Is WeTransfer still free in 2026?

The window rolls. WeTransfer counts what you sent in the last 30 days, not in a calendar month. Its own example: send 2 transfers on the 1st and 8 more on the 15th, and 2 slots come back on the 1st of the next month and 8 more on the 15th. Both caps apply, so whichever you reach first, 10 transfers or 3 GB, stops you until slots free up.

A Free link stays up for up to 3 days, counted from the moment you send it. After that the transfer is gone. Only Ultimate, Teams and Enterprise can recover an expired transfer, so on Free you upload everything again.

Since November 2024 you need an account to send. If you don't have one, WeTransfer emails you a code and creates a Free account once you enter it. Recipients still download without an account. Ultimate drops the transfer cap and the 3-day expiry for USD 25 a month, or USD 19 a month billed yearly, in the US.

WeTransfer changed a lot after the Italian company Bending Spoons acquired it in July 2024. In date order:

• November 2024: an account became required to send a transfer.
• 15 December 2024: WeTransfer announced new plans, live from mid-December. Free got a monthly cap of 10 transfers and 3 GB. At the same time the transfer size limit rose from 2 GB to 3 GB, every transfer got password protection, and a new Starter plan launched at USD 6.99 a month. Starter is USD 10 a month in the US today.
• 1 July 2025: WeTransfer began notifying customers of new terms, due to apply from 8 August 2025. Clause 6.3 asked for a perpetual, sub-licensable license to uploaded files, including to improve machine learning models used for content moderation. People in the creative industries, including an illustrator and an actor, criticized it on social media, and some read it as permission to use their files for AI training.
• Mid-July 2025: WeTransfer said it does not use machine learning or any form of AI to process shared content and does not sell content to third parties. It removed the machine learning reference and cut the clause down to a royalty-free license to operate, develop and improve the service. The BBC reported this on 15 July 2025 and The Guardian on 16 July 2025.

WeTransfer later published its Principles of Content Protection, which say your content stays yours, is never used to train AI models and is never sold.

For one big file sent once, like a video edit or a folder of documents, WeTransfer Free does the job. Files arrive exactly as uploaded, with no compression, and the person on the other end needs no account.

Photos for a group are a different job. A transfer is a download page that disappears after 3 days on Free. Recipients get a list of files to preview and download one by one or all at once, and anyone who opens the link on day 4 finds nothing. If 30 parents each want the 5 photos their child is in, that is a lot of scrolling and downloading on a phone.

A gallery link is the other way to do it. shoots.page shows the photos as a grid, 60 per page, so people open the link on their phone, tap the photos they are in and save those when you allow downloads. They need no account, app or sign-up. The link stays live until you set an expiry date or delete the gallery, and it is free up to 2 GB per account, about 500 photos of 4 MB each. It takes photos only: no video, no other files, and it is not a backup. For the full comparison, read WeTransfer alternative for photographers or gallery vs file transfer.

WeTransfer: Pricing, Plan limits, Transfer availability, Why do I need an account to send, How do I send a transfer, What you can send with a free account, 2025 plans remix (15 December 2024) and Terms of Service changes (14 July 2025). Reporting: TechCrunch (18 December 2024), BBC News (15 July 2025) and The Guardian (16 July 2025). Checked on 11 October 2026.