Expert Guide

Best File Sharing Software in 2026: Free Plans Compared

Eight tools compared on free transfer size, link expiry and team price, with dollar figures checked on each vendor's own pricing page on 10 October 2026.

Louis CorneloupFounder, Dupple · 780,000+ Techpresso subscribers · Updated Oct 2026

Product links may be affiliate links. How we rate 8 tools compared

TL;DR

Short answer: Filemail allows the largest free transfer stated on these pages, 5 GB per transfer. Smash allows 2 GB per transfer on its free plan, and its links stay valid for 7 days. Teams that need admin controls pay per user. ShareFile starts at $16.50 a user a month on a 3-user minimum, and Egnyte starts at $22 a user a month billed annually.

For a folder that stays in use, the free options are Google Drive with 15 GB shared across Gmail and Photos, and Proton Drive with 5 GB free. Prices and limits were checked on 10 October 2026.

Key facts8 tools compared: Filemail, Smash, Box, Google Drive, Proton Drive, Dropbox, ShareFile, Egnyte

Updated: October 18, 2026
Top pick: Filemail (best for: One-off sends of very large files to people who will not create an account)
Top pick price as of October 18, 2026: Filemail: Free: 5 GB per transfer. Paid tiers exist, but the vendor page shows no dollar price for them.

8 tools compared: Filemail, Smash, Box, Google Drive, Proton Drive, Dropbox, ShareFile, Egnyte
Smash (best for: Anyone who sends a file now and then and wants the link to expire on its own): Free: $0 for 2 GB per transfer, links valid 7 days, one user and no storage. Paid tiers not priced here.
Box (best for: Small teams that share documents with clients who do not have a Box account): Free: 10 GB storage and 250 MB per file upload. Business from $5/user/month, per the pricing page header.
Google Drive (best for: People who already use Gmail and want shared folders at no extra cost): Free: 15 GB shared across Gmail, Drive and Google Photos. Paid storage is priced by country, so no dollar figure here.

File sharing and file storage get sold as the same thing, and they are not. Storage is the room your files take up. A transfer is one send to one person, with a size cap and a link that stops working after a set number of days.

Free plans cap those two things separately, so a 10 GB storage allowance can still refuse a 300 MB file.

Toolradar data: we evaluate 33 cloud storage tools in our cloud storage ranking, and Google Drive, Dropbox, Box and Egnyte are among the first ten tools on that page. The other four tools here are judged below on the same free-plan questions.

Top Picks

Based on features, real-world fit, and value for money.

#1 Top pick

Filemail

The largest free transfer stated on any vendor page here: 5 GB per send, with four paid tiers above the free plan.

Pricing

Free: 5 GB per transfer. Paid tiers exist, but the vendor page shows no dollar price for them.

Best for

One-off sends of very large files to people who will not create an account

Visit Filemail Details

Smash

Free sends of up to 2 GB that stop working after 7 days, with no sign-up needed to start on the free plan.

Pricing

Free: $0 for 2 GB per transfer, links valid 7 days, one user and no storage. Paid tiers not priced here.

Best for

Anyone who sends a file now and then and wants the link to expire on its own

Visit Smash Details

Box

Ten gigabytes free and external links that anyone can open, but each free upload is capped at 250 MB.

Pricing

Free: 10 GB storage and 250 MB per file upload. Business from $5/user/month, per the pricing page header.

Best for

Small teams that share documents with clients who do not have a Box account

Visit Box Details

Best File Sharing Software in 2026: Free Plans Compared: 8 tools compared, updated Oct 2026
Tool	Pricing	Best for
Filemail	Free: 5 GB per transfer. Paid tiers exist, but the vendor page shows no dollar price for them.	One-off sends of very large files to people who will not create an account
Smash	Free: $0 for 2 GB per transfer, links valid 7 days, one user and no storage. Paid tiers not priced here.	Anyone who sends a file now and then and wants the link to expire on its own
Box	Free: 10 GB storage and 250 MB per file upload. Business from $5/user/month, per the pricing page header.	Small teams that share documents with clients who do not have a Box account
Google Drive	Free: 15 GB shared across Gmail, Drive and Google Photos. Paid storage is priced by country, so no dollar figure here.	People who already use Gmail and want shared folders at no extra cost
Proton Drive	Free: 5 GB. Drive Plus $4.99/month for 200 GB. Drive Professional $9.99/user/month for 1 TB per user.	People and small businesses who want shared links with a password and an expiry date
Dropbox	Free Basic: 2 GB to store and share. Paid plans appear in euros, so no dollar figure is quoted.	People who want one account for a sync folder and occasional shared links on a small free allowance
ShareFile	From $16.50/user/month (Advanced, 3-user minimum). No free plan; a free trial only.	Teams that exchange files with clients and accept a 3-user minimum
Egnyte	From $22/user/month billed annually (Business). No free plan.	Companies that buy file sharing per user on an annual contract

Pricing read from each vendor's own pricing page, checked Oct 2026. 1 of 8 publishes prices for some plans and quotes the rest.

