Secure File Sharing Links

Secure file sharing is really two problems: get the file to the right person fast, and make sure it isn't left open to everyone else afterward. Consumer tools force a trade-off on the second half. WeTransfer links live for a few days whether you want that or not and there's no API to control the lifecycle. Dropbox and Google Drive links are tied to accounts, so a recipient hits a login wall or a 'request access' prompt instead of the file. file.io self-destructs after a single download, which is protection by accident, not by choice. files.link gives you deliberate control on both halves: upload once, then hand out either a permanent CDN link that resolves straight to the file or a private link that carries a cryptographically signed, time-limited token — your choice, per file, with no recipient account required either way.

The two link types cover the whole range of client file sharing. A public file gets a permanent, edge-served CDN URL the moment you confirm the upload — durable enough to bake into a delivered document, a press kit, or a paid-product download page and trust it won't rot (see file to link and permanent file links).

A private file is never given a public URL at all; instead your backend mints a signed link on demand (GET /v1/files/signed/{id}) that defaults to a 10-minute window and can stretch to 7 days with expiresIn, then stops working when the clock runs out. That's the pattern for a client deliverable or an internal review — a link that works now and quietly dies later, so a forwarded email or a stale bookmark doesn't leave the file open.

The temporary file hosting page goes deeper on the expiring-link mechanics.

A note on the search people actually type: password-protected file sharing. files.link does not gate downloads behind a shared password, and that's on purpose — a reusable password gets forwarded, screenshotted, and never rotated. The stronger primitive is a signed, expiring URL plus an unguessable link that isn't listed or crawlable anywhere. To revoke access you stop issuing new signed links, or delete the file to kill every outstanding link at once; there's no password to leak in the meantime.

If you need one stable address that keeps signed protection underneath, a permalink re-signs on every hit, so the URL you hand out never changes while the actual download token rotates each time. For genuinely sensitive material, pair a short expiry with an end-to-end encrypted channel rather than trusting any single link as a vault.

The use cases are commercial by design: client deliverables and proofs, private customer downloads, software and media asset distribution, press kits, paid digital products, and developer-generated links minted straight from your app. Every share is the same three-call REST upload — POST /v1/files/{folderId} for a presigned URL and id, PUT the bytes, POST /v1/files/confirm-upload — so a backend can turn a finished render or an invoice PDF into a secure link in one workflow step (the upload a file guide walks it end to end, and file storage with CDN covers the delivery side).

Pricing is prepaid credits with no subscription: you pay only for the storage and bandwidth you actually use, credits sit on your account until you spend them, and there's no per-seat plan or monthly floor to reconcile. That keeps a secure file transfer workflow predictable — a busy delivery month costs more, a quiet one costs less, and nothing auto-renews.