Why would I need to use an external site to share files with a couple of friends ?

If you’ve ever tried sharing even a small video with your friends over email, you’d know how frustrating that can be.

Sharing files of any size over email can be very inconvenient and if the file sizes are large, it is downright criminal to spend that much time sending an email and clogging up your friends’ mailboxes.

This is where online file sharing services come in.

We’ve compiled a list of 5 awesome services that let you files for free along with providing other features such as tracking the number of downloads and even let you password protect your files.

WikiSend

Wikisend is a simple and free file sharing service that allows you to share any type of file of up to 100 MB in size. The homepage displays a “Choose File” option that users can use to upload files. By default, the lifetime of a file is 7 days. However users can change that to a maximum of 90 days. One unique feature of this site is the ability to password protect the files. On uploading a file, you get a download link which can be shared to download the file.

Dropdo

Even with the maximum upload limit of a mere 25 MB, Dropdo is good for sharing files because of its unique feature to view the files before downloading it. This users can view a file and then decide whether to download it or not. Besides the download option, users can also choose to share a file on popular social networks while viewing it. Various file formats for Images, Doc, Code, PDF, Audio, Video and Markdown are supported. Currently the site claims to store the files indefinitely, that is, they will never be deleted unless they violate the site’s terms and conditions.

FileDropper

Filedropper is a simple file sharing website that claims itself to be the fastest of its type. The main highlight of the website is that it allows users to upload files of up to 5GB in size.  Moreover, the files are never removed unless they are not downloaded even once within a period of 30 consecutive days.

Ge.tt

Ge.tt is a real time file sharing service that can be used to share any type of files. As soon as you hit the upload button, the url for sharing the file is displayed and is ready to be used. This way, users no longer have to wait for the file to finish uploading before they can start sharing it. Statistics such as number of times a file has been downloaded are also displayed to the uploader. Other features include the ability to email or share files on social networks and to preview files before downloading. The maximum file size limit is 2 GB and the files expire after 30 days for unregistered users.

YouSendIt

Unlike other file sharing services that provide a url to share the files, Yousendit directly emails the attached files of upto 2GB to the intended recipients. Multiple files can be attached at a time and a subject along with a message can be sent with the attached files. A “verify recipient identity” option is also provided which ensures that only the intended recipient can download the file and that the file cannot be forwarded any further. Password protection of files and notification of the file download are also available for paid users. For free users, the maximum file size is 50 MB and files can be downloaded a maximum of 100 times.

These are some of our favorite free file sharing services. If you know of any other service that you use and love, please let us know in the comments.

Gourav: Gourav Mittal is a Computer Science Engineer who loves to blog in his free time. He blogs primarily at Techrav and also maintains Sanjay Tea Company