Downloading directly from the web has become a great alternative to other more “traditional” downloading protocols such as P2P and BitTorrent. The increasing popularity of these direct downloads has contributed to the launch of software like Mipony and jDownloader, and to the spread of dozens of online services for storing and sharing files on the Web. The question then is, which one of these services should you be using?
Most online file hosting websites look almost identical. They seem to offer the same tools and options, but a deeper look soon reveals small differences in what you get when using one or another. After comparing the ten most popular file hosting services, we’ve come up with two tables that sum up the features included in their Free and Premium accounts, respectively. A quick glance at the data will surely help you decide which hosting service is best for you.
Before moving on to the tables, let’s explain the criteria we used to compare the services:
Storage Capacity: Maximum size allowed for each file you upload. If there are two figures, the second one refers to the amount of total space available for your account.
Transfer limit: Maximum amount of data you can transfer within a certain period of time.
Expiration date: This applies mainly to free accounts, and refers to the number of days the uploaded file will be available online. It’s usually calculated from the time it was last downloaded.
File management: Is there a special tool to manage your files, and organize them in groups or folders?
Simultaneous downloads: Does the file hosting service allow multiple file downloads at the same time?
Waiting time: The amount of time you usually have to wait in free accounts before you can actually download the file.
Price: The monthly fee you have to pay for a premium account in each of these services.
Free account
| Storage capacity |
Transfer limit |
Expiration date |
File management | Simultaneous downloads |
Waiting time | |
 |
500 MB | No | 30d/90d | Members only | No | Variable |
 |
500 MB/200 GB | 1 GB/24h | 21d/90d | Members only | No | 45s/25s |
 |
200 MB | No | Upon warning | Members only | Yes | No |
 |
2,000 MB | 30 min. | 90d | Yes, FTP | No | 15s |
 * |
200 MB/10GB | No | 30d | Yes | No | Variable |
 |
300MB/2GB | 10 files/8h | 20d/45d | Members only | No | 60s |
 |
2,000 MB/ 500 GB |
150 MB/h | 90d | Members only | No | +30s |
 |
1 GB | No | 60d | Yes, and FTP too | No | 20s |
 |
2 GB | No | No | No | No | 100s |
 * |
2 to 8 GB | No | No | Yes | Yes | No |
*Requires registration
Premium account
I hope this analysis helps you choose the perfect file hosting service for you. If you happen to know any other service that you think is even better, don’t hesitate to share it with us in comments!
[Via OnSoftware ES]
