You can send a client a large file without WeTransfer by using cloud storage, a transfer service with a bigger limit, or a client portal. Pick by file size: email stops around 25 MB, free transfer tools stop between 2 and 5 GB, and paid plans or a portal handle tens of gigabytes. For client work you will revisit, a portal is the steadiest choice.
Why WeTransfer stopped being the automatic answer
The free plan is too small for real video or photo work, and the terms episode in 2025 reminded people that a free tool's rules can change. WeTransfer's free plan allows "up to 10 transfers or 3 GB in any 30-day period", according to its plan limits page. That is a cap per transfer and a rolling cap on top.
In July 2025, WeTransfer updated its terms with wording that many creators read as a broad licence over uploaded files, including for machine learning. After the backlash the company changed the clause within days and told the press it does not use machine learning on shared content or sell content to third parties, as PetaPixel reported. There is no evidence it trained AI on anyone's files. The lasting point is smaller: a client's unreleased footage sat on someone else's server under terms that could change without asking you.
The size problem is bigger than most people expect
One minute of professional footage can be larger than the free ceiling by itself. MASV's reference table of camera file sizes lists roughly 12.2 GB per minute for RED Ranger at 2:1 compression, 22.4 GB per minute for ARRI Alexa Mini LF in ARRIRAW, and 5.5 GB per minute for iPhone 13 ProRes. Even compressed 4K H.264 from a mirrorless camera runs about 1 to 2 GB a minute. A five-minute edit that needs source files will not fit through a 3 GB door.
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Delivvo runs the client cycle for service businesses: inquiry, quote, contract, deposit and delivery. Payments go straight to your own account.
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A freelancer connecting an external hard drive to a laptop, where big video files actually live
Email is for the message, not the file
Email cannot carry a real deliverable. Gmail caps attachments at 25 MB, according to Google's support page. Outlook.com sits around 20 MB, and a business Exchange mailbox often defaults to 10 MB, counting the message and the attachment together, per Microsoft's guidance. Email also encodes attachments in a way that adds roughly a third to their size, so a file under the sender's limit can still bounce at the receiving end. Use email to say the file is ready.
What the common tools give you
Match the tool to the size of the deliverable. These limits come from each vendor's own page, and plans change, so check before a big delivery.
Google Drive gives 15 GB of storage shared across Drive, Gmail and Photos, per Google, and allows individual files up to 5 TB, per Google's file limit page.
Dropbox Transfer sends up to 2 GB on the free Basic plan and up to 50 GB on Plus, with higher limits on business tiers, per Dropbox.
Smash has no hard size limit on the free plan, but transfers over 2 GB go into a slower queue, and Smash Pro allows up to 250 GB per transfer, per Smash.
Filemail offers 5 GB free with no registration, per Filemail.
Proton Drive includes 5 GB free, with paid plans from 200 GB, per Proton. It is worth a look when end-to-end encryption matters to the client.
WeTransfer's paid plans raise the limits. If you like the tool, paying fixes the ceiling.
For a 4 GB export, Smash or a Dropbox Transfer works. For a 60 GB folder of source footage, you need a paid plan, a portal that accepts large files, or a physical drive.
Where the free tools break
Size is the loud problem. Three quieter problems cause more awkward client moments.
Links expire. Transfer services are built for one-off sends, and they delete files on a timer to keep storage cheap. A client who opens your email on Friday, forwards it on Monday and clicks on Tuesday may find a dead link. For a relationship that lasts months, you want a link that is still there when their colleague asks for the file next quarter.
Access is loose. A transfer link is forwardable by default. Whoever holds the URL can open the file, and you rarely find out that it was passed along. For a client's unreleased product, an unaired campaign or anything under an NDA, "anyone with the link" is the wrong access model. For more on where client files should live, see freelance client file security.
Drive adds friction. A shared folder with the wrong permission shows the client a "request access" screen, and now you are approving requests from your phone while they wait. Folders also hide which version is current. If you drop final files next to the old ones, the client may download the wrong cut and nobody knows.
Versions and approvals decide the argument
The real job is rarely sending version one. It is sending version one, collecting notes, sending version two and being able to show which cut the client signed off on. A transfer link records none of that. You end up with "Final_v3_REAL.mp4" in a thread and a client asking which link is the latest.
A delivery space that keeps versions in order and records the approval ends the most common scope fight, the "I never approved that edit" conversation. When the sign-off sits next to the exact file the client viewed, the argument stops before it starts. This is why a portal beats a link, and it is the same reason a client portal beats email for delivering work.
Branding matters here too. A wetransfer.com page advertises WeTransfer, and a raw Drive folder advertises Google. The delivery moment is the last thing a client sees before they pay you and decide whether to refer you, so it helps when the page shows your name and your project, not a service wrapped around your work.
A quick decision guide
Under 25 MB and a one-off: email is fine.
A few GB for a client who is happy with a link: Smash, Filemail or Dropbox Transfer.
Tens of GB of source footage you will not need again: a paid transfer plan or a physical drive, with the client told the link expires.
Confidential or NDA work: skip forwardable public links and use a delivery space tied to the client.
Weekly deliveries: build one repeatable delivery place instead of a new link each time.
How Delivvo delivers big files to a client
Delivvo gives each client a branded portal where large deliverables sit next to the contract, the approval and the invoice. It is meant for clients you are working with, not for sending a one-off file to a stranger. Here is the flow.
Open the project in clients and projects and upload the file to the client's portal. On Pro and above, your uploads can reach 50 GB per file and are resumable, so a dropped connection does not restart a 40 GB upload. Free allows 1 GB per file and Solo 5 GB.
Mark the file as a deliverable and add a note on what changed. New versions stay in order, so the client sees the current cut and the earlier ones.
The client opens the client portal with a one-time code sent to their email. There is no password to forget and no account to create.
They download, comment and approve in client approvals. The approval is stored with the version they saw.
They can upload files back, up to 5 GB each, so source material and feedback live in the same place.
The files stay in the client's portal with the rest of the project, so they are easy to find next month. See how sending large files works for the details, including plan limits. The client pays through your own gateway, and Delivvo takes 0%. One honest limit: a portal is a delivery space for a client relationship, not a general-purpose file drop, so for a one-off send to someone who is not a client, a transfer tool is still simpler.
FAQ
Is WeTransfer safe after the 2025 terms controversy?
The clause that alarmed creators was revised within days, and WeTransfer said it does not use AI on shared content. The tool is usable. The narrower lesson is that terms on a free tool can change, so confidential client work benefits from a method you control.
What is the biggest file I can send for free?
It depends on the tool. WeTransfer's free plan stops at 3 GB, Dropbox Transfer Basic at 2 GB, Filemail and Proton Drive at 5 GB, and Smash has no hard cap but slows anything over 2 GB. For tens of gigabytes, expect a paid tier.
How do I send 4K video to a client?
Rarely by email and often not on a free tier. One minute of high-end footage can be several gigabytes. Common routes are a paid transfer plan, cloud storage with enough space, a client portal that accepts large files, or a physical drive.
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 confidential files, use a method that ties access to a specific client and lets you remove it.
How long should a client be able to download their files?
Long enough for the project and any follow-up work. Links that expire in days cause repeat requests. Keep final deliverables in a place that stays available, and tell the client how long.
Delivvo runs the whole client cycle for service businesses, from the first inquiry to the quote, contract, deposit, invoice and delivery, so big files reach clients in one stable place with approvals attached. Clients pay you directly through your own gateway, and Delivvo takes 0%. Start free
