How to send large files to clients without WeTransfer in 2026
The default tool just had a public trust wobble, and its free tier is too small for real video work anyway. Here are the better options, by size.
The Delivvo team· July 21, 2026 8 min read
Yes, you can send a client a large file without WeTransfer, and in 2026 you probably should at least know your options. The default tool had a public trust wobble last year, and its free ceiling is too small for real video or photo work anyway. A few minutes of high-end footage will not fit.
This is a practical, by-size guide. Every limit below came off the vendor's own page. The goal is not to bury WeTransfer, which is a fine tool. It is to help you pick the right way to move a big deliverable when the easy answer stops fitting.
Why "just WeTransfer it" stopped being automatic
Two things happened. The first is a size problem that was always there. The second is a trust episode from July 2025 that is worth telling accurately, because a lot of the internet told it wrong.
In mid-2025, WeTransfer updated its terms with a clause that many creators read as granting the company broad rights over uploaded files, including for AI. The original clause 6.3 was sweeping: a "perpetual", "sub-licensable" licence to use your content, including "to improve performance of machine learning models". The only actual AI reference was scoped to models that "enhance our content moderation process", meaning abuse filtering, not generative training. But the surrounding breadth is what set off filmmakers and photographers, and the fear was not unreasonable given the wording.
WeTransfer walked it back within days. The revised clause 6.3 dropped the machine-learning and commercializing language entirely and now reads: "You hereby grant us a royalty-free license to use your Content for the purposes of operating, developing, and improving the Service" (PetaPixel). The company also told the BBC plainly: "We don't use machine learning or any form of AI to process content shared via WeTransfer, nor do we sell content or data to any third parties" ().
So the honest summary is: the scary clause existed, WeTransfer fixed it fast, and there is no evidence it trained AI on anyone's files. But the episode did the real damage that these things always do. It reminded working creatives that a free tool's terms can change under them, and that a client's confidential footage was sitting on someone else's server the whole time.
The free-tier ceiling is the actual problem
Even with the terms settled, the size math does not work for video. WeTransfer's free plan allows "up to 10 transfers or 3 GB in any 30-day period" (WeTransfer). That is 3 GB per transfer, and a rolling monthly cap on top.
Now put that against what a camera actually produces. Using MASV's per-minute reference, one minute of RED Ranger footage is about 12.2 GB, one minute of ARRI Alexa Mini LF in ARRIRAW is about 22.4 GB, and even a minute of iPhone ProRes is about 5.5 GB (MASV). A single minute of real footage already exceeds the free ceiling. Cutting a five-minute piece and needing to hand over the source? The free tier was never built for that job.
A freelancer connecting an external hard drive to a laptop, where big video files actually live
Email is not a file-transfer tool
Before the alternatives, kill one habit. Email cannot carry a real deliverable. Gmail caps attachments at 25 MB for personal accounts (Google). Outlook and Outlook.com sit around 20 MB, and business Exchange defaults to 10 MB, counting the attachment and the message together (Microsoft). These are megabytes, not gigabytes. Email is for the message that says the file is ready, not the file.
The honest alternatives, by size
Here is what the common tools actually give you for free, and where their paid tiers land, all read from the vendor's own page:
Google Drive. 15 GB of storage shared across Drive, Gmail, and Photos (Google), with a per-file limit up to 5 TB for general files (Google). Good if you already live in Google and have headroom in that 15 GB.
Dropbox Transfer. Basic (free) sends up to 2 GB, Plus and Family up to 50 GB, the Professional and Business tiers up to 100 GB, and Business Plus and Enterprise up to 250 GB (Dropbox).
Smash. Free has no hard file-size limit, but transfers over 2 GB drop into a slower, non-prioritized queue. Smash Pro sends up to 250 GB per transfer and Team up to 1 TB (Smash).
Filemail. 5 GB free with no registration or install (Filemail).
Proton Drive. 5 GB free, with paid plans running from 200 GB upward (Proton). Worth a look if end-to-end encryption matters to the client.
WeTransfer paid. Starter lifts you to 300 GB in any 30-day period and Ultimate to 1 TB per transfer (WeTransfer). If you like the tool, paying fixes the ceiling.
Match the tool to the deliverable. For a 4 GB export, Smash or a Dropbox Transfer works. For a 60 GB folder of raw footage, you are into paid territory or a physical drive.
The detail nobody checks: who can open the link
Size is the loud problem. Access is the quiet one. Most of these tools generate a link, and a link is forwardable by default. Whoever holds it can open the file, and you rarely find out that it was passed along.
That matters more than it sounds. Varonis's 2025 State of Data Security Report, built on an analysis of 1,000 real environments, found that 66% of companies have cloud data exposed to anonymous users (Varonis). A public transfer link is a small, personal version of the same problem. If the file is a client's unreleased product, unaired campaign, or anything under an NDA, "anyone with the link" is the wrong access model, no matter how big the free tier is. We went deeper on this in where your client's files actually live.
Deliver to the client, not to the internet
There is a different frame for this whole problem. A file-transfer link sends a file to whoever holds the URL. A client portal delivers a file to a specific client. Those are not the same thing, and the difference is exactly the access gap above.
That is the model Delivvo uses, so here is what it does and where it stops. Each client gets their own branded space, and you deliver the work into it, including large files up to 50 GB each, which is well past the point where most freelancers reach for a public link. Access is tied to the client, not to a URL anyone can forward, and you can revoke it when the engagement ends. The deliverable sits next to the contract, the approval, and the invoice, so handing over a big file looks like part of a real project instead of a raw download.
The honest limit: Delivvo is a place to deliver work to a client you are working with, not a general drop for sending a file to a stranger, and it is not a full security program on its own. What it fixes is the specific failure of the forwardable public link, and the specific unprofessionalism of a 40 GB deliverable arriving as a bare WeTransfer. If looking bigger than you are is the goal, that is the same instinct behind running as an agency of one.
A quick decision guide
Under 25 MB, one-off? Email is fine. This whole article does not apply.
A few GB to a client you trust with a link? Smash, Filemail, or a Dropbox Transfer.
Tens of GB of raw footage? Paid Dropbox, Smash Pro, WeTransfer Ultimate, or a physical drive.
Confidential or NDA work? Stop using forwardable public links. Deliver into an access-controlled space tied to the client.
You do this every week? Build one repeatable delivery place instead of a new link each time. The admin adds up.
FAQ
Is WeTransfer safe to use after the 2025 terms controversy?
The specific clause that alarmed creators was revised within days, and WeTransfer stated it does not use AI on shared content or sell content or data. The tool is usable again. The lasting lesson is narrower: a free tool's terms can change, so confidential client work benefits from a delivery method you control.
What is the largest file I can send for free?
It depends on the tool. WeTransfer free tops out at 3 GB per transfer, Dropbox Transfer Basic at 2 GB, Filemail and Proton Drive at 5 GB, and Smash has no hard cap but throttles anything over 2 GB. For tens of gigabytes, every option moves to a paid tier.
How do freelancers send 4K video to clients?
Rarely by email, and often not on a free tier, because a single minute of 4K or RAW footage can exceed 5 GB. Common routes are a paid transfer plan, cloud storage with enough headroom, a client portal that accepts large files, or a physical drive for the biggest jobs.
What is the risk of a public download link?
A link is forwardable, so access is not really limited to the person you sent it to. For a client's confidential files, that is the wrong access model. A delivery method that ties access to a specific client, and lets you revoke it, closes that gap.
