Head to head

Every way to send a big file, compared

WeTransfer, Dropbox, Google Drive, Smash and the rest, side by side: how large a free transfer can be, how long the link lasts, whether the files are end-to-end encrypted, and what the paid plans actually cost.

We built one of these, so read the table rather than the adjectives. Every figure below is either published by the service itself or marked as unconfirmed, and each page says plainly where the other service is the better choice.

The short version

Free tiers only, except the last column. Sizes are per transfer, not per month.

Free transfer size, link lifetime, encryption and starting price for every service compared here.
Service	Free transfer	Free link lasts	End-to-end encrypted	Paid from
BetterFileTransferThis site	1 GB100 MB with no account	Up to 30 days	Yes, on by defaultSealed in your browser before upload	$10 / month
WeTransfer: read the full comparisonTransfer service	3 GB, 10 transfers a month	3 days	NoIn transit and at rest; WeTransfer holds the keys	Starter and Ultimate; price not confirmed
Dropbox Transfer: read the full comparisonCloud storage	2 GBAccount required	7 days	NoIn transit and at rest; Dropbox holds the keys	$9.99 / month billed yearly (Plus)
Google Drive: read the full comparisonCloud storage	15 GB total, shared with GmailAccount required	No expiry; the link lives until you unshare	NoIn transit and at rest; Google holds the keys	$1.99 / month for 100 GB
Smash: read the full comparisonTransfer service	No stated size limit; over 2 GB is queued	7 days, up to 14	NoIn transit and at rest; Smash holds the keys	$10 / month, or $6 / month billed yearly
SwissTransfer: read the full comparisonTransfer service	50 GB	15 days, extendable to 30	NoIn transit and at rest; Infomaniak holds the keys	No paid tier
Send Anywhere: read the full comparisonTransfer service	10 GB by link, 50 GB by six-digit key	48 hours	NoIn transit; they do not claim end to end	$5.99 / month (Lite)
Filemail: read the full comparisonTransfer service	5 GB, two transfers a day	7 days	NoIn transit; end to end on Business, desktop app only	$4 / month (Personal); cycle not stated
TransferNow: read the full comparisonTransfer service	5 GB	7 days	NoIn transit and at rest; TransferNow holds the keys	€3 / month on a two-year plan
MASV: read the full comparisonProfessional media	15 GB a month, card requiredAccount required	5 days of free storage per upload	NoIn transit and at rest; MASV holds the keys	$0.25 per GB downloaded
Tresorit Send: read the full comparisonEncrypted transfer	5 GB	7 days	YesEnd to end; the key travels in the link	Free; sold alongside Tresorit storage
Wormhole: read the full comparisonEncrypted transfer	5 GB stored; larger goes peer to peer	24 hours	YesEnd to end; the key travels in the link fragment	No paid tier
pCloud Transfer: read the full comparisonTransfer service	5 GB	7 days	NoIn transit and at rest; optional password mode caps files at 200 MB	No paid tier

These figures were last checked Aug 22, 2026. Limits and prices are set by each service and change without telling us, and a figure we could not confirm reads "not confirmed" rather than being estimated. If something here is out of date or simply wrong, email contact@betterfiletransfer.com and we will correct the row. Say where you saw it and we will check it against their own pages the same way we checked the rest.

The long version

One page each: what the service is genuinely good at, where it stops, and what it costs once you outgrow the free tier.

Transfer serviceProvider holds the keys

BetterFileTransfer vs WeTransfer

WeTransfer is the name most people mean by "send a big file". It is also the one that has changed most in the last two years: a monthly transfer quota on the free tier, three days on a link, and ads paying for it.

Better forsending to people who already expect a WeTransfer link, and for branded download pages on the Ultimate tier

Read the comparison

Cloud storageProvider holds the keys

BetterFileTransfer vs Dropbox Transfer

Dropbox Transfer is a good send button attached to a storage product. That is its strength if you already pay for Dropbox, and its whole cost if you do not.