Lowest monthly figure each vendor publishes, checked Oct 2026. A tilde marks a figure the vendor states approximately. Per-seat and usage charges can sit on top of it. 4 of 8 do not publish a comparable monthly price and are left out rather than estimated.

Top Pick

Filemail

The largest free transfer stated on any vendor page here: 5 GB per send, with four paid tiers above the free plan.

Pricing: Free: 5 GB per transfer. Paid tiers exist, but the vendor page shows no dollar price for them.

Best for: One-off sends of very large files to people who will not create an account

Pros

5 GB per transfer on the free plan, the biggest per-send cap on this list
Personal tier links last 30 days, which gives a recipient a month to download
Four paid tiers (Personal, Pro, Business, Enterprise MFT) once the free cap is too small

Cons

The free plan states no link expiry, so check how long a free link lasts before you send anything sensitive
The vendor page shows no dollar figure for its paid tiers, so budgeting means asking for a quote

Smash

Free sends of up to 2 GB that stop working after 7 days, with no sign-up needed to start on the free plan.

Pricing: Free: $0 for 2 GB per transfer, links valid 7 days, one user and no storage. Paid tiers not priced here.

Best for: Anyone who sends a file now and then and wants the link to expire on its own

Pros

No sign-up on the free plan, so a sender can start the same day
Free links are valid for 7 days, so old links stop working without any action from you
The free plan includes macOS, iOS and Android apps, plus send and download confirmation emails

Cons

2 GB per transfer rules out large video exports and disk images
The free plan has no tracking of views and downloads, no custom subdomain and no two-factor authentication

Box

Ten gigabytes free and external links that anyone can open, but each free upload is capped at 250 MB.

Pricing: Free: 10 GB storage and 250 MB per file upload. Business from $5/user/month, per the pricing page header.

Best for: Small teams that share documents with clients who do not have a Box account

Pros

External links can be opened by people without a Box account
The free Individual plan includes 10 GB of storage
Business plans start from $5 per user a month, with a 3-user minimum on the Starter tier

Cons

The 250 MB per-file upload cap on the free plan means large files need a paid plan or another tool
Link expiry on the free plan is not stated on the page, so check before you send anything sensitive

Google Drive

Shared folders on a free 15 GB pool that Gmail and Photos also draw from, with paid storage priced by country.

Pricing: Free: 15 GB shared across Gmail, Drive and Google Photos. Paid storage is priced by country, so no dollar figure here.

Best for: People who already use Gmail and want shared folders at no extra cost

Pros

15 GB free on any Google account, with shared folders and links in the same app
Google One plans start at 100 GB (Basic) and 200 GB (Standard) for people who outgrow the free pool
Works for folders you share with people you already know, with no separate transfer tool

Cons

The 15 GB is shared with Gmail and Photos, so a full inbox leaves less room for shared files
Paid storage prices appear in local currency, so this table does not quote a dollar figure

Proton Drive

Five gigabytes free, and share links that can carry a password, an expiry date and the option to revoke access at any time.

Pricing: Free: 5 GB. Drive Plus $4.99/month for 200 GB. Drive Professional $9.99/user/month for 1 TB per user.

Best for: People and small businesses who want shared links with a password and an expiry date

Pros

Share links can carry a password and an expiration date, and access can be revoked at any time
Drive Plus at $4.99 a month adds 200 GB, a cheap step up from the 5 GB free plan
Drive Professional gives each business user 1 TB, priced per user at $9.99 a month

Cons

5 GB of free storage suits a few files, not a team's shared drive
The pricing page states no per-file send limit, so send a large test file before you rely on it

Dropbox

The sync folder most people already know, with 2 GB free for storing and sharing and no dollar price for the paid plans.

Pricing: Free Basic: 2 GB to store and share. Paid plans appear in euros, so no dollar figure is quoted.

