WeTransfer alternatives
WeTransfer's free plan now needs an account and stops at 3 GB or 10 transfers every 30 days. Here are seven alternatives, what each one does better, and the catch with each. Every number links to the company's own page.
Numbers checked October 2026. Each one links to where it came from.
The free plans side by side
| Service | Free limit |
|---|---|
| download.fyiLive by default; a pass when it has to wait. | No capLasts: While your tab is open, or 14 or 30 days with a passAccount: None |
| WeTransferUpload first; they download within 3 days. | 3 GB or 10 transfers per 30 daysLasts: Up to 3 daysAccount: Needed to sendwetransfer.com |
| SmashStores free transfers for 7 days, no sign-up. | No limit; over 2 GB waits in a queueLasts: 7 daysAccount: None; your email is checkedfromsmash.com |
| Transfer.zipFree live transfers like ours; stored ones on subscription. | No limit (live)Lasts: While both tabs are openAccount: Nonetransfer.zip |
| ToffeeShareFree peer to peer, funded by donations. | No limitLasts: While your tab is openAccount: Nonetoffeeshare.com |
| FilePizzaOpen-source browser-to-browser sharing. | No set limitLasts: While your window is openAccount: Nonegithub.com |
| PairDropFinds devices on your network; no link needed. | None publishedLasts: While both devices are onlineAccount: Nonegithub.com |
| Send Anywhere6-digit keys for direct sends; links that last 48 hours. | 10 GB per link; 50 GB by keyLasts: Up to 48 hours (links)Account: Nonesupport.send-anywhere.com |
| Dropbox TransferBuilt into Dropbox; 2 GB free, kept 7 days. | 2 GB per transferLasts: 7 daysAccount: Dropbox account to sendhelp.dropbox.com |
Free plans only. Paid plans and prices are on each comparison page, where we could check them.
Stored or live
There are two ways to send a file. Stored services (WeTransfer, Smash, Dropbox Transfer and Send Anywhere's share links) upload it to a server first. You can close the laptop once it's up, but you wait for the upload, the file sits on someone else's server, and the free plan limits size or days, because storage costs money.
Live services (download.fyi, Transfer.zip's Quick Transfers, ToffeeShare, FilePizza, PairDrop and Send Anywhere's 6-digit key) stream it straight from your device to theirs. There's no upload to wait for and usually no size cap, but your device has to stay on until they've got it.
How to choose
Need to send it and go offline? Use a stored service. Smash keeps free transfers longest, 7 days with no sign-up. Dropbox Transfer also gives 7 days if you have a Dropbox account.
Big file, and they're ready now? Go live. download.fyi, Transfer.zip, ToffeeShare and FilePizza have no size cap.
Same Wi-Fi? PairDrop finds devices on your network, and so does our Nearby. Send Anywhere can even skip the internet on Android.
Want to run it yourself? FilePizza, PairDrop and Transfer.zip are open source.
Where download.fyi fits
It's live by default: no account, no cap, encrypted end to end. When the file has to outlast your tab, a pass keeps the file online for 14 days (up to 100 GB, $5) or 30 days (up to 500 GB, $9), paid once. Of the services here, it's the only one that sells a one-time pass instead of a subscription.
Questions
What's the best free alternative to WeTransfer?
It depends on whether you can stay online. If you can't, Smash keeps free transfers for 7 days with no sign-up. If you can, a live service like download.fyi has no size cap and no upload wait.
Which WeTransfer alternatives don't need an account?
Smash, Transfer.zip, ToffeeShare, FilePizza, PairDrop, Send Anywhere and download.fyi. Dropbox Transfer and WeTransfer need one to send.
Which ones have no size limit?
On their free plans: download.fyi, Transfer.zip's Quick Transfers, ToffeeShare and FilePizza. Smash has no limit either, but free transfers over 2 GB wait in a queue.
Sign up. Upload. Wait. Just drop it.
No account and no size cap. Your link is ready the moment you pick a file.
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