NudgeHost vs WeTransfer in 2026, sending against hosting
Where the two differ on what a free account can do, how long a link lasts, and what each plan costs.
| Feature | NudgeHostFree plan | WeTransferFree plan |
|---|---|---|
| How long a link lasts | 14 dayson Free, until deleted on Pro | 3 daysat most, on Free and Starter |
| Runs an HTML page or a site | Yesat its own address | NoHTML isn't among the files it previews |
| API and MCP server | Yeson the free plan | Nonone documented |
The short answer
NudgeHost is the better place to keep a file at a link. A free link stays up for 14 days, Pro keeps it for as long as you want, and an HTML page or a zipped site runs at its own address. On WeTransfer a free transfer goes offline after a few days.
Summary
| Theme | NudgeHost | WeTransfer | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|
| What the free plan holds | 3 active links, 14 days each | 10 transfers in any 30-day rolling window | Level |
| Custom domain | A subdomain of your own domain, from Pro | A WeTransfer subdomain | NudgeHost |
| When you stop paying | Nothing is deleted | Active transfers are deleted after 28 days | NudgeHost |
| Recipients need an account | No | No, they open the link without one | Level |
| Recovering an expired file | Upgrade within 7 days of a free link ending | Ultimate, Teams and Enterprise only | Level |
WeTransfer figures from wetransfer.com, verified 16 September 2026.
The free plan
NudgeHost ahead| Feature | NudgeHost | WeTransfer |
|---|---|---|
| What the free plan holds | 3 active links at once, each live for 14 days | 10 transfers or 3 GB in any 30-day rolling window |
| Largest file on the free plan, and how long it stays up | 25MB a file, and a free link stays up for 14 days | Up to 3 GB, and a Free or Starter transfer stays online for up to 3 days |
| Recipients need an account | No | No, recipients open the link without an account |
WeTransfer takes the bigger file, and the third row says so. What the NudgeHost free plan does differently is keep things online longer, 14 days against 3 days, so a file sent on a Friday still opens the Friday after. Pro keeps it until you delete it.
The other gap is what you learn afterwards. A free NudgeHost link counts its opens and emails you the first time someone opens it.
Sending and hosting
Level| Feature | NudgeHost | WeTransfer |
|---|---|---|
| Emailing the file to a recipient | No. You copy the link and send it however you like | Yes, up to 10 recipients on Free and 50 on paid plans |
| Serving a file as a page | Yes. A PDF, a Word file, a CSV or a JSON file opens in the browser at its own address, for 14 days on Free and until you delete it on Pro, and an HTML page or a ZIP runs as a site | Previews of images, video, audio and documents such as PDF and Word files on the transfer page, before download. HTML isn't on the list |
| Custom domain | A subdomain of a domain you own, 1 on Pro and 5 on Studio | A WeTransfer subdomain on plans with branding |
| Recovering something after it expires | An ended free link's file is kept 7 days, and upgrading in that time brings it back | Ultimate, Teams and Enterprise only, for up to a year after expiry for smaller files and up to 90 days for larger ones |
| Account storage | No storage allowance. The free plan counts live links and each plan sets a size for one file | 2 TB by default, and up to 5 TB on Teams |
The two products do different jobs in this section. WeTransfer emails your files to the people you name and keeps them in account storage, and NudgeHost does neither.
WeTransfer previews many file types on the transfer page before anyone downloads them. What NudgeHost adds is an address that stays the same, so a document people should read in place opens there for 14 days on the free plan and for as long as you keep it on Pro, and you can host a PDF and send the link however you like.
What the money buys
WeTransfer aheadFree
$0
No subscription
- 25MB a file
- 3 live links, 14 days each
- 2 API keys, 20 requests a minute
- No custom domain
Pro
$12 a month
or $120 a year
- 250MB a file
- Unlimited live links, kept until deleted
- 10 API keys, 60 requests a minute
- 1 custom domain
Studio
$29 a month
or $288 a year
- 1GB a file
- Unlimited live links, kept until deleted
- 30 API keys, 150 requests a minute
- 5 custom domains
| Feature | NudgeHost | WeTransfer |
|---|---|---|
| Paid plans | 2, Pro and Studio | 3 with a published price, and Enterprise on request |
| Entry price | Pro at $12 a month, or $120 a year | Starter at $84 a year, and the monthly price depends on your country |
| Seats for other people | One person per account | Teams from 2 users up to 50, priced by country |
| What happens when you stop paying | The account moves to the free plan and nothing is deleted, and links made while you paid never start expiring | Active transfers stay online for up to 28 days, then are permanently deleted |
| Refunds | A full refund of a new plan's first payment within 7 days. Otherwise cancelling takes effect at the end of the billing cycle, with no partial refunds | Within 20 days of a monthly charge or 60 days of a yearly one, for the most recent charge |
Four of these five rows go to WeTransfer. It costs less to start paying for, sells seats where a NudgeHost account is one person, and refunds the latest charge for 20 or 60 days where NudgeHost refunds only a first payment, within 7 days. What a year of Pro buys here is a subdomain of your own domain, and the time, country and a CSV export of each open.
