Fabric vs. WeTransfer

Last updated April 2026

WeTransfer sends files. That's it. You upload something, get a link, send the link, and the file expires in a week. Fabric stores files, understands them, connects them, lets you annotate and comment on them, and keeps them as part of a searchable library you can work with forever. One is a courier. The other is a workspace. If all you need is to get a file from point A to point B, WeTransfer does that. If you want the file to still be useful after it arrives, that's Fabric.

Comparison table

What is WeTransfer?

WeTransfer is a file sending service. You drag files onto the website, enter a recipient's email, and send. The recipient gets a download link. On the free plan, transfers are limited to 2GB, 10 per month, and links expire in 7 days. Paid plans raise the size limit and add password protection, storage, and custom branding. WeTransfer was acquired by Bending Spoons in 2024. The free tier was subsequently restricted (monthly transfer caps, shorter link expiry). The service is popular with creative professionals for sending large files that don't fit in email. It doesn't store files long-term, doesn't understand what's inside them, and doesn't offer any tools for working with content after it's been sent.

What is Fabric?

Fabric is an AI workspace that combines file storage, note-taking, search, tasks, collaboration, and publishing. The Fabric Memory Engine automatically extracts, enriches, and maps relationships between everything you save. Fabric also lets you annotate any content type, leave threaded comments, co-edit documents in real time, and publish content with analytics. Files don't expire. They become part of your knowledge.

Key differences

Transient vs persistent

WeTransfer is designed around impermanence. You send a file. The link expires. The file disappears. This is the product's architecture. It's a pipe, not a container. Nothing accumulates.

Fabric is designed around permanence. Everything you save stays. It's extracted, enriched, indexed, and connected to everything else. Your library gets more useful over time. A file you saved six months ago is still searchable, still AI-queryable, still connected to the project you're working on now. WeTransfer treats files as disposable. Fabric treats them as knowledge.

Annotations, comments, and feedback

WeTransfer has Portals, a basic file review feature on paid plans. You can share files for feedback. But there are no annotations pinned to specific spots on an image or document, no threaded comments, no inline feedback on rich media.

Fabric lets you pin annotations on any content type: images, PDFs, video, slides, design files. Threaded comments sit in context. In-app chat keeps discussion alongside the content it's about. If you're sharing a design, a deck, or a document and need specific, contextual feedback, Fabric supports that workflow. WeTransfer gets the file there. Fabric lets you discuss it once it arrives.

AI

WeTransfer has no AI. You send files. That's the interaction.

Fabric's AI understands every file you save. It answers questions, summarises documents, transcribes audio and video, maps relationships between content, and takes actions inside the app. A file in Fabric isn't just stored. It's part of a system that learns from it.

Search

WeTransfer has no search. Once a transfer expires, it's gone. Even on paid plans with storage, there's no way to search inside files or across your transfer history by meaning.

Fabric searches by meaning across everything. Semantic search finds content even when you describe it differently. Visual search finds similar images. Colour search finds assets by palette. In-document search goes to the page, slide, or timestamp. Cross-platform search pulls from Google Drive, Notion, and Dropbox alongside your Fabric library.

Collaboration

WeTransfer's collaboration is limited to Portals, where you can share files for review. No real-time co-editing. No annotations. No shared workspaces. No threaded discussions attached to specific content.

Fabric supports real-time co-editing on documents and canvases, pinned annotations on any content type, threaded comments, in-context chat, and shared drives. For creative teams, design reviews, and anyone working on shared content, these tools are the difference between "here's the file" and "here's the file, here's my feedback on slide 3, and here's the conversation about it."

Publishing

WeTransfer tells you whether a file was downloaded. That's the extent of the tracking.

Fabric's publishing analytics show who viewed your content, when, and how long they spent. Password protection. Dedicated stakeholder links. If you're sharing work with clients, investors, or collaborators and need visibility into engagement, Fabric provides it.

Pricing

WeTransfer's free plan has been restricted since the Bending Spoons acquisition: 2GB per transfer, 10 transfers per month, links expire in 7 days. Starter is $6.99/month with 300GB transfers but links still expire in 3 days. Ultimate is ~$15-19/month for unlimited storage and longer-lived links. For a service that sends files and doesn't store them meaningfully, paid plans feel like paying for what used to be free.

Fabric includes file sharing, AI, content understanding, annotations, comments, collaboration, publishing, search, tasks, and a spatial canvas. [Insert Fabric pricing details.] You're paying for a workspace, not a courier.

When to use each

Use Fabric if you want the files you share to remain useful. You need annotations and comments on shared content. You want AI that understands your files. You need semantic search, collaboration, publishing with analytics, and a workspace where everything connects. Files aren't disposable. They're part of your knowledge.

Use WeTransfer if you need to send a large file to someone right now and you don't care what happens to it afterwards. A video render to a client. A zip archive to a colleague. A one-off handoff where the file's job is done once it's downloaded. WeTransfer is fast, simple, and requires no account on the free plan. For disposable file transfer, it works.

Why people move from WeTransfer to Fabric

Files disappeared. Links expired. Transfers vanished after 7 days. People who needed to find something they'd sent months ago had no way to retrieve it. Fabric keeps everything permanently.

They needed feedback, not just delivery. Sending a file is step one. Getting contextual feedback with annotations pinned to specific spots on images, PDFs, and slides is step two. WeTransfer stops at step one.

They wanted to find things. No search. No organisation. No way to locate a file from last month without scrolling through email to find the original transfer link. Fabric's semantic search finds anything you've ever saved.

They needed more than a courier. Notes, AI, tasks, collaboration, publishing. WeTransfer does none of that. Teams using it alongside five other tools found Fabric replaced most of the stack.

The free tier got worse. Monthly transfer caps, shorter link expiry, tighter size limits. The product that built its reputation on free, frictionless file sending has been steadily restricting the free experience since the 2024 acquisition.

FAQs

Does Fabric let me send files to people?

Yes. Fabric lets you publish or share any content with one click. Shared links are persistent, include viewing analytics (who viewed, when, time spent), and support password protection and stakeholder-specific tracking. Files don't expire.

Can I annotate files in Fabric?

Yes. Fabric supports pinned annotations on any content type: images, PDFs, video, slides, design files. Threaded comments and in-context chat let you discuss content alongside the feedback.

Is Fabric free?

Fabric has a free tier with limited storage and AI.

Is WeTransfer still free?

WeTransfer has a free plan, but it's been significantly restricted: 2GB per transfer, 10 transfers per month, and links expire in 7 days. Features that were previously free now require a paid plan.

Can WeTransfer store files permanently?

Ultimate and Teams plans include storage. But WeTransfer is architecturally a transfer tool, not a content library. There's no AI, no search, no annotations, no content understanding. Storing files in WeTransfer is like keeping books in a mailbox.

Does WeTransfer have annotations or comments?

Portals allow basic file review on paid plans. There are no pinned annotations on specific content, no threaded comments, and no real-time collaboration tools.