Not sure whether to choose WeTransfer or TransferNow?

If you need to send large files occasionally, services like WeTransfer free or TransferNow offer useful features accessible without registration. These two secure transfer services are the main available options for free online file sharing.

In July 2024, WeTransfer, originally a Dutch service, was acquired by Italian company Bending Spoons. Following this acquisition, its free plan was revised: it now allows sends of up to 3 GB per transfer (up from 2 GB), with a limit of 10 transfers or 3 GB total over 30 days.

Since 2013, TransferNow — a European file transfer service — has offered a free plan allowing file transfers up to 5 GB per transfer, with no volume or frequency limits.

With TransferNow, files are stored in France or closest to you based on your location. WeTransfer, for its part, stores files on servers located in Europe or the United States.

The password protection feature is available on both services:

• On TransferNow, password protection is free and available without creating an account.
• On WeTransfer, it is also available, but requires creating a free user account to be used.

TransferNow also allows file previews (images, videos, PDF documents), custom download links, and email notifications as soon as a file is downloaded, even without an account.

In conclusion, both services offer a free plan with their own specifics. WeTransfer free is based on a monthly quota (transfers or volume), while TransferNow focuses on ease of access (no account) and the maximum size per send (5 GB). For unrestricted usage, TransferNow is a particularly suitable alternative to WeTransfer.

TransferNow and WeTransfer offer several paid plans designed for individuals, teams, and large companies seeking advanced features, extended transfer capacity, longer storage, customization options, multi-user management, and services like SSO, SCIM, or priority support.

Individual plans

• TransferNow Premium (1 user) offers decreasing rates based on commitment (monthly, annual, or 2-year).
• WeTransfer Ultimate (1 user, personal use only) is priced at about 19 € excl. tax per month; the Teams plan is billed at about 16 € excl. tax per user per month (minimum 2 users).

Team plans (small and medium businesses)

• TransferNow Team includes 10 user accounts for a flat rate (monthly, annual, or 2-year).
• WeTransfer Teams charges about 16 € excl. tax per account per month, up to 50 users.

For comparison, a 10-person team would cost about 160 € excl. tax per month with WeTransfer, versus 30 € excl. tax per month with TransferNow. Billed annually, that’s about 1,660 € excl. tax per year with WeTransfer, versus 288 € excl. tax with TransferNow.

Enterprise plans (SMEs, mid-market, large enterprises)

Both services now offer custom plans for enterprises. TransferNow has provided this type of plan for several years, while WeTransfer introduced an Enterprise offering more recently.

• TransferNow Enterprise enables advanced features such as:
  • single sign-on (SSO) with Microsoft Entra ID and Google Workspace,
  • account management and provisioning (SCIM),
  • user group creation and other custom options.
• WeTransfer Enterprise also offers a tailored plan including SSO.

In summary, both services meet similar needs through their Enterprise plans. However, they use different pricing models: TransferNow works on a team package, while WeTransfer charges each user separately, which can lead to higher costs depending on team size.

TransferNow and WeTransfer offer advanced customization options, available depending on the subscribed plan, to help users tailor their experience to their brand identity.

WeTransfer (starting with the Ultimate, Teams, and Enterprise plans)

• creation of a custom subdomain,
• adding a logo displayed on the transfer page and in emails,
• using background images or videos on transfer pages,
• applying a custom graphic theme to emails and the shared space.

These features are available from the Ultimate plan, and also on the Teams and Enterprise plans.

TransferNow (Premium, Team, and Enterprise)

• creation of a custom subdomain (e.g., your-name.transfernow.net),
• adding a logo, a background (image or video), and custom colors,
• advanced customization of the download page: text, visuals, links, promotional video,
• custom download links,
• setting up custom email notifications with download tracking.

Using a custom domain via a CNAME record (e.g., transfer.mycompany.com) is an option reserved for the TransferNow Enterprise plan.

Both TransferNow and WeTransfer offer ways to receive files from your contacts, with some notable differences depending on the use case.

