Everything about sending files with Shako

Shako is a file transfer service. You drop files in, Shako gives you a short link you can share or email, and the recipient downloads them with no account and no app. It is built as a leaner, fairer-priced alternative to services like WeTransfer and SwissTransfer.

Yes — sending needs a free account so your transfers, quota and credits belong to you. Receiving never does: anyone with the link can preview and download without signing up.

Add your files on the home page, optionally add a title, message and recipient email addresses, pick how long the transfer should stay live, and send. Shako returns a short link straight away that you can copy and paste anywhere.

No. Shako runs in the browser on desktop and mobile, so there is nothing to install or keep updated.

No. Recipients click the link and download. Shako deliberately does not make senders type a code emailed to them before every transfer — that friction buys very little and slows real work down.

Free allows up to 2 GB per transfer, Plus up to 20 GB, and Pro up to 100 GB.

Yes. When you add more than one file, Shako zips them into a single package before upload so the recipient gets one clean download instead of a list of separate files.

Any type. Shako does not restrict formats — documents, video, audio, design files, archives and raw camera files all work the same way.

Single-file transfers of PDFs, JPEGs and PNGs show an inline preview on the download page, so the recipient can check they have the right thing before pulling the whole file down.

Uploads and downloads run over HTTPS, and files are stored encrypted in private object storage. Download links are time-limited signed URLs, so the storage location is never publicly browsable.

Yes. Transfers travel over HTTPS and sit encrypted in storage, every upload is virus-scanned before its link goes live, transfer links are random and the underlying download URLs are short-lived, and files are genuinely deleted at expiry or when you clear them early. You can also tick "Password-protect the download" to send the files as a password-protected zip, with the password shared separately by you.

Yes. Every upload is checked for malware before the download link becomes usable, so a recipient never receives something that failed the scan.

Yes. You can type your own short slug when you send — spaces are turned into hyphens automatically, so "client final cut" becomes client-final-cut.

You choose at upload: 1 day, 3 days, 5 days, 7 days, 10 days, 15 days, 30 days. The default is 1 day. Credits are based on the number of days your files are kept. A 1-day transfer costs 1 credit, a 10-day transfer costs 10 credits, and a 30-day transfer costs 30.

30 days is available on Plus and Pro. Free accounts can choose 1 days, 3 days, 5 days, 7 days, 10 days.

The link stops working and the files are removed from storage. Expired transfers also count towards your deletion credits, so old files clearing out actively helps your quota.

Yes, from your dashboard, at any time. Deletion is immediate and frees the quota straight away.

Yes. Each transfer records a download count you can see in your dashboard alongside its expiry date.

There is a genuine free tier: 15 credits every month. Credits are based on the number of days your files are kept. A 1-day transfer costs 1 credit, a 10-day transfer costs 10 credits, and a 30-day transfer costs 30. No card required. If you need more in a given month you can buy extra credits at 45p each (bundles of 5) rather than being pushed onto a subscription.

Plus is £60 a year and includes 75 credits a month. Pro is £150 a year and includes 375 credits a month. Credits are based on the number of days your files are kept. Both are billed annually.

Nothing breaks and nothing is blocked mid-project. Extra credits are bought in bundles of 5 at your plan's rate, and each one still buys one day of storage: 45p each on Free, 20p on Plus and 12p on Pro.

At the start of each calendar month. Your dashboard shows credits used, bonus credits earned and how much of the current period is left. Credits are based on the number of days your files are kept.

Shako is cheaper than traditional platforms because it features predictable, pay-as-you-go credit pricing based entirely on your actual storage retention windows, rather than locking you into expensive monthly subscription models. Traditional file sharing services charge you flat fees to store forgotten data on their servers indefinitely. Shako gives you 15 free monthly credits and lets you buy inexpensive top-ups for as little as 45p, while actively rewarding you with cash-equivalent credits back whenever you delete files early.

Yes. A paid plan runs to the end of its annual term and then simply stops renewing; your account reverts to Free and your existing links keep working until they expire.

Credits are based on the number of days your files are kept. A 1-day transfer costs 1 credit, a 10-day transfer costs 10 credits, and a 30-day transfer costs 30. The cost is shown on the upload screen before you send, and the Pro API returns it in every response.

Shako deletion credits work by automatically refunding a portion of your file transfer cost back to your account balance when you or your recipient deletes a shared file before its set expiry date. If you clear a transfer within 24 hours, you instantly earn 0.2 credits back. Clearing a transfer within 48 hours earns 0.1 credits, and clearing within 5 days returns 0.05 credits. Five fast 24-hour clears completely offset the cost of a standard 1-day transfer.

No. Retention is a maximum, not a commitment. You can delete a transfer by hand at any point from your dashboard, and your recipient can delete it from the download page as soon as they have the files. Whoever presses delete, the credit refund goes back to you, the sender, on the same sliding scale — so clearing early always pays.

Yes. Every live download page has a "Delete these files now" button, so a recipient can clear the transfer the moment they've saved everything. The link dies immediately, the bytes leave storage, and you earn the same sliding-scale credit you'd have earned by deleting it yourself.

Files parked in a data centre burn power and storage whether anyone downloads them or not. Rewarding quick deletion keeps Shako's storage footprint small, which is exactly why the pricing can stay low. Partial credits add up: partial refunds stack up into whole credits.

Every transfer link and notification carries your personal referral URL. If a recipient signs up and starts sending, you both receive bonus credits.

It scales with your plan: 5 bonus credits on Free, 10 on Plus and 20 on Pro.

No. Bonus credits sit on your account until you use them, on top of your monthly allowance.

On Plus and Pro, yes. You can set a custom wallpaper — an image or GIF — plus two lines of your own text, a headline and a contact footer, across your Shako pages. Free transfers use the clean unbranded template.

Plus allows 60 characters of headline and 100 of footer. Pro allows 90 and 160.

Upload a landscape picture of at least 2400 × 1600 pixels. Shako automatically derives a 1920 × 1080 desktop version and an 828 × 1472 portrait version for phones, so keep the important part of the image near the centre. Files up to 8.4 MB on Plus and 21 MB on Pro.

Yes. GIFs are stored as uploaded so the animation survives, and the same file is used on mobile — expect a tighter crop on narrow screens.

Yes. Add recipient addresses when you send and Shako emails them the link, your message and the sender details, alongside the copyable short link.

Notifications are sent from a domain authenticated with SPF, DKIM and DMARC through a transactional email provider, which is what keeps transfer mail out of spam folders.

Shako eliminates the traditional 'code-in-your-inbox' ritual by linking all outgoing file transfers securely to your verified Shako account. Instead of forcing free users to pause, open their email, and copy-paste a one-time verification code every single time they want to send a file, Shako authenticates your identity seamlessly in the background so your transfers go out instantly.

Pro includes API access for programmatic sending, so you can create transfers from your own scripts, build steps or internal tools.

Create one in the dashboard on a Pro account. The full key is shown once at creation; after that only the prefix is visible, and you can revoke any key instantly.

Not yet. A macOS Finder quick action for starting an upload, a recipient-side auto-download companion and machine-readable metadata files alongside downloads are all planned rather than available.

With an email address and password, or with Google in one click. Both reach the same account.

See your full transfer history and download counts, delete individual transfers to free quota, track deletion and short-expiry credits, copy your referral link, manage branding, manage API keys on Pro, and update your profile picture.

No. Files are stored to be delivered and then deleted at expiry. Shako does not scan them for advertising or train anything on them.

Every plan can reach support.