David and the household name
WeTransfer built the category and owns its mindshare. SwissTransfer, run by Swiss hosting company Infomaniak, is the quiet counterexample: a genuinely free service with limits most paid plans don't match. Comparing them is really comparing two questions: how much do you send, and does anyone pay?
The free tiers, side by side
| SwissTransfer | WeTransfer Free | |
|---|---|---|
| Max per transfer | 50 GB | 3 GB |
| Transfers per month | Up to 500/day | 10 per rolling 30 days |
| Link expiry | Up to 30 days | 3 days |
| Password protection | Yes | No |
| Download limits | Yes, configurable | No |
| Account required | No | Yes, since late 2024 |
| Ads | None | Yes, on download pages |
The free comparison ends about as one-sided as tables get. A 4K video project that WeTransfer free rejects outright uploads to SwissTransfer sixteen times over, with a password, for a month.
WeTransfer's remaining free-tier advantages are softer: recipients know the interface, and the apps and polish are a notch above.
Where WeTransfer actually wins
A paid path exists. When you outgrow free limits, WeTransfer sells Starter ($6.99/mo, bigger transfers, same 10-per-month ration and 3-day expiry) and Ultimate (~$25/mo, unlimited 1 TB transfers, custom expiry, passwords, branding). SwissTransfer sells nothing: 50 GB and 30 days is where the road ends, forever. Business users who need branding, tracking, or longer retention can't stay.
Recipient familiarity. For client-facing work, "here's a WeTransfer" requires no explanation anywhere on earth.
Where SwissTransfer wins
Every number that matters on free. Sixteen times the size, ten times the expiry, passwords and download limits that WeTransfer reserves for its $25 tier.
Privacy posture. Files sit in Infomaniak's Swiss data centers under Swiss privacy law, with no ad trackers on the pages. WeTransfer spent July 2025 walking back terms-of-service language about machine learning after a creative-community revolt; no files were reportedly misused, but the episode is part of the record now.
No account, no ration. Sending doesn't require signing in, and there's no monthly counter to manage.
What neither offers
- Real-time transfer. Both are upload-then-download services: your 50 GB goes up, waits, then comes down. There's no direct device-to-device mode for when both parties are online.
- End-to-end encryption. Both encrypt in transit and at rest, and both hold the keys.
- Retention past 30 days without WeTransfer's top tier. SwissTransfer stops at 30 days flat; WeTransfer's custom expiry starts at ~$25/mo.
Who should pick what
- You send big files occasionally, free → SwissTransfer, without hesitation.
- Your clients expect the familiar brand and you'll pay for polish → WeTransfer Ultimate.
- You need business features on a budget, or transfers bigger than 50 GB, or links that live longer than 30 days → neither quite fits, which brings us to:
The third option
Transfer.zip fills the gaps this pair leaves open:
- Free Quick Transfer has no size limit at all: files stream browser-to-browser, end-to-end encrypted, no upload wait, no account.
- Paid plans from $6/mo (billed yearly) add stored transfers up to 1 TB with retention up to 365 days, download tracking, custom branding, and a custom domain: the business features SwissTransfer refuses to sell, at half WeTransfer Ultimate's price.
- Open source, which neither can claim.
Transfer.zip's homepage.
Related: Transfer.zip vs WeTransfer and the WeTransfer alternatives guide.