File, image and so on hosting sites (recommend & discuss)
Posted: Wed Sep 22, 2021 11:31 pm
To be sure that nobody use useless piece of shit like photobucket or 1Fichier.
(if you forgot what happened to pb, read this)
FILE HOSTS
https://mega.io/ - extremely popular choice with up to 20 gb free storage. However, i would suggest only use it for mirrors. There are more and more cases when it deletes files or even terminate the whole account. Also it doesn't work on some browsers, may eat cache space on hdd, and if you recover account password you will loose all files. Also sometimes it limits how many stuff you can download per day.
https://www.mediafire.com/ - stable and decent choice, with up to 10 gb free storage. Was better back in days but lately has more advertisment banners/pop-ups that may annoy. Also had a habit of deleting copyrighted files. Oh, and last year they decided to erase many "abandoned" accounts.
https://www.solidfiles.com/ - not bad host from Sweden (however not very good either). Up to 15 gb free storage, 500 mb size limit per file. If you don't use adblock, be wary of advertisment pop-ups and false download links. From my experience, files like game soundtracks don't get deleted, though they officially state that they would comply to dmca if needed. Also don't upload anything there without account - guest uploads live 30 days since last download.
https://drive.google.com/ - another obvious choice for many. 15 gb free storage, however it's same space as whatever mail and photos services use, keep in mind. I've no idea if people had problems with it, in my case very often it was googledrive links that worked and were not deleted, unlike mega. The only downside i can think, it's being tied to your mail and personal identity / internet fingerprints. Not for paranoics.
https://disk.yandex.ru/ - basically, russian clone of google. Better interface, easier to use. Up to 20 gb free storage with 2 gb size limit per file. Good for uploading stuff like artbook scans as they don't care much (yet?).
https://dropmefiles.com/ - if you need to share a file that would not be available long, this one is excellent service. Can choose 1 download, 7 days or 14 days durability. As it's also russian, might be more relaxed than others (well, also considering it's short longevity host). Maximum size for file is freaking 50 gb.
https://files.fm/ - curious alternative based in latvia. However, free account is just up to 5 gb. Has good settings for privacy and support torrent download option.
https://www.filesend.jp/ - alternative to DropMeFiles. Can choose 7/4/21/30 days longevity for files, also no registration needed. File size could be 50 gb or more.
https://www.file.io/ - in extreme cases if you want file to be automatically deleted after the only download (or expired time), you may also use this instead of DropMeFiles. However, it supports file size up to 100 mb in free version.
https://catbox.moe/ - cute site hosted by some imageboard nut. May be good for uploading files up to 200 mb. Anime and tv show uploads are forbidden, other stuff is ok (except pure illegal shit like gore, obviously). Be ware, site owner might go autistic and actually check each file, lmao. And do stuff like this. ROFL!
http://kouploader.jp/ - funny japanese host. File size up to 1,8 gb. They ask to not upload adult content (well, adult by japanese sense of thing) and i guess better not upload stuff that was copyrighted in japan. It's good for private uploads as it always demand you to provide a key (password) for each file. And while there is a list of files on front page, nobody knows what's inside unless author wrote it in comment. No idea how long files are kept.
http://www.chitaro.com/ - similar one, but much smaller size limit. Up to 200 mb. Also password on each file.
https://tikuwa.net/ - and another, even smaller. Limit per file is 120 mb, as it's proposed for mp3 or mp4 upload. As usual, pass required for file and not really a long term solution.
https://www.easypaste.org/ - cute host from poland. File size is up to 10 gb. Don't upload questionable stuff. Also not recommended for long term hosting unless file is popular.
IMAGE HOSTS
https://postimages.org/ - very nice, i often use it. Can resize during upload into popular dimensions. If multiple pictures uploaded, album is created. Limit of size is 24 mb and 10k pixels per image for free account. Can upload up to 1000 images at once. There is no limit to how many you can upload, but they may ask you to go for paid account if you upload too many (extremely too many).
https://abload.de/ - great hosting from germany. Allows losless images, size limit per file is 20 mb.
https://imgbb.com/ - another nice alternative with very clean interface. Supports plenty of formats and allows up to 32 mb per file. Album creation is optional.
https://imgur.com/ - extremely popular choice, but i would not recommend it. While it's not as bas as ImageShack or PhotoBucket were, it's still pretty awful. Overwhelming interface with unneeded shit, doesn't work in older browsers, stripped down functional (it used to have "grid" display for albums, now it's gone), feels like shitty social network overall with comments and such. Also it degrades image quality pretty much due to compression. Plus, there are cases when it randomly deletes images.
https://www.flickr.com/ - if you are doing photography (and not just posting random pictures), this is best solution. Supports images up to 200 mb in size, and can display EXIF data (if you ask what the hell it is, then you are not photographer). Also provides different sizes for shared pictures. Downside is that free users can upload only up to 1000 photos.
https://photos.google.com/ - one of obvious choice to host some shit for a long time. However, it uses same storage space as mail and GoogleDrive files, so 15 gb are not that much big, in the end. Also it doesn't allow images bigger than 16 megapixels.
https://cubeupload.com/ - simple in many ways. File sizes up to 5 mb, supports most basic formats. Registration is required. It exists since 2006 or so. Can be used as additional option for some other image uploads (content wise - it better be family friendly). Not good enough for back-ups.
https://www.imagebam.com/ - if you ever need to use an image host that optionally allows adult pictures, that's the only good one. Very few ads, no shitty pop-ups, no bullshit.
https://imgbox.com/ - also this one, though slightly worse as it loads slower and may give some shitty ads. Up to 10 mb per image size, adult content allowed (not hardcore shit, of course).
VIDEO HOSTS
Ok, obligotary mention of https://www.youtube.com/ and https://vimeo.com/ as two most obvious mainstream platforms that have their own shortcomings.
http://dailymotion.com/ - this one is more relaxed alternative to YT. Well, so much relaxed that it got banned in my region, lol. Not sure if it's still like that nowodays.
https://ulozto.net/ - actually it's more like general host for any files, but i saw it often used for videos. Based in Czech, for better or worse. File sizes up to 18 gb, storage not limited. Download speed for free users is not very good though.
AUDIO/SPEECH HOSTS
Obviously, you can playback audio straightly from GoogleDrive or YandexDisk without downloading, so if you wanna share some favorite game soundtrack or whatever, use them or other general file hosts. However, if we talk about your original content created, there are better places.
https://whyp.it/ - cool and simple for sharing quick stuff.
https://soundcloud.com/ - main platform for musicians to share tracks or sketches.
https://bandcamp.com/ - if you're an artist who recorded albums, this one is good to both upload for listen and also sell (digitally, CD, vinyl...)
https://vocaroo.com/ - use to record your voice and send. Xed loves this when drunk, lmao.
Ok, that's all for now. If [mention]Xed51[/mention] or [mention]Bigmanjapan[/mention] have something to add, i will edit this post.
Hopefully it's at least somewhat useful to you, [mention]Jack[/mention] in case you gonna bring forward your stuff.
(if you forgot what happened to pb, read this)
FILE HOSTS
https://mega.io/ - extremely popular choice with up to 20 gb free storage. However, i would suggest only use it for mirrors. There are more and more cases when it deletes files or even terminate the whole account. Also it doesn't work on some browsers, may eat cache space on hdd, and if you recover account password you will loose all files. Also sometimes it limits how many stuff you can download per day.
https://www.mediafire.com/ - stable and decent choice, with up to 10 gb free storage. Was better back in days but lately has more advertisment banners/pop-