display the Pro price on its pricing page in a way we could read, so check it there before you commit. What is shown: Pro gives you unlimited transfer size, links that last 30 days and 1 TB, with 40% off when billed yearly and 52% off on a two-year plan. Team runs from 10 to 50 users with 2 TB. Enterprise is on quote.

How to switch. Start free and see whether the queue bothers you in real use. If it does, the yearly or two-year plan is where the discount sits, so don't pay month to month for long.

Why switch to MASV. MASV is built for the people WeTransfer frustrates the most: video editors and post-production teams who move 200 GB to 1 TB at a time. Instead of a monthly cap on transfers, you pay for what you send. The first 15 GB each month are free, then it's $0.25 per GB. If you send big files every week, subscriptions start at $58 a month for 250 GB, on a 12-month commitment.

Who it's for. Agencies, editors and studios who deliver rushes, masters and project files to clients and need the transfer to finish, not to expire mid-download. On video forums it's one of the names that comes up most when someone asks how to move very large files.

Who it's not for. Someone sending a 2 GB folder twice a month. SwissTransfer does that for free. And anyone who needs files to stay online: MASV stores them for 5 days.

The catch. Even the free 15 GB needs a credit card, with a $10 pre-authorization. Pay as you go adds up fast at scale: 500 GB in a month comes to about $121 at $0.25 per GB after the free 15 GB, which is when a subscription starts to make sense. Do that math on your real monthly volume before picking a plan.

How to switch. Check your WeTransfer history for the last three months, add up the gigabytes, and compare pay as you go with the 250 GB plan. Keep your clients' download habits in mind: with 5 days of storage, tell them when the delivery lands.

Why switch to Filemail. Filemail fixes the other big WeTransfer annoyance: links that die. On the free plan you send up to 5 GB with no sign-up, and your recipient doesn't need an account either. On Pro, transfers go up to 250 GB each, you get 1 TB of storage, and files are kept permanently. Video teams on forums put it next to MASV when the topic is big deliveries.

Who it's for. Freelancers and studios who send a delivery once and want it to still work when the client comes back three months later. Business is for teams: any transfer size, 1 TB per user, 100 downloads and 50 recipients per transfer.

Who it's not for. Large distribution. Pro allows 20 downloads and 10 recipients per transfer. Send one file to a 40-person mailing list and you hit the wall.

The catch. The amounts on Filemail's plan comparison page didn't render when we read it, so we don't quote them: check them on the vendor's site. What is shown: a 7-day trial on Business and two months free when you pay yearly.

How to switch. Use the free plan for anything under 5 GB. For Pro, count how often you send to more than 10 people: if it's often, look at Business instead.

Why switch to Dropbox Transfer. If your files already live in Dropbox, you probably have a transfer tool you're not using. Dropbox Transfer sends a copy from your account with its own link, so the recipient doesn't touch your folders. The limit depends on your plan: 2 GB on Basic (free), 50 GB on Plus, 100 GB on Standard and Advanced, and 250 GB with the Creative Tools add-on.

Who it's for. Teams already on Dropbox, and anyone who delivers to the same client again and again. For a recurring client, a shared folder link often beats any transfer that expires: the client always finds the latest version in the same place.

Who it's not for. Someone on the free plan. 2 GB is less than SwissTransfer, Filemail or Smash give you for free.

The catch. The size limit is lower than the specialists. And on Standard and Advanced, you can add a password after the transfer is sent, which is handy, but it's not on the cheaper plans.

Price. Plus costs $9.99 a month with 2 TB, Standard $15 per user and Advanced $24 per user. To push files to clients automatically, you can connect Dropbox to Make or n8n.

Why switch to Proton Drive. If the 2025 controversy around WeTransfer's terms of service made you nervous, Proton Drive is the answer with the least to explain. It's a storage service with sharing built in, from a company known for encrypted email. The free plan lets you upload and share up to 5 GB. Shared links have no limit on file size or number of downloads, and you can add a password and an expiry date.

Who it's for. Lawyers, accountants, HR and anyone sending contracts, payroll or medical files. A French photographers' union named it among its go-to alternatives when the terms of service blew up.

Who it's not for. A video team moving 300 GB a week. The free 5 GB is the whole storage, not a per-transfer allowance, so big sends need a paid plan.

The catch. It's a drive, not a drop box. You upload into your space first, then share. That's one more step than WeTransfer, and the space counts against your storage until you delete the files.

Price. Free with 5 GB; Drive Plus gives 200 GB for $4.99 a month.

Open your WeTransfer history and count three numbers for the last three months: how many transfers a month, the biggest single transfer, and the total gigabytes. That's the whole spec of your new tool.

Why bother? Most people pick an alternative on the free headline (50 GB, no limit) and find out later that their real pain was something else: links that expire, too many recipients, or one 400 GB delivery a month that no free plan handles.

If you're on a paid plan, your account can hold up to 2 TB by default, and Teams up to 5 TB. Anything you need to keep should come back to your own drive before you cancel. Free transfers expire after 3 days anyway, so on the free plan there's usually nothing left to save.

Also list the transfers still live with clients. If a client hasn't downloaded yet, wait or resend from the new tool. Canceling doesn't warn your recipients.

One-off sends (a file to a printer, a set of photos to a client) go to a transfer tool: SwissTransfer, Smash, Filemail. Recurring deliveries to the same client go to a shared folder: Dropbox, Google Drive, Proton Drive. Video teams on forums land on the same split.

A transfer that expires is fine for a one-off. For a client you deliver to every week, one folder link they bookmark beats ten links that die after a week.

Set the expiry you actually need (30 days on SwissTransfer, for example), add a password when the content is confidential, and save your usual recipients. If you used branded WeTransfer pages, check which alternatives offer one before you leave: it's a paid feature almost everywhere.

Send one test transfer to yourself and one to a friendly client. Check that the email arrives, the link opens on a phone, and the download finishes.

For contracts, IDs or unreleased work, encrypt the files before uploading, whatever the tool. A free tool like Picocrypt or Cryptomator turns the file into an encrypted container; you send the password through another channel (a text, a call).

That way, the terms of service of the transfer service matter much less: it only ever sees an encrypted file.

If you send the same kind of delivery every week (a monthly report, client exports), stop doing it by hand. Drop the file in a cloud folder and let an automation share the link and email the client. You can wire it with Zapier and Google Drive or n8n and Dropbox.

Check how you're billed before you cancel: public reviews are full of people who found out they were on a weekly or monthly plan they didn't expect, or who couldn't find where to stop it. Cancel from your account settings, keep the confirmation email, and only then check that the next charge doesn't go through.

Do it after your last live transfers have been downloaded, not before.