The best file transfer for video editors

Video work breaks file transfer in a specific way: the files are enormous, the uploads take long enough that connections drop, and clients need to see a cut before you send the master. So the three things that matter are a transfer ceiling in the hundreds of gigabytes, uploads that resume instead of restarting, and some way to show a preview without shipping 200 GB first.

I build Yungle, so read accordingly. Every claim about another company comes from its own documentation on the date given, and no competitor prices appear on this site.

What actually matters, in order

Resumable uploads. A 180 GB upload over a domestic connection takes hours. Something will interrupt it. If the service starts again from zero, the file is effectively unsendable. This is the single most important property and almost nobody advertises it. Why it is hard, and what to check for.

A ceiling that fits the master. A minute of 4K varies by a factor of thirty depending on codec — ProRes 422 HQ is roughly 5 GB a minute, heavily compressed H.264 is a fraction of that. Know your actual number before comparing ceilings.

No re-encoding. Any service that "optimises" your video is disqualified for a master. Fine for a preview, fatal for a deliverable.

Preview before delivery. The expensive mistake in video is sending the full master, getting a note, and sending it again. Anything that lets a client watch and comment on a review copy saves more time than a faster connection.

Structure. A delivery is rarely one file — it is the graded master, the stems, the subtitles, the stills. Those arrive as a folder or they arrive as a mess.

Where the services stand

Filemail (checked 1 August 2026, own plan comparison): Pro sends up to 250 GB per transfer with 1 TB storage and lists file availability as permanent. Business lists transfer size as "Any Size". Free Basic is 5 GB with 7-day availability.

The strongest raw ceiling in the category, and the product most explicitly built around large, fast transfers. If your job is "get 300 GB to a colourist by tomorrow", this is the specialist.

Smash (checked 1 August 2026, own pricing page): Pro sends and receives up to 250 GB with expiry up to 30 days; Team up to 1 TB. Free is 2 GB with expiry up to 7 days, and above 2 GB you are queued rather than refused — described as non-priority upload.

That queue is genuinely useful for video on a budget: a large transfer will go, slowly, at no cost.

SwissTransfer (checked 1 August 2026, Infomaniak's own guide): 50 GB free, no account, deleted after 15 days, extension to 30 days offered on the twelfth day. Archives over 10 GB must be downloaded one file at a time.

For a single 40 GB master this is excellent and free. For a delivery folder of masters, stems and stills it is awkward, because that 10 GB archive rule bites.

WeTransfer (checked 31 July 2026): 3 GB free across a rolling 30 days, ad-supported. Too small for video masters on the free tier.

Dropbox Transfer (checked 31 July 2026): 2 GB free, 30 days default, no ads. Same conclusion.

What I built, and what it does not do

Yungle is built around the delivery half rather than the raw-throughput half.

• Resumable uploads as the default. A dropped connection continues from the last committed part rather than starting again — for a 100 GB upload that is the difference between possible and not.
• Collections keep folder structure and download as a single archive at any size, so masters, stems and stills arrive organised.
• Nothing expires on a paid plan, so a client coming back after the edit is signed off is not a re-upload.
• Client proofing so notes come back attached to the thing rather than in an email thread.
• Free transfers are 10 GB each, unlimited in number, no advertising — enough for review copies and single deliverables.
• Files are encrypted at rest with their own keys, on one server in Germany on renewable power.

Where Filemail is straightforwardly better: single-transfer ceiling. Filemail Pro takes 250 GB in one go and Business advertises no ceiling; on Yungle a paid plan's storage quota is the bound, and free transfers cap at 10 GB. If one 300 GB handover is your routine, that is the tool.

So the split is clean: Filemail for the single enormous handover, something delivery-shaped for repeated client work with review rounds.

Practical workflow advice, whatever you use

Send a review copy first. A 2 GB H.264 export at viewing quality gets you the notes. Then send the master once. This saves more time than any product on this page.

Do not compress the master to fit a limit. If the ceiling is forcing you to re-encode a deliverable, you have the wrong tier or the wrong service. Compression is a decision about the preview, not about the master.

Upload overnight, and check resumability first. Test with a deliberate disconnect on a small file before you trust a service with a 200 GB one.

Deliver the folder, not the file. Grade, stems, subtitles, stills and a text file saying what is what. It takes two minutes and prevents a week of email.

Choosing