WeTransfer and Smash both send a big file to someone who downloads it before the link expires. They differ on size, on how long the link lives and on what the free plan includes. Here is an honest side-by-side, and when a link that stays is the better fit.
Drop your file here
Drop several at once and they become one album link
Files up to 100 MB free
Pick Smash when the file is very large, since its free plan has no hard size cap and keeps the transfer for 7 days. Pick WeTransfer when you already use it and the file fits its free allowance, which keeps a transfer for 3 days. Pick neither if the link has to keep working or the recipient should view the file in the browser: that is a job for a link service.
WeTransfer's free plan caps a transfer at 3 GB. Smash's free plan has no hard size limit; very large free transfers wait in a queue behind paid ones. For raw video or big archives, that difference decides it.
A free WeTransfer transfer is deleted after 3 days; a free Smash transfer after 7. Both are designed to be downloaded and forgotten. If the recipient might come back to the file next month, neither free plan will still have it.
Why share links expireLink in Seconds is not a transfer service. A file up to 100 MB on a free sign-in (200 MB on Pro) becomes a link that opens in the browser, has a view counter and does not count down to a deletion date. Use it when the file is not huge but has to keep working.
Compare with WeTransferPlans change often. Both services have revised their free plans in the last two years, so check their current pricing pages before you rely on a number here.
Both end in a download. The recipient gets a file to save, not a page to view, which is right for delivery and wrong for review.
A link service has a size ceiling. Here it is 200 MB per file on Pro, so for raw footage a transfer service, or our peer-to-peer Direct Send, is the better tool.
| Feature | WeTransfer | Smash |
|---|---|---|
| Free size per transfer | 3 GB | No hard cap |
| Free transfer kept for | 3 days | 7 days |
| Free plan's other catch | 10 transfers per 30 days | Over 2 GB waits in a queue |
| Password on the free plan | WeTransfer, Password on the free plan: no | Smash, Password on the free plan: yes |
| Recipient needs an account | WeTransfer, Recipient needs an account: no | Smash, Recipient needs an account: no |
| Ends in | A download | A download |
From each service's public pricing and help pages at the time of writing. Free plans change often, so check their current pricing before you decide.
Over 3 GB and no budget points to Smash. Under that, any of the three works.
A one-off download can expire in days. Anything people will reopen needs a link that stays.
Use the transfer for delivery, or upload here for a link that opens in the browser with a view count.
This is the clearest difference. WeTransfer's free plan tops out at 3 GB a transfer, and its paid plans raise that ceiling. Smash's free plan has no hard size limit at all; transfers over 2 GB are simply queued behind paid users, which can make a big free send slower but not impossible. If you regularly move multi-gigabyte video exports or design archives and do not want to pay, Smash is the one built for it.
A free WeTransfer transfer is deleted after 3 days, and the free plan allows ten transfers in any 30 days. A free Smash transfer stays for 7 days, and Smash's paid plans keep files longer. On WeTransfer, only the top paid tier lets you switch expiry off. Either way, the model is the same: the link is a delivery slip, and once it lapses the recipient has to ask you to send it again.
Smash lets you put a password on a transfer even on its free plan; on WeTransfer, password protection is a paid feature. Both put their richer controls, such as longer storage, branding and transfer tracking, on paid plans, and both price those plans in tiers that change from time to time. Because the details move, compare the specific feature you need on each pricing page rather than trusting a summary, including this one.
Transfers are built for files that get downloaded once. If you are sending something people will open more than once, such as a portfolio, a price list, a deck or a demo video, a link that stays is the better shape. Link in Seconds turns a file up to 100 MB on a free sign-in (200 MB on Pro) into a link that opens in the browser: PDFs in a viewer, video streaming with seeking, photos as an album. Every link has a view counter and a QR code, and nothing counts down to a deletion date.
Very large one-off delivery and no budget: Smash. A file that fits the free allowance, sent to someone who already knows WeTransfer: WeTransfer is fine. Something people will open again, view on a phone, or that you want to know was opened: a link service such as Link in Seconds. And for a raw multi-gigabyte file between two devices, our Direct Send moves it browser to browser with no size cap.
Keep reading
Pick a control to see it applied to a real link. Free with every link, and more when you go Pro.
Custom link namePRO
Name the link yourself instead of a random code. linkinseconds.com/p/your-name reads clean in an email, on a slide, or under a QR code.
Password protectPRO
Add a password and the file stays sealed until someone types it. The link can be forwarded anywhere and still only opens for people who have the word.
Expiry & view limitPRO
Set an end date or a view cap and the link stops on its own. Send a quote that expires Friday, or a preview that closes after five opens, without remembering to delete it.
Free QR codeFREE
Every link gets a crisp QR code, free on any plan. Put it on a menu, a flyer, a wall label or a product box, and it opens the same link a tap would.
View trackingFREE
See how many people opened the link and when, free on every plan. Go Pro for the full picture: referrers, devices, countries, and QR-vs-direct opens.
Raw footage and big exports are where Smash's no-cap free plan earns its place.
A one-time delivery of full-resolution files suits a transfer; a gallery clients revisit suits a link.
Hand off source files by transfer; share the deck or portfolio as a link that still works next month.
Course material people open all term needs a link that stays, not a transfer that lapses in days.
What people say
“The admin interface is incredibly intuitive and set up exactly how a user actually thinks. My students all said it was easy to use and worked perfectly.”
“The app is genuinely nice and easy to handle. I keep all my different app links in one place, my App Store and Play Store screenshots, and I organise my images and PDFs into albums with tags. The big storage means everything just lives here.”
“I handle contracts, invoices and legal files for several different organisations, so almost everything I send is password protected. Link in Seconds makes that simple, and I run my portfolio on a custom domain. It is easy to use and genuinely affordable.”
20 links · 100 MB total · 3 albums
Unlimited links · 15 GB · 200 MB per file
Unlimited links · 30 GB · pay once, keep it
Everything in Pro, billed once a year
Coming from WeTransfer, DocSend or tiiny.host? See the comparisons →
Upload a document, a video or an album and share a link that opens in the browser, shows a view count and does not count down to a deletion date.