The row that points the other way is what happens when you stop paying. A lapsed NudgeHost account keeps every link, and a lapsed WeTransfer account loses its transfers.
Their monthly and Teams prices differ by country, which is why the table prints an annual figure. Our page on what WeTransfer costs in each country sets them out.
For developers and agents
NudgeHost ahead| Feature | NudgeHost | WeTransfer |
|---|---|---|
| API access | Every plan, free included | No transfer API documented, beyond an activity-log API for Enterprise workspaces |
| API keys and rate limit | 2 keys at 20 requests a minute on Free, up to 30 at 150 on Studio | None published |
| MCP server | Four tools over Streamable HTTP, on every plan | None published |
Three calls give a file its address on any plan, the free one included.
# 1. Ask for an upload URL
curl -X POST https://www.nudgehost.com/api/v1/uploads \
-H "Authorization: Bearer nh_sk_REPLACE_WITH_YOUR_OWN_KEY" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{
"filename": "report.pdf",
"contentType": "application/pdf",
"fileSize": 182734
}'
# 2. PUT the bytes to the upload URL that call returned
curl -X PUT "UPLOAD_URL_FROM_STEP_1" \
-H "Content-Type: application/pdf" \
--data-binary @report.pdf
# 3. Finish it, and get the address back
curl -X POST https://www.nudgehost.com/api/v1/uploads/ID_FROM_STEP_1/complete \
-H "Authorization: Bearer nh_sk_REPLACE_WITH_YOUR_OWN_KEY"The third call returns the address the file is reachable at. The MCP server offers an AI client four tools for the same job: share_text, create_upload_url, complete_upload and list_links.
From a file to a link
The file can be picked before the account exists, and nothing is uploaded until it does. No step asks for a card.
Drop the file in
On the home page, signed in or not. A file over 25MB is refused there and then, and a file picked before you have an account waits in your browser.
Make a free account
An email address or a Google sign-in, and no card. The file goes up as soon as the account exists, and the dashboard shows its link and its QR code.
Send it
Whoever opens the link needs no account and no app. The free plan emails you the first time the link is opened and counts every open.
Keep it
A free link stays live for 14 days from upload, and the dashboard shows its end date. Pro and Studio keep links until you delete them, and upgrading takes the end date off every live link.
Moving from WeTransfer to NudgeHost
Moving from WeTransfer starts with the files on your own machine, so download each transfer while it is still live. Then upload each file to NudgeHost, or upload a ZIP with an index.html to serve it as a site.
The ceiling is 25MB a file on the free plan, 250MB on Pro and 1GB on Studio, so a file larger than your plan takes will not move. Replace the old WeTransfer link wherever you shared it, and the new one only needs sending once.
Which one to choose
Choose NudgeHost if
- You want a file to stay at one address for longer than 3 days.
- You want to know when the link is first opened.
- You want an HTML page or a zipped site to run in the browser.
- You want a script or an AI client to publish from the free plan.
- You want the address on a subdomain of your own domain.
Choose WeTransfer if
- You are sending one very large file to somebody who will download it. WeTransfer takes far larger files than NudgeHost does.
- You want the files emailed to the people you name.
- You want account storage to keep files in, or a team workspace.
The verdict
Pick by the job. If you are sending a very large file once, to somebody who will download it, WeTransfer is the better tool. If a file should live at an address that still works after 3 days, or an HTML page should run as a site, NudgeHost is.
Two more pages help if you are weighing a move. One sets out what WeTransfer users say in their own reviews. The other lists hosts to move to from WeTransfer, NudgeHost among them, measured on the same criteria.
Frequently asked questions
How long does a free NudgeHost link last next to a transfer?
A free NudgeHost link stays up for 14 days from upload, and Pro keeps it until you delete it. A transfer on WeTransfer's Free or Starter plan stays online for up to 3 days.
Does NudgeHost limit how often a link is opened?
No. No NudgeHost plan limits visits or bandwidth, so a link that gets passed around keeps serving.
Can I put a password on a NudgeHost link?
Yes, on Pro and Studio. Anyone opening the link is asked for the password before the file opens.
More comparisons
Try the free plan with a real file
25MB a file, 3 active links and no banner. A free account takes an email address and no card.