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.

Transfer serviceFigures checked pCloud Transfer

At a glance

BetterFileTransfer and pCloud Transfer, measured the same seven ways.
MeasurementBetterFileTransferpCloud Transfer
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
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 and at rest; optional password mode caps files at 200 MB
Cheapest paid plan$10 / month, or $100 / yearNo paid tier
Paid transfer size10 GBNot applicable
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 ProNone; transfers only

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 If something here is out of date or simply wrong, email contact@betterfiletransfer.com and we will correct the row.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

pCloud Transfer is the simplest thing in this comparison. A page, a file, a recipient's email address, and a link that lives for seven days. Up to 5 GB, no registration, no charge. It exists to introduce you to pCloud, which sells storage, and it does that job without getting in the way.

What pCloud Transfer does well

It is uncomplicated in a way that is genuinely valuable when you are helping somebody non-technical send you a file. There is no plan chooser, no upsell in the flow, no account wall, and no advertising on the page. Type an address, send.

pCloud itself has a long-standing lifetime-plan model and a reasonable reputation, so the company behind it is not a question mark.

Where the two differ

  • It sends to an address, not to a link you hold. The flow is built around emailing the recipient rather than giving you a link to paste into a chat, which is a small thing until it is the thing you wanted.
  • Seven days, fixed. No choice, no extension, no revoking early.
  • No dashboard. Nothing to look back at, no download counts, no way to take a link down.
  • There is no paid tier for Transfer. pCloud sells storage; Transfer is the free front door and stays as it is.

The encryption question

pCloud Transfer offers optional password-based encryption, which is more than most free tiers do. The catch is in the small print: with encryption switched on, individual files are capped at 200 MB. The 5 GB total still applies, but every file inside it has to be under 200 MB.

In practice that rules out the exact things people most want encrypted: a video, a disk image, a large archive of documents. So the honest reading is that pCloud Transfer is a plain transfer service with an encryption option that is useful for documents and unavailable for anything big.

Encryption here has no size relationship at all. Every transfer is sealed by default, at any size the plan allows, including a 10 GB one on Pro, and the filenames are sealed with it. It is worth understanding that a password and encryption are answering different questions before deciding either is enough.

What it costs

Nothing. pCloud's storage plans are a separate product with separate pricing, and using Transfer does not require any of them.

Which one to use

pCloud Transfer for a simple, free, one-off send of a few gigabytes to somebody's email address, where a week is enough and you will not need to look at it again. This when the file is large and needs encrypting, when you want the link rather than an email, or when you need to be able to pull it back.

Compare something else