Best for: People who want one account for a sync folder and occasional shared links on a small free allowance

Pros

Basic is free and covers both storing and sharing files
Shared links let you send files to people outside the company
A familiar sync folder lowers the training cost for a small team

Cons

2 GB is the smallest free storage allowance among the storage plans on this list
No transfer size or link expiry is stated for the Basic plan on the pricing page

ShareFile

Advanced is the entry business tier on a 3-user minimum, with Premium from $26 and a Virtual Data Room tier at $69.30.

Pricing: From $16.50/user/month (Advanced, 3-user minimum). No free plan; a free trial only.

Best for: Teams that exchange files with clients and accept a 3-user minimum

Pros

Advanced is the lowest per-user rate among the business plans on its page
Files can be shared with permission controls, and access can be revoked at any time
The Virtual Data Room tier is priced per user too, for deal rooms that need a separate space

Cons

No free plan, and the Try Free buttons carry no stated trial length
Each plan shows two rates and does not say which is monthly, so check the billing toggle before you budget

Egnyte

Per-user pricing billed annually, with Enterprise Lite and Elite each one tier above the last, and no free plan.

Pricing: From $22/user/month billed annually (Business). No free plan.

Best for: Companies that buy file sharing per user on an annual contract

Pros

Business is the lowest Egnyte rate on its pricing page, billed annually
Each priced plan has a Start Free Trial button, so a team can test before it commits
Ultimate is quote-only, so large buyers negotiate a custom contract

Cons

No free plan, so every user costs money from the first day
The page quotes annual payment only, so a short project still means a full year

What it is

File sharing software moves one file, or a link to a folder, from one person to another. Some tools do only the transfer: you upload a file, send a link, and the link expires. Others keep a shared folder that stays in sync for a team and charge per seat.

The free plans sit mostly on the transfer side, so the number that matters first is the largest file you can send without paying.

Why it matters

A free storage quota is the wrong number for a one-off send. Box gives its free Individual plan 10 GB of storage but caps each upload at 250 MB, so a 300 MB file is refused on the free plan. Filemail allows 5 GB per transfer on its free plan.

The gap between those two numbers decides whether a client send works at all.

The cost question is the other half. A team on per-seat tools pays for every user from the first seat, and ShareFile sells from a 3-user minimum.

Egnyte lists no free plan. Before you choose, decide whether you need a link that expires, a folder that syncs, or an admin console. Our free cloud storage ranking covers the storage side of the same market.

Key features to look for

Largest free transfer

The per-send cap on the free plan. Filemail allows 5 GB, Smash 2 GB, and Box 250 MB per upload. This number decides whether one send works at all.

Link expiry

How long a shared link stays live. Smash free links last 7 days. Filemail states 30 days on its Personal tier, and Proton Drive lets you set an expiry date on a share.

Storage on the free plan

Google Drive shares 15 GB across Gmail and Photos, Box gives 10 GB, Proton Drive 5 GB and Dropbox 2 GB. Storage holds files you keep, so it is a separate allowance from transfer size.

Per-seat cost

The business tiers here are priced per user: Box, Proton Drive Professional, ShareFile and Egnyte. Multiply the rate by headcount before you compare a suite with a transfer tool.

Account needed by the recipient

Box external links open for people without a Box account. Smash's free plan needs no sign-up to start a send. Ask whether your recipient will create an account before you pick a tool.

Pricing

Methodology: we checked each vendor's own pricing or plans page on 10 October 2026, and quote only dollar figures those pages show. Tools with a free plan come first, in order of the largest free transfer cap stated, then free plans with no stated cap, ordered by storage.

Paid-only tools follow, ordered by the lowest per-user rate. Where a vendor shows euros or no figure for a tier, the table says so and we do not convert or estimate.

Team math is where the totals grow. Five people on Egnyte Business at its billed-annually rate pay $110 a month, and ten people on Proton Drive Professional pay $99.90.

For the same vendors on a second site, Toolradar has tool pages for Proton Drive and Egnyte.