Better forpeople already paying for Dropbox, sending a file that already lives there

Read the comparison

Cloud storageProvider holds the keys

BetterFileTransfer vs Google Drive

Google Drive is not a transfer service, and most of the trouble people have sending files with it comes from using it as one. Here is where the line actually falls.

Better forfiles that need to be worked on rather than handed over, and anything over 10 GB

Read the comparison

Transfer serviceProvider holds the keys

BetterFileTransfer vs Smash

Smash advertises no file size limit, which is true in a narrow sense: anything over 2 GB goes into a queue. It also advertises end-to-end encryption, which its own technical documentation contradicts.

Better forone very large file when the budget is zero and nobody is waiting on it

Read the comparison

Transfer serviceProvider holds the keys

BetterFileTransfer vs SwissTransfer

SwissTransfer gives away 50 GB per transfer, with no account, no ads and no paid tier at all. It is the most generous free offer in this category, and it is worth being straight about that.

Better forthe largest genuinely free transfer there is, hosted and governed in Switzerland

Read the comparison

Transfer serviceProvider holds the keys

BetterFileTransfer vs Send Anywhere

Send Anywhere's six-digit key is the best device-to-device idea in this category. Its share links are a different, much smaller product, and its encryption is not what people assume.

Better formoving a big file between two devices in the same room using a six-digit key

Read the comparison

Transfer serviceProvider holds the keys

BetterFileTransfer vs Filemail

Filemail has real zero-knowledge encryption, and it is on the Business plan, in the desktop app only. Everywhere else, its own help centre says data at rest is not encrypted at all.

Better forbusiness use where zero-knowledge encryption and a choice of EU or US hosting are both required

Read the comparison

Transfer serviceProvider holds the keys

BetterFileTransfer vs TransferNow

TransferNow gives away password protection, unlimited recipients and unlimited downloads on a free tier that most of this category charges for. It pays for that with advertising.

Better forfree password protection and unlimited recipients without paying for either

Read the comparison

Professional mediaProvider holds the keys

BetterFileTransfer vs MASV

MASV is not competing with us. It is a pay-per-gigabyte delivery pipe for film and broadcast, priced and certified for people whose contracts specify how their footage moves.

Better forfilm and broadcast delivery where TPN, SOC 2 and ISO 27001 are contractual requirements

Read the comparison

Encrypted transferEnd to end

BetterFileTransfer vs Tresorit Send

Tresorit Send is the closest thing here to a like-for-like rival: genuinely end-to-end encrypted, no account, and the decryption key carried in the link rather than stored on a server.

Better fora single genuinely encrypted send, free, with nothing to sign up for

Read the comparison

Encrypted transferEnd to end

BetterFileTransfer vs Wormhole

Wormhole is properly end-to-end encrypted, free, and beautifully made. It also keeps files for 24 hours, has never shipped a paid tier, and above 5 GB it needs your browser tab left open.

Better fora fast, private, no-account send that will be collected the same day

Read the comparison

Transfer serviceProvider holds the keys

BetterFileTransfer vs pCloud Transfer

pCloud Transfer is a free 5 GB send with no registration, run as a shop window for pCloud's storage product. Its optional encryption comes with a limit almost nobody notices.

Better fora simple free send to somebody's email address, with nothing to sign up for

Read the comparison

Method

How these are measured

Same seven questions: Every page asks the same things in the same order. Picking different measurements per competitor is how a comparison gets arranged to be won.
Published numbers only: Figures come from each service's own pricing or help pages, never from a round-up article. A number we could not confirm reads "not confirmed" rather than being estimated.
Encryption, stated precisely: "Encrypted" usually means in transit and at rest, with the provider holding the keys. End to end means they cannot open the files at all. Only the second one earns a yes.
Our own row is read off the code: 1 GB, 100 MB without an account, $10 / month for Pro. Those come from the same rules the server enforces on an upload, so this table cannot drift from the product.

Try it

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Drop a file in, get a private link back, and pick the day it disappears. No account for the first 100 MB.

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