Free file sharing for video editors: what Free covers
What free file sharing for video editors really gives you: 1 GB files, a video page, password and expiry, where video comments stop, and when Pro or Agency is the better fit.
Free file sharing for video editors works well for review cuts and stills, and stops at the finished master. On Tarkle's Free plan a single upload or transfer can be up to 1 GB, you get 5 GB of storage, and clients open your link without an account. This guide shows how to send video files to clients free, how to collect their notes, and the point where a paid plan is the honest answer.
What free file sharing for video editors actually needs
Video editors have three jobs that ordinary free tools do badly. You send big files, you need a client to watch before they download, and you need one clear answer: approved or not. A free tool earns its place if it covers those three without hiding the limits.
Before you pick one, write down your biggest export. A compressed review cut is often small. A high-bitrate 4K export or a ProRes master is usually much bigger, and that single number decides which plan you need.
What the Tarkle Free plan includes
Tarkle's Free plan costs $0 and needs no credit card. It covers one workspace for one person, with 5 GB of storage and uploads and transfers up to 1 GB each. It includes sharing and requesting files, client feedback and approval, custom branding, a custom domain and password protection.
In practice that means you can put a review cut on a video page with a built-in player, send the link from your own address such as files.yourstudio.com with a custom domain, and add a password and an expiry date. The person who downloads needs no account. Read the file sharing page for the whole flow.
Export review cuts as H.264 MP4. Browsers play it reliably, while formats such as ProRes or HEVC can show a Download button instead of a player. Open your own link once before you send it.
How to send video files to clients free: a four-step workflow
Export a review cut under the 1 GB limit, named with client, project and version, such as
Acme_Launch_v02_review.mp4.Create a transfer and add the file. Set a password if the cut is unreleased, and an expiry date so old versions stop working.
Send the link by email or chat. The client watches in the browser, and you decide how the download works: a standard page, an email address first, or a direct download link.
Check what happened. The Activity list on the transfer shows each Viewed and Downloaded event, so you follow up on facts instead of guessing.
For the final delivery and source files, the longer guide on how to deliver video to clients goes stage by stage, and file sharing for video editors covers the whole job from rough cut to source files.
Comments and approval: where video proofing stops
Be clear with your client about this before you promise a review process. Tarkle's client feedback works on images and PDFs: the reviewer pins comments, then finishes with Approve this work or Request changes, with no account. It does not take video, so there are no comments pinned to a moment in your cut.
The workaround that works today is simple. Send the cut on a video page, and ask for one list of timecoded notes ("01:12, trim the second line") in a single email thread. Use the feedback board for what it handles: storyboards, thumbnails, colour stills and treatment PDFs. If frame-accurate review on the video itself is your main need, a dedicated review tool is the better fit. Frame.io's published Free plan lists frame-accurate comments, for example (checked October 2026).
Free limits compared with other tools
Limits change, so check each tool's own page before you rely on a number. These figures come from the vendors' pages, read in October 2026.
Tool | Free limit for sending | Link life | Good to know |
|---|---|---|---|
Tarkle Free | 1 GB per upload or transfer, 5 GB storage | You set the expiry date | Password, custom domain and branding included |
3 GB and 10 transfers per rolling 30 days | Up to 3 days | Password and email restriction are free | |
2 GB per transfer, no sign-up | 7 days | Larger transfers queue behind paid ones | |
2 GB per transfer | 7 days, fixed | Custom expiry and passwords are on paid plans | |
Up to 5 GB per transfer, no registration | Not stated for Free | Paid plans raise the limit | |
2 GB storage, 2 projects, 2 members | Share-link expiry is not on Free | Frame-accurate comments on video |
Filemail, Smash and Dropbox Basic allow a bigger single transfer than Tarkle Free. WeTransfer's 3 GB is a total across a rolling 30 days, not per transfer. If you only need to push one large file now and then, one of these can be enough. Tarkle Free fits when the link should carry your own domain, branding and a password, and when you want one place for notes on stills and PDFs.
When Pro or Agency is the better fit
Move to Pro when the finished master is bigger than 1 GB, which is common for long 4K exports. Pro costs $29 per month, or $19 per month billed yearly ($228 per year). It raises the file limit to 200 GB and storage to 3 TB, and adds file versioning, 90-day file recovery and a fully branded client portal where clients sign in and find what you shared. The send large files page has the details.
Agency fits a studio that runs work for several clients. It costs $59 per month, or $49 per month billed yearly ($588 per year), and includes everything in Pro plus 20 client workspaces, 6 TB of storage and a 100% white-label platform on your own domain. See white label for agencies and the pricing page. Free is the way to test the flow first, with no credit card.
If the master is only slightly over 1 GB, do not split the file by hand. Send the review cut on Free, and upgrade the organization to Pro when the first final is due.
Set this up today
Check your biggest export against the 1 GB Free limit.
Export your next review cut as an H.264 MP4 with a version number.
Send it from a transfer with a password and an expiry date, and open the link yourself first.
Ask the client for one consolidated list of timecoded notes, and keep the reply that says approved.
Put stills and PDFs on a feedback board for Approve this work or Request changes.
Start for free and send your next review cut from your own domain.