Delivery guide
Why file-transfer links are not photo delivery
A transfer link is the fastest way to move a folder from one computer to another, which is why so many photographers reach for one at the end of a job. It is also built to expire, and the gap between those two facts is where client relationships go wrong. Here is what actually happens, and when a transfer link is genuinely the better tool.
What actually expires
Checked in August 2026. These limits move, and the free tiers have generally moved downwards, so confirm current terms on each vendor's own site.
| What matters | WeTransfer free plan | Dropbox Transfer paid plans | Client gallery for comparison |
|---|---|---|---|
| Link lifetime | 3 days, reduced from 7 | 7 days by default, adjustable on Business | As long as you keep the gallery up |
| How much you can send | 10 transfers or 3 GB per 30 days | 2.5 GB per transfer on Professional, 100 GB on Business | Bounded by your plan's storage, not per send |
| What the recipient sees | A filename and a download button | A file list with a preview panel | The photographs, presented, in your branding |
| What comes back to you | A download notification | A download notification | Favourites, comments and who opened it |
The four things that break
None of these are bugs. A transfer service is doing exactly what it was designed to do, which is the problem.
The link dies before they act on it
Couples come back from honeymoon to a dead link. Commercial clients forward it to someone on leave. Three days is a weekend and a Monday, and the re-upload always lands on you.
The work arrives as a file list
You spent the edit deciding how these images look. The client sees a zip icon and a filename, unpacks it into a downloads folder, and forms their impression of the job from a thumbnail grid in their operating system.
You cannot tell what happened
A download notification says the file moved. It does not say whether anyone looked at it, which frames landed, or whether the person who actually commissioned the work has seen it yet.
There is nowhere for feedback to go
Favourites for the album come back as filenames in a message. Change requests come back as descriptions. Every round trip is you retyping something a gallery would have collected in place.
When a transfer link is the right tool
Often, in fact. The failure is using it for the client handover, not using it at all.
Sending RAWs to a retoucher
A colleague who wants the files and nothing else. No presentation required, no need for the link to outlive the job, and a short expiry is a feature rather than a problem.
One large file, once
A finished film to a venue, a print-ready TIFF to a lab. Anything where a single file needs to reach a single person and the transaction ends there.
Something you want gone
Occasionally the expiry is the point. Material you would rather not leave sitting on someone else's server benefits from a service that deletes it for you.
What replaces it for client work
A gallery does the same job as a transfer link, plus the parts a transfer link was never meant to do: it presents the work, it stays up, and it collects what the client thinks. Photoglacier is one of those, built in Austria and hosted in Germany, with no expiry on any plan including the free one.
- Galleries that do not expire, and no account needed to open one
- Full-resolution downloads, with a PIN when you want one
- Favourites and comments collected in place, exportable for Lightroom
Questions people are asking
How long does a WeTransfer link last?
On the free plan, transfers are deleted after three days, reduced from the seven days it used to offer. The free plan is also capped at ten transfers or 3 GB in any 30-day period. Paid plans extend both, but the model is still a transfer that ends rather than a delivery that stays.
How long does a Dropbox Transfer link last?
Seven days by default, with the expiry adjustable on Business plans. Transfer size runs to 2.5 GB on Professional and 100 GB on Business. As with any transfer service, the link is designed to close.
Can I use WeTransfer to deliver client photos?
You can, and plenty of photographers do. What you give up is presentation, longevity and any feedback loop: the client sees a filename, the link expires, and the only thing that comes back to you is a download notification. For a paid job those are the parts clients remember.
Is a client gallery better than a shared cloud folder?
For handing over finished work, generally yes. A shared folder shows filenames rather than photographs, gives the client the ability to move or delete files, and collects nothing. A folder is a good archive and a poor delivery.
What is the best WeTransfer alternative for photographers?
It depends which half of the job you mean. To move files between professionals, another transfer service is fine. To hand finished work to a client, a gallery platform is the category to look at, and if the photos include identifiable people in Europe it is worth choosing one that stores inside the EU.
Do gallery links expire too?
That depends on the platform and it is worth checking, because some expire galleries on lower tiers or after a fixed period. Photoglacier does not expire galleries on any plan, including the free one, so a gallery comes down when you take it down.
WeTransfer alternatives for photographers in the EU
Photographers searching for a WeTransfer alternative are usually not looking for a faster transfer. They are looking for the thing that stops a client emailing three weeks later to say the link is dead. Once that is the actual requirement, transfer services drop out of the comparison entirely, because expiry is the product rather than a limitation of it.
Photoglacier replaces the transfer link for client work: a branded gallery shared by one link, no account required to open it, full-resolution downloads with per-gallery control, favourites and comments collected in place, and no expiry on any plan. It is an Austrian company hosting in Germany, so photos and client data stay inside the EU under the GDPR. The free plan starts with 5 GB.
More guides
Photoglacier is not affiliated with WeTransfer or Dropbox. Product names are the trademarks of their respective owners and are used here only to describe the services this page compares. Plan limits and expiry periods were checked in August 2026 and change without notice, so verify current terms on each vendor's own site.
A link that is still there in a year
Branded galleries that do not expire, EU hosting, and a free plan with 5 GB.