Plan	Price	Best for
Filemail Free	Free	Up to 5 GB per transfer
Filemail paid tiers (Personal, Pro, Business, Enterprise MFT)	No dollar price on the vendor page	Personal links expire after 30 days
Smash Free	Free	2 GB per transfer, links valid 7 days, one user, no storage
Box Individual Free	Free	10 GB storage, 250 MB per file upload, external links
Box Business	From $5/user/month	Starting price in the page header; Starter has a 3-user minimum
Google Drive free	Free	15 GB shared across Gmail, Drive and Google Photos
Google One paid storage	Set by country	Basic at 100 GB and Standard at 200 GB; no dollar figure shown
Proton Drive Free	Free	5 GB storage; shares can carry a password and an expiry date
Proton Drive Plus	$4.99/month	200 GB storage for one person
Proton Drive Professional	$9.99/user/month	1 TB per user for business accounts
Dropbox Basic	Free	2 GB to store and share files
Dropbox paid plans	Euro prices only	Not converted to dollars in this table
ShareFile Advanced	$16.50 or $18.15/user/month	3-user minimum; two rates shown per plan, no free plan
ShareFile Premium	$26 or $28.59/user/month	3-user minimum
ShareFile Enterprise	$35 or $42/user/month	3-user minimum
ShareFile Virtual Data Room	$69.30 or $77/user/month	5-user minimum
Egnyte Business	$22/user/month, billed annually	Lowest Egnyte tier; no free plan
Egnyte Enterprise Lite	$39/user/month, billed annually	One tier above Business
Egnyte Elite	$48/user/month, billed annually	Highest priced tier before Ultimate
Egnyte Ultimate	Custom quote	Quote-only tier

Mistakes to avoid

×Choosing by storage. Box's free plan gives 10 GB but refuses any single upload above 250 MB, so a 300 MB file fails with plenty of room left. Check the per-transfer cap before the storage number.

×Paying for seats before you need them. ShareFile sells from a 3-user minimum and Egnyte charges per user from day one. For one send to one client, a per-user plan is the wrong tool.

×Trusting a link to last. Smash's free links are valid for 7 days, and Filemail's 30-day expiry sits on a paid tier. A recipient who opens the link after the window finds nothing, so send it on the day it is needed.

Expert tips

→Start from the largest file you will send. Anything above 250 MB rules out Box's free upload, anything above 2 GB rules out Smash's free plan, and Filemail's 5 GB per transfer is the highest free cap stated on this list.

→Keep shared folders on storage plans and one-off sends on transfer tools. Google Drive's 15 GB pool is shared with Gmail and Photos, so a team folder fills faster than the headline number suggests.

→Ask the recipient before you pick. Box external links open without a Box account, and Smash's free plan needs no sign-up to start. If a client will not create an account for anything, that favors link tools over per-seat suites.

The bottom line

For one large send to someone without an account, Filemail is the free pick with the highest stated cap, 5 GB per transfer. Smash covers smaller sends with links that expire on their own.

For a folder that stays in use, Google Drive gives 15 GB free, and Proton Drive shares can carry a password and an expiry date, with Drive Plus at $4.99 a month for 200 GB.

Pay per seat only when the team needs admin control.

ShareFile and Egnyte fit a company that manages files across many people, and they are the wrong size for a single client send.

Cite this: Techpresso, 'Best File Sharing Software in 2026: Free Plans Compared', checked 10 October 2026.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best free file sharing software?

Filemail, if the file is large and the recipient has no account. Its free plan allows 5 GB per transfer, the highest free per-send cap stated on the vendor pages checked on 10 October 2026. Smash is the next option, with 2 GB per transfer, links valid 7 days and no sign-up needed to start. Neither is a team tool.

Is Box free for sharing files?

Box's Individual plan is free with 10 GB of storage and a 250 MB limit on each upload. Its external links can be opened by people without a Box account. Business plans start from $5 per user a month on the Box pricing page, checked 10 October 2026. The 250 MB cap is the limit to plan around.

How much does Egnyte cost per user?

Egnyte Business is $22 per user a month billed annually. Enterprise Lite is $39 and Elite is $48 on the same basis, checked 10 October 2026. Egnyte has no free plan, and Ultimate is quote-only. Multiply the per-user price by headcount before you compare it with a transfer tool.

Does Dropbox have a free file sharing plan?

Yes. Dropbox Basic is free with 2 GB to store and share files. Its paid plans show euro prices on the pricing page checked on 10 October 2026, so no dollar figure is quoted here. The Basic plan states no transfer size or link expiry.

What do team file sharing plans cost?

ShareFile Advanced starts at $16.50 per user a month with a 3-user minimum, and no free plan is listed. Egnyte's business tier has no free plan, and it is quoted per user with annual billing. Google Drive gives every Google account 15 GB free, shared across Gmail and Photos, and prices its paid storage by country.

Sources

Prices and plan details come from each vendor's own pricing page, re-checked by the Toolradar pricing tracker.