Yes — file.io has a permanent free tier alongside its paid plans. The free plan includes Share files up to 2 GB, Hourly upload limit: 4 GB, and Files auto-delete after 1 download. FreeTier.co estimates the free tier at about $6.00/mo, and no credit card is required to sign up.
About
file.io is a file sharing service that accepts file uploads or direct text uploads and returns a shareable link. Uploaded files are stored encrypted, can be downloaded once, and are then deleted automatically. Users can also set an expiration so files are removed after a fixed period even if they are never downloaded.
The free plan allows sharing files up to 2 GB, with an hourly upload limit of 4 GB and automatic deletion after one download. The service also exposes a REST API for upload and retrieval, and the pricing page lists paid Basic and Premium plans with larger limits and additional features.
- 2 GB file sharing limit
- 4 GB hourly upload limit
- Auto-delete after 1 download
- Encrypted file storage
- REST API upload and retrieval
- Direct text upload support
Free Tier Value
This free tier is genuinely usable and does not require a credit card, but it is capped at 2 GB files and 4 GB of uploads per hour with one-download auto-deletion. Compared with the $25 Basic plan, it delivers roughly a quarter of the practical capability, so a fair monthly value is about $6.
What's included in the free tier
- Manage your files in the file.io web app.
- Share files up to 2 GB.
- Hourly upload limit: 4 GB.
- Files auto-delete after 1 download.
See file.io pricing for current limits.
Paid plans
Basic
- file size
- 10 GB
- downloads
- unlimited
- storage
- 2 TB
- monthly download bandwidth
- 250 GB
- Manage your files in the file.io web app
- Share files up to 10 GB
- Unlimited file downloads
- Auto-delete optional
- 2 TB permanent storage
- Download up to 250 GB per month
Premium
- file size
- 100 GB
- downloads
- unlimited
- storage
- 3 TB
- monthly download bandwidth
- 1 TB
- Manage your files in the file.io web app
- Share files up to 100 GB
- Unlimited file downloads
- Auto-delete optional
- 3 TB permanent storage
- Download up to 1 TB per month
- Custom domain name
- Direct downloads
Pricing extracted from file.io's pricing page. Always verify current pricing before committing.
Common questions
Is file.io free forever?
Yes. file.io has a permanent free tier alongside its paid plans, though the allowance typically resets each month.
Does file.io require a credit card?
No. You can start on file.io's free tier without entering card details.
What happens when you exceed file.io's free tier?
You move to a paid plan. file.io's cheapest paid plan is Basic at $25 / month.
What is file.io's free tier worth?
file.io's free tier is worth about $6.00 per month. That maps to an FTV score of 54/100. The FTV score is explained at freetier.co/ftv.
