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.

Transfer serviceFigures checked Filemail

At a glance

BetterFileTransfer and Filemail, measured the same seven ways.
MeasurementBetterFileTransferFilemail
Send without an accountWhether a first-time visitor can send something without handing over an email address.Yes, up to 100 MBYes
Free transfer sizeThe largest single transfer on the free tier.1 GB5 GB, two transfers a day
Free link lifetimeHow long a link keeps working before the files are deleted.Up to 30 days7 days
End-to-end encryptedEnd to end means the provider holds sealed bytes and cannot open them. Encryption "in transit and at rest" is a different, weaker promise: the provider still holds the keys.Yes. End to end, on by default, sealed in your browser before uploadNo. In transit; end to end on Business, desktop app only
Cheapest paid plan$10 / month, or $100 / year$4 / month (Personal); cycle not stated
Paid transfer size10 GBNot confirmed above Personal
Storage includedStorage is what stays on the service; a transfer is what leaves it. A product built for one is rarely the best answer for the other.10 GB free, 1 TB on Pro250 GB on Personal

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 If something here is out of date or simply wrong, email contact@betterfiletransfer.com and we will correct the row.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.

Filemail is a Norwegian transfer service with a large free tier: 5 GB per transfer, no registration, seven days on a link. It is also the service on this page whose own documentation contradicts itself most sharply, and the contradiction is worth understanding before you rely on either version.

What Filemail does well

5 GB free with no account is generous, and unlike most of this category Filemail will genuinely email your recipients with no cap on how many. Business plans let you choose whether your data sits in the EU or the US, which is a real answer to a real procurement question.

And Filemail does have proper end-to-end encryption. Their own words: the key is never shared with Filemail. That is the correct architecture and they deserve credit for building it.

Where the two differ

  • Two transfers a day. The free tier is capped by frequency, not just size, and it is not available in certain regions.
  • Password protection starts at Pro. Not on free, not on Personal.
  • The encryption is behind a plan and a download. More on that below.

The encryption question

Filemail's marketing page advertises AES-256 encryption at rest. Filemail's help centre says, verbatim, that data at rest is not encrypted unless the user asks for end-to-end encryption at the point of sending. Those are opposite claims about the same bytes, published by the same company.

The help centre is the one to believe, because it is the one that describes a mechanism. And that mechanism has two conditions attached: end-to-end encryption is a Business plan feature, and it works in the desktop application only, with no browser support. Separately, their Pro plan page describes plain TLS as end-to-end encryption, which it is not.

So the honest summary is: Filemail can do the thing properly, for business customers who install software. If you are on the free tier in a browser, which is how nearly everybody uses it, you are not getting it.

Here it is the default, in the browser, on every tier including anonymous sends. There is nothing to install, nothing to upgrade to, and the filenames are sealed as well as the files. That is the whole difference, and it is worth knowing how to check the claim on any service, ours included.

What it costs

Filemail's Personal plan is advertised at $4 a month, though the page does not say whether that is the monthly or the annual rate, and Personal has no password protection. Pro and Business prices we could not confirm: the pricing page does not load its figures without JavaScript and the numbers quoted on third-party sites disagree. Check them yourself rather than trusting a listicle, this one included.

Which one to use

If you are a business, you will install the desktop app, and you need zero-knowledge encryption with a choice of jurisdiction, Filemail Business is a serious product and a fair choice. For a browser send today, on any other tier, the security story is ordinary and the frequency cap will find you.

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