TransferNow – a free, intuitive “Receive” mode

TransferNow provides free file reception:

• The “Receive” mode, accessible from the homepage, lets you:
  • Request files via email,
  • Generate a secure drop link to share freely.

Everything is secure, configurable, and requires no account for people to drop files off to you.

• TransferNow also offers a customizable widget generating a line of HTML code to embed on your website or CMS to receive files directly via a form.
• Besides ephemeral file requests, a permanent, customizable link is also available — handy in email signatures, for example.

You receive an email notification as soon as files have been received and are available for download.

WeTransfer – “File request” feature requiring an account

WeTransfer now offers a feature called “File request”, accessible only to users with an account (free or paid).

It allows you to send a file request to a contact, via email or a secure link, and track received files from your personal interface.

Unlike TransferNow, account creation is mandatory to access this feature.

WeTransfer Teams and Enterprise (introduced in early 2025):

Since its pricing overhaul in late 2024 (launched early 2025), WeTransfer offers multi-user management through its Teams and Enterprise plans:

• • centralized management of users, transfers, and access,
  • workspace customization (name, logo, branding),
  • per-user billing (monthly or annual).
• The WeTransfer Enterprise plan, available on request, adds:
  • single sign-on (SSO),
  • SCIM for user provisioning and synchronization,
  • activity logging,
  • advanced security options and priority support.

TransferNow Team (10 included accounts) and Enterprise:

• The TransferNow Team plan – with a flat-rate approach – includes 10 user accounts with:
  • centralized user management,
  • group creation by team or department,
  • transfer tracking and activity logs via a dedicated dashboard.
• The TransferNow Enterprise plan adds:
  • single sign-on (SSO) with Microsoft Entra ID and Google Workspace,
  • SCIM for automated provisioning,
  • advanced permission management,
  • the option to configure a custom domain via a CNAME record.

Both TransferNow and WeTransfer now provide solutions suited to team collaboration.

WeTransfer – encryption and antivirus protection on paid plans

WeTransfer uses SSL/TLS encryption for transfers and AES-256 encryption for file storage. Files are hosted on servers located in Europe or the United States.

Available security features:

• a password protection feature available for free, provided you create a user account (free or paid),
• an antivirus scan applied only to paid account transfers and downloads,
• file storage on servers located in Europe or the United States, with no choice of location.

TransferNow – advanced encryption and antivirus from the free plan

TransferNow includes multiple security layers, available from the free plan:

• password protection without a mandatory account, even for anonymous sends,
• SSL/TLS encryption for transfers, plus optional server-side encryption with a personal key (SSE-C),
• automatic antivirus scanning of all uploaded files to block malicious content,
• choice of storage region (Europe, the United States, Asia, or France, for example).

In conclusion, WeTransfer and TransferNow both apply high security standards. TransferNow offers password protection without an account and antivirus scanning from the free plan, while on WeTransfer these features require an account or are reserved for paid plans.

Privacy in the age of AI

One point has become decisive: how your files are used. TransferNow never uses your files or your data to train artificial intelligence models — they are used solely to provide the transfer service (see our personal data commitments). WeTransfer, for its part, faced a controversy over its terms of use in 2025 that suggested such usage, before walking back the wording after the backlash.

The location of storage servers is an important factor for regulatory compliance (GDPR), transfer latency, and data sovereignty.

WeTransfer – hosting in Europe and the United States

WeTransfer hosts files on servers located in Europe (Ireland) and the United States. The user cannot choose the storage region: the platform automatically assigns a location.

TransferNow – choice of storage region

TransferNow offers three continental regions available from the free plan (Europe, America, Asia), with automatic routing based on geolocation. Paid plans allow you to select a specific region:

• Paris (France), Frankfurt (Germany), New York (United States), or Singapore.

In summary, TransferNow provides finer control over data location, with storage options in France, Germany, the United States, and Singapore. WeTransfer does not offer region selection.