The WeTransfer alternative for documents people actually read
WeTransfer is a file mover and it is good at that. If what you are sending is a deck, a proposal or a listing pack that somebody has to understand without you there, a link with your walkthrough recorded onto it does a different job.
The short answer is to split the job
Search this and you get a list of transfer services, ranked on how many gigabytes each one will shift for you. That list answers a size problem. It does nothing for the other problem, which is that you sent a 40-page proposal on the Tuesday, saw the download notification land on the Wednesday, and by the following Friday still had no idea whether anyone had got as far as the pricing page.
- Pick WeTransfer if the file is heavy. Raw video, design files, a folder of photography, anything you measure in gigabytes.
- Pick LiveDocument if the file is a document someone has to understand. A deck, a proposal, a report, a listing pack.
- Plenty of people end up running both, which is usually the right call.
Side by side, without the spin
| Feature | LiveDocument | WeTransfer |
|---|---|---|
| Sending large media filesLiveDocument is not storage and cannot move a 4 GB video cut. That job stays with WeTransfer. | ||
| Recipient needs an accountBoth open from a link. Nobody has to sign up to read what you sent. | No | No |
| Recipient downloads a fileDownloading is the whole point of a transfer service. It is also why the copy sitting in someone's downloads folder is the one they will still be quoting at you next month. | No, it opens in the browser | Yes, that is the point |
| Video walkthrough on the documentYour recording sits on the PDF or the image itself, not in a second tab. | ||
| Clickable highlights that jump the video | ||
| What you learn after sendingA download tells you it arrived. It does not tell you what was read. | Time per page, revisits, when it was opened | Whether it was downloaded |
| Works with any file typeThe LiveDocument viewer takes a PDF or an image. WeTransfer will shift whatever you drag into it. | PDF or image | Anything |
| Password protection on a linkOur access control is link expiry and revocation. There is no password option, no watermarking and no NDA gate. If a document needs any of that, we are the wrong tool and I would rather you found out here than after signing up. | Ultimate and above | |
| Link expiry and revocationCustom expiration and Access Control are on WeTransfer's Ultimate plan and up. | Ultimate and above |
WeTransfer plan limits checked against their help centre in August 2026. No prices for either product here. Deeper on the tracking side in PDF tracking software. If you are weighing a tracker rather than a transfer tool, LiveDocument vs DocSend is the closer read. If you already record in Loom and paste the link next to the PDF, LiveDocument vs Loom covers that setup, and all our comparisons are in one place.
Where a LiveDocument link earns the swap
Delivery was never the hard part. I spent years at DataBees and then WaterFull sending decks and proposals out, and every one of them arrived fine. What I could never tell you was whether the person who opened it understood the middle section or jumped to the last page and shut the tab. A transfer link hands over the file and leaves the reader to work the rest out on their own. LiveDocument keeps you attached to the document.
Explain the numbers instead of hoping
Record a walkthrough over the PDF or the image, so you explain the numbers rather than leaving them to whoever forwards it on. It is the same document either way. The difference is whether the reasoning travels with it.
Nobody scrubs through twelve minutes to find the pricing bit
Clickable highlights jump the video to the right moment. The reader clicks the section they care about and your explanation of that section starts playing, which is the one thing a transfer link structurally cannot do.
Make the follow-up a question about page nine
Page-level analytics show you where the time went, so the follow-up can be a question about page 9 rather than just checking you got this. A download notification tells you the file arrived and nothing else.
What WeTransfer is genuinely better at
There are several things WeTransfer does better than we do, so here they are before the table.
Moving big files fast
On Ultimate you can send up to 1 TB in a single transfer, and unlimited transfers with it. LiveDocument cannot move a file like that and is not trying to.
Everybody already knows it
Your client has had a WeTransfer link before. You do not have to explain it, and you do not have to talk anyone into a new habit on the day a deal is moving.
Controls on the paid plans
Ultimate adds custom expiration, password protection, branded pages and Access Control. If you need a password on a file, that is them, not us.
Admin and storage at scale
Teams brings shared workspaces, brand controls and admin tools. Enterprise adds SSO, SCIM provisioning and advanced compliance. Storage runs to 2 TB by default and 5 TB on Teams, extendable to 30 TB on request.
Picking your WeTransfer alternative
Pick LiveDocument if
- What you send is a deck, a proposal, a report or a listing pack.
- The reader is going to skim it without you in the room.
- You want your walkthrough attached to the page, not sent separately.
- You want to know which pages held them before you follow up.
- You would rather they never downloaded anything.
Stay on WeTransfer if
- The files are heavy: video, design assets, photography.
- You are handing over source files rather than explaining them.
- You need a password on the link or branded transfer pages.
- Your team needs shared workspaces, SSO or SCIM provisioning.
Most people end up keeping both. WeTransfer moves the heavy files, LiveDocument carries the documents that need explaining.
You do not have to move anything
Upload the file
There is no migration here, because none of your storage is moving. Keep the WeTransfer account for the heavy files and upload the PDF or the image you were about to attach.
Record the walkthrough
Record it while you scroll the document, and drop highlights on the sections you would have talked through if you were in the room.
Share the one link
It opens in a browser, so nothing gets downloaded and nobody is reading a stale version of your pricing a fortnight later. If it turns out the transfer link was doing the job fine, you have spent ten minutes and learned something about how that proposal gets read.
Create your first LiveDocument today.
Frequently asked questions
It depends what you are sending. If the files are big, the honest answer is another transfer service, and WeTransfer is already a good one. If you are sending a deck, a proposal, a report or a listing pack that somebody has to understand, the better answer is a link with your walkthrough recorded onto the document itself, which is what LiveDocument does.
Most people searching for a free WeTransfer alternative have run into the ceiling on WeTransfer's free plan, which allows up to 10 transfers or 3 GB in total across any rolling 30 day window. If you keep hitting that because the files are big, another transfer service is the sensible move. If you keep hitting it because you send a lot of proposals, a bigger transfer allowance will not fix what happens after they land. LiveDocument has a free tier you can start on, and the current plans are on our pricing page.
From WeTransfer's own help centre: the free plan allows up to 10 transfers or 3 GB in any rolling 30 day window. Starter raises that to 10 transfers or 300 GB in the same window. Ultimate gives unlimited transfers of up to 1 TB each, plus custom expiration, password protection, branded pages and Access Control. Teams adds shared workspaces, team brand controls and admin tools. Enterprise adds SSO, SCIM provisioning, custom storage and advanced compliance. Storage runs to 2 TB by default and up to 5 TB on Teams, extendable to 30 TB on request.
No. LiveDocument is not storage and not a video host, and it cannot move large media files. If you are sending a video cut or a folder of raw photography, use WeTransfer. LiveDocument takes a PDF or an image and puts your recorded walkthrough on it.
No. The link opens in a browser and they read the document there, with your walkthrough playing alongside it. Nothing lands in their downloads folder, so there is only ever one version of the thing in circulation.
Yes, within limits I would rather state plainly. You can set a link to expire and you can revoke it, which cuts access from that point on. There is no watermarking and no NDA gate. If your document needs that level of control, LiveDocument is not the right tool for it.
Yes, and most people should. WeTransfer moves the heavy files. LiveDocument carries the documents that need explaining. Use whichever one fits what is in your hand that day.
A link, in almost every case where you care what happens after it lands, and there is a longer answer at /no-stupid-questions/should-you-send-a-pitch-deck-as-a-pdf-or-a-link. A PDF attachment or a transfer link ends your involvement at the point of sending. A link keeps the document current, keeps your walkthrough on it and tells you what was read.