There are surprisingly many “send a file to one person” services on the internet. They look similar from the outside but the engineering tradeoffs underneath are very different — and the right choice depends on what you’re actually trying to do.
This post is an honest comparison of the major players, including ours. If you skim the table at the end you’ll get the gist; if you read the whole thing you’ll understand why each tool exists.
The tools
- WeTransfer — the OG. Free 2GB transfers (Pro tier 20GB). Files uploaded to their servers, recipient downloads via link. Founded 2009.
- Smash — French alternative to WeTransfer. Free unlimited size technically, but throttles speed brutally on large files.
- Send Anywhere — Korean. P2P when both clients online, otherwise falls back to server upload. Has native apps.
- Wormhole — Open-source, ephemeral, end-to-end encrypted. Files temporarily on their servers (max 24h, 10GB free).
- FileTransferNow — Browser-only P2P over WebRTC. No upload, no size limit, end-to-end encrypted. Direct browser-to-browser.
Comparison table
| Feature | WeTransfer | Smash | Send Anywhere | Wormhole | FileTransferNow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| File goes through server | Yes (stores) | Yes (stores) | Sometimes (P2P fallback) | Yes (24h temp) | No (direct P2P) |
| Size limit (free) | 2 GB | ”Unlimited”* | 50 GB | 10 GB | None |
| Size limit (paid) | 20 GB (Pro) | 250 GB | 100 GB | N/A | N/A |
| E2E encrypted | No | No | Sometimes | Yes | Yes (default) |
| Speed on same WiFi | Slow (server roundtrip) | Slow | Fast (when P2P) | Slow | Fast (near-LAN) |
| Speed cross-network | Fast (their CDN) | Slow | Variable | OK | OK-fast |
| Link expires | 7 days free / 28 Pro | 14 days | 48h | 24h | Tab stays open |
| Signup required | No (but limited) | No | No | No | No |
| Install required | No | No | Native app for P2P | No | No (PWA optional) |
| Recipient needs anything | Just the link | Just the link | Just the link | Just the link | Just the link, tab open |
| Cost | Free / $12-23 mo Pro | Free / $5-15 mo | Free / $6 mo | Free | Free forever |
| Open source | No | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| Privacy stance | ”We don’t read your files but we keep them” | Similar | Similar | ”We can’t read your files" | "File never touches our servers” |
*Smash advertises “unlimited” but free users hit speed throttling at >2GB that makes large files impractical.
When to use which
Use WeTransfer if:
- You need the recipient to download it days later, even if you’ve closed your laptop
- You’re sending to non-technical recipients who recognize the WeTransfer brand
- The file is under 2GB and you don’t care about long-term storage on a third-party server
Use Smash if:
- You need a single-link, no-account flow like WeTransfer but with bigger files (free tier)
- You’re OK waiting (it throttles aggressively)
Use Send Anywhere if:
- You’re transferring between two devices you both own (e.g. phone ↔ laptop)
- You’re willing to install a native app on both sides
Use Wormhole if:
- You specifically need short-lived (≤24h), end-to-end encrypted links
- You like the open-source / zero-knowledge angle
- The file fits in 10 GB
Use FileTransferNow if:
- The file is bigger than 2 GB and you don’t want to pay
- You want to send to someone right now (both online, both with a browser)
- You’re on the same WiFi as the recipient (you’ll get near-LAN speeds)
- You don’t trust the server to ever see the file (we physically can’t)
- You want zero signup, zero install, zero subscription
- You want to pair devices once and transfer with one tap thereafter
The honest tradeoffs
Every approach has them. Let me lay ours out:
FileTransferNow’s weakness: both parties have to be online at the same time. If you want to send a file at 3am and have your recipient download it at 9am, we don’t work — you’d need WeTransfer or Wormhole. (Workaround: we resume transfers across reconnects, so you can leave the tab open overnight and the file syncs when both are awake.)
WeTransfer’s weakness: file size cap, 7-day expiry, and your file sits on their servers (which they technically can read). For sensitive files, this is a non-starter.
Send Anywhere’s weakness: needs a native app for P2P mode. Web-only mode falls back to server upload, which removes the speed advantage.
Wormhole’s weakness: still server-based (you’re trusting them to actually delete after 24h). Smaller file size cap.
Smash’s weakness: speed throttling on free tier makes “unlimited” effectively useless for large files.
My honest recommendation
For most people, most of the time, here’s the decision tree:
- Are both parties online RIGHT NOW? → FileTransferNow (fastest, biggest, most private)
- Recipient downloading later, file under 2GB? → WeTransfer (most familiar to non-techies)
- Recipient downloading later, file 2-10GB? → Wormhole (E2E encrypted, no signup)
- Recipient downloading later, file 10-20GB? → Smash (free tier) or WeTransfer Pro
- Transferring between your own devices regularly? → FileTransferNow with device pairing (one-tap after first pair)
Nobody pays us to say nice things about competitors. I genuinely think WeTransfer is the right call for the “send a 1GB PDF to a non-technical client and they download it tomorrow” use case. They’ve spent 15 years polishing that exact flow.
But for the cases where the file is big, or both of you are online, or you don’t trust the server, or you transfer between your own devices often — that’s where direct P2P beats every cloud approach. That’s the niche we’ve built for.
Try FileTransferNow for your next big-file transfer. No signup, no upload, no size limit. Or read how it works under the hood if you want to understand why it’s faster on your LAN than any cloud tool can possibly be.