File transfer for freelancers: deliver, collect, get paid faster

What freelancers need from a transfer tool

Check the terms of any free plan you rely on for client work. As of October 2026, WeTransfer describes its free plan as for individual, non-commercial use, and caps it at 3 GB and 10 transfers per 30 days. See WeTransfer free: what is left.

How to deliver files to a client

1. 1

   Step 1

   Bundle the delivery

   One folder with clear names: final files, source files if they are part of the deal, and a short read-me if useful.

2. 2

   Step 2

   Upload to Transfr

   Open transfr.me and drop the folder. Up to 100 GB per transfer, no account needed.

3. 3

   Step 3

   Choose a clean link

   Pick a custom link such as transfr.me/acme-rebrand-final (free), set the expiry (1 to 7 days, up to 60 on Pro), and a password if the work is confidential.

4. 4

   Step 4

   Send from your own email

   Use Link mode and paste it into your usual email with your signature, or let Transfr email up to 10 people for you.

5. 5

   Step 5

   Get notified

   Sign in with a free account to receive an email each time the client downloads.

Revision rounds without the email ping-pong

Turn on comments when you send a draft. The client clicks on the part of the image, the page of the PDF or the moment in the video they want changed, and types a note. You get an email for each comment if you are signed in, and every note stays attached to the right spot. Compared with a long list of “page 3, second paragraph”, it cuts misunderstandings and the extra round that comes with them. It suits designers, video editors, illustrators and photographers alike; see the pages for videographers and photographers.

How to receive files from clients

Projects stall when assets trickle in by email. Create a file request at kick-off and send the link: the client uploads logos, footage or documents (up to 100 GB per submission) without an account, and you get an email when files arrive. Add a password, a deadline or a cap on submissions if you like, and the QR code is handy at meetings. Submitted files stay available for 7 days, so save them to your project folder. Our guide on receiving files from clients goes further.

Free or Pro for a freelancer?

Most freelancers start on the free plan. Pro is worth it when clients take weeks to download (60-day links), when you want deliveries to carry your brand on your own domain, or when you want to see whether a proposal video was actually watched before you follow up. See branded file transfer and download tracking.

Keeping track of what you sent

With a free account, every transfer you send appears in your dashboard with its downloads and expiry date, so you can answer “did you get my files?” in seconds, or spot a delivery nobody has opened yet. Signed in, you can also change a link’s expiry after sending, or its download limit, when a client asks for a few more days. Your address book and contact groups remember the people you send to most, which speeds up recurring deliveries to the same client team every week.

Working from cafés, trains and co-working spaces

Shared Wi-Fi is often slow on upload and drops without warning. Transfr uploads files in parts and retries automatically when the connection comes back, and if you close the laptop lid by mistake, re-adding the same files resumes the upload rather than restarting it. For big deliveries, start the upload when you have a stable connection, then send the link from anywhere, even your phone. See why is my upload slow.

Protecting your work and your clients’ files

• Password for confidential work, shared by phone or text rather than in the same email.
• Download limit of 1 when a file is for one person only.
• End-to-end encryption for contracts, IDs or unreleased material: the key lives in the link and is never stored on our servers.
• Short expiry for drafts, longer for final deliveries.
• Read the secure file transfer guide for more.

The simplest test is your next delivery: send it from the free plan with a custom link and a clear expiry, sign in to get the download email, and note how many follow-up messages you no longer need to write.