Which free file transfer service has the biggest size limit?

Among the upload-based services we checked, the free per-transfer caps top out at 5 GB (Filemail, TransferNow, pCloud Transfer). Google Drive accepts files up to 5 TB but only if you have the storage space, and the free account comes with 15 GB. A live peer-to-peer tool such as TransferFiles.net sets no cap of its own, but both people must stay online.

Can I send a file without either person creating an account?

Yes. Smash, Filemail, TransferNow, pCloud Transfer, Send Anywhere and TransferFiles.net all let you send without signing up. WeTransfer, Google Drive, Dropbox, Hightail and MASV need the sender to have an account, although recipients can usually download without one.

Why do these numbers differ from other comparison sites?

Free tiers change often. WeTransfer, for example, now limits free accounts to 10 transfers or 3 GB per rolling 30 days, which many older articles still describe as 2 GB per transfer with no account. We checked each figure against the provider's own pages in October 2026.

Is a service that stores my file for 7 days less private than a direct transfer?

Not automatically, since reputable services encrypt files in transit and at rest. The difference is who can access the copy: a stored file sits on the provider's servers, where the provider holds the keys, until it is deleted. A direct transfer never creates that stored copy.

Which option is best for sending to a client who will download later?

Use a service that keeps the file online after you close your laptop, such as TransferNow, Filemail, Smash or WeTransfer for occasional sends, or Dropbox and Google Drive if you already pay for storage. A live peer-to-peer link will not work if the client opens it after you have gone offline.

File Transfer Services Compared (2026): Free Limits

No single file transfer service wins on every count. If the recipient will download later, you need a service that stores the file: TransferNow, Filemail and pCloud Transfer give you 5 GB with no account, and Smash gives priority to anything up to 2 GB. If you pay for cloud storage already, Google Drive and Dropbox are the natural choice. For professional video work, MASV charges per gigabyte and has no fixed plan to outgrow. If both of you are online at the same moment and the file is very large or private, a direct browser-to-browser transfer avoids size caps and server copies entirely. The table below has the details, and the sections after it explain which service fits which job.

The comparison table

Every row describes the free tier unless stated otherwise. "Retention" is how long a sent file stays downloadable. Prices are the cheapest paid option the provider lists, at the time of writing (October 2026), before tax. Where we could not confirm a figure on an official page, the cell says so instead of guessing.

Service	Free size limit	Account to send?	Retention (free)	Encryption model	Paid entry price
WeTransfer	10 transfers or 3 GB total per rolling 30 days	Yes (free account)	3 days	Stored on WeTransfer servers, described as "automatically encrypted"	Starter plan; price not shown on the pages we could load
Google Drive	15 GB storage shared with Gmail and Photos; single files up to 5 TB if you have the space	Yes (Google account)	Until you delete it	HTTPS in transit, encrypted at rest; Google holds the keys	Google One Basic, 100 GB for US$1.99/month
Dropbox Transfer (Basic)	2 GB per transfer (2 GB total Basic storage)	Yes (Dropbox account)	7 days	TLS in transit, 256-bit AES at rest; Dropbox holds the keys	Plus, US$9.99/month (2 TB, 50 GB transfers)
Send Anywhere	No limit published on the official pages we checked	No	Shared links valid 48 hours; key transfers are live	Not described on the official pages we checked	One-time in-app ad removal; subscription pricing not verified
Smash	No hard cap; transfers over 2 GB are queued behind paid users	No	Up to 7 days	TLS in transit, AES-256 at rest on AWS S3	Pro, US$10/month or US$72/year
Filemail	5 GB per transfer, 2 transfers per 24 hours	No	7 days	TLS 1.2 in transit; end-to-end only on Business plans	Personal plan; price not shown on the pages we could load
TransferNow	5 GB per transfer	No	7 days	SSL/TLS plus AES-256, antivirus scan	Premium, from 6 EUR/month
pCloud Transfer	5 GB per transfer, up to 10 recipients	No (email verification)	7 days	TLS in transit, optional password	No separate paid tier; larger shares go through pCloud storage plans
Hightail (Lite)	100 MB per file, 2 GB storage	Yes (Lite account)	7 days	Server-stored; current at-rest details not on a page we could load	Pro, US$12/month billed annually (US$15 monthly)
MASV	15 GB of transfers per month	Yes (credit card required, US$10 pre-authorisation)	5 days free storage	TLS 1.2 in transit, AES-256 at rest	Pay as you go, US$0.25/GB; subscriptions from US$58/month
TransferFiles.net	No limit set by us; both devices must stay online	No	None: live transfer, nothing stored	WebRTC DTLS, always on, browser to browser	Free (ad-supported)

Two patterns stand out. First, "free" is measured in very different units: per transfer (Filemail, TransferNow), per month (WeTransfer, MASV), or as total storage (Google Drive, Dropbox, Hightail). A 4 GB file is fine on TransferNow but uses your entire month on WeTransfer Free. Second, every service except a live peer-to-peer tool keeps a copy of your file on its servers for some period, which is exactly what makes "download it tomorrow" possible.

Best for each job

Best for async delivery (send now, they download later)

TransferNow or Filemail for occasional free sends; Google Drive or Dropbox if you already have the storage. TransferNow and Filemail both take 5 GB without an account and keep the link alive for 7 days, which covers a weekend and a slow reply. Filemail limits you to two free sends per day, so TransferNow suits bursts better. If the file needs to stay available for weeks, or you want to replace it with a revised version later, a cloud drive link is the better tool because nothing expires until you delete it.

Best for professionals sending regularly

MASV for video and other very large deliveries, Smash Pro or WeTransfer paid plans for branded everyday sends. MASV's model is unusual: instead of a monthly plan with a size ceiling, you pay US$0.25 per gigabyte after the first 15 GB each month, so a single 400 GB delivery costs about US$96 and a quiet month costs nothing. That suits post-production houses and freelancers with lumpy workloads. If you send many small-to-medium files and want custom branding and longer expiry, a flat subscription such as Smash Pro at US$72 a year is easier to budget. Our guide to sending large files to clients covers presentation details such as naming and expiry.

Best for privacy

A direct peer-to-peer transfer, with a caveat. Every server-based service on this list encrypts files at rest, but the provider holds the keys and the file sits on its infrastructure until deletion (Dropbox keeps expired Basic transfers for a further 30 days before deleting them). A browser-to-browser transfer such as TransferFiles.net never stores the file: it is encrypted with WebRTC's DTLS between the two browsers. If a strict firewall forces the connection through a relay server, the data passes through that relay, but it is still encrypted end to end and is not stored there. If you need a stored link and privacy, pCloud Transfer's optional password is a reasonable middle ground; send the password through a different channel than the link.

Best for huge files

It depends on whether you pay and whether both people are online. Free, upload-based options stop at 5 GB per transfer. Google Drive accepts files up to 5 TB, but a free account only has 15 GB to hold them. Paid, MASV has no fixed plan size and Dropbox's business tiers allow 100 GB to 250 GB per transfer. Free and live, a peer-to-peer link has no service-imposed cap, which is why it is popular for raw video (see sending large video files free). The practical limit becomes time: a 50 GB file over a 20 Mbps upload takes roughly five and a half hours, and both devices must stay awake for all of it. Run your own numbers with the transfer time calculator before you start.

Best when the recipient is offline

Any cloud service, not a live transfer. This is where peer-to-peer tools, ours included, are the wrong choice: if the recipient opens the link after you have closed the tab, there is nothing on the other end. Pick by size and how long they need: WeTransfer (3 days) for small, quick handoffs if you already have an account; Smash, Filemail, TransferNow or pCloud Transfer (7 days) for most free sends; a Drive or Dropbox shared link when "whenever you get to it" might mean next month.

Each service in brief

WeTransfer

The best-known name, and the one whose free tier has changed the most. WeTransfer's own help centre now describes the Free plan as 10 transfers or 3 GB per rolling 30-day window, with a free account required to send and transfers expiring after 3 days. Many comparison articles still quote the old 2 GB, no-account limit. It remains polished and recipients never need an account. Paid tiers (Starter, Ultimate, Teams) raise the limits sharply, with Ultimate allowing up to 1 TB per transfer. TransferFiles.net vs WeTransfer goes deeper.

Google Drive

Drive is storage first and transfer second. Every Google account includes 15 GB shared across Drive, Gmail and Photos, and individual files can be up to 5 TB if you have the space. Sharing is a link with permissions you control, and files stay until you delete them, which makes Drive ideal for ongoing projects and poor for one-off sends that clutter your quota. The cheapest upgrade, Google One Basic, is 100 GB for US$1.99 a month in the US. See TransferFiles.net vs Google Drive.

Dropbox Transfer (Basic)

Dropbox Transfer sends a copy of files as a download link, separate from your synced folders. On the free Basic plan the cap is 2 GB per transfer with a 7-day expiry, and Basic storage itself is only 2 GB. Plus (US$9.99 a month) lifts transfers to 50 GB, and business tiers reach 100 GB or 250 GB with custom expiry dates. Recipients do not need a Dropbox account. Full breakdown: TransferFiles.net vs Dropbox Transfer.

Send Anywhere

Send Anywhere pairs devices with a 6-digit key for a live transfer, or creates a link that, according to its app listing, stays valid for 48 hours. No login is needed. Its official pages advertise sending "files of any size", but we could not find a current, specific size or pricing table on an official page, so we have left those cells qualitative rather than repeat third-party numbers. Its apps are a strength if both people already have them. See TransferFiles.net vs Send Anywhere.

Smash

Smash is generous for a free, no-account service: there is no hard size cap, but anything above 2 GB joins a queue behind paying customers, so very large free sends can be slow to process. Files stay up to 7 days and are stored encrypted (AES-256) on Amazon S3 in the region closest to the sender. Pro costs US$10 a month or US$72 a year and adds priority, branding and longer retention. More in TransferFiles.net vs Smash.

Filemail

Filemail's free tier sends up to 5 GB per transfer with no registration, kept for 7 days, but only two free transfers per 24 hours, and the free Basic account allows 3 recipients and 10 downloads per transfer. Transfers use TLS 1.2, and end-to-end encryption is reserved for Business plans. Paid plans (Personal, Pro, Business) raise sizes, with Pro listed at 250 GB per transfer. Compare details in TransferFiles.net vs Filemail.

TransferNow

TransferNow matches Filemail's 5 GB and 7 days without an account and does not state a daily cap on its free page. It sends a reminder email before expiry and scans files for viruses, which helps recipients trust a link from a stranger. Premium starts from 6 EUR a month. One oddity: its free plan page mentions both "100 GB of storage" and "no storage", so do not rely on it as a place to keep files. See TransferFiles.net vs TransferNow.

pCloud Transfer

pCloud's standalone transfer page sends up to 5 GB to as many as 10 recipients, with a 7-day lifetime and a reminder before it lapses. Neither side needs an account, though senders verify their email address. The optional password is the stand-out feature for a free tool. There is no paid "Transfer" tier as such: larger sends go through pCloud's storage plans. Full comparison: TransferFiles.net vs pCloud Transfer.

Hightail

Hightail (formerly YouSendIt) is still on sale in 2026 and is owned by OpenText, which acquired it in 2018; we found no shutdown or migration notice on its site. Its free Lite plan is the most restrictive here: 100 MB per file, 2 GB of storage, an account required, and sends that expire after 7 days. Paid plans are aimed at creative review workflows, starting with Pro at US$12 a month billed annually (25 GB per file). See TransferFiles.net vs Hightail.

MASV

MASV is built for media professionals moving hundreds of gigabytes. The first 15 GB each month is free, then usage is billed at US$0.25 per GB, with optional commitments from US$58 a month for 250 GB. Files are stored free for 5 days, then at US$0.07 per GB per month. You need an account and a credit card even for the free allowance. Encryption is TLS 1.2 in transit and AES-256 at rest. Details: TransferFiles.net vs MASV.

TransferFiles.net

Our own tool works differently from everything above, so it is worth being plain about the trade-off. The sender picks files in a browser, gets a link and a short code, and the file streams directly to the receiver's browser over WebRTC, encrypted with DTLS. It is peer-to-peer: nothing is uploaded to or stored on a server, so there is no size cap, account or expiry. The cost is that both tabs must stay open for the whole transfer, speed is limited by the slower connection, and an interrupted transfer starts again from zero. On desktop Chrome and Edge, large files stream straight to disk; on Safari, Firefox and most phones the file is assembled in memory first, so multi-gigabyte files can fail on low-RAM devices. When the recipient is offline, use one of the cloud services above.

How we checked

Methodology

Every limit, retention period and price above was checked against the provider's official pricing, plan or help pages in October 2026, listed under Sources below. Where an official page did not load or did not state a figure, we wrote that instead of using third-party numbers. We have not independently benchmarked upload or download speeds, so this page makes no speed claims. Prices exclude tax and can vary by region and billing period.

Before you choose

Ask three questions: Will the recipient be online when I send? Is the file bigger than 5 GB? Do I need the link to work next week? Two "no" answers followed by a "yes" point to a cloud service; a "yes, yes, no" points to a direct transfer.

File transfer services compared (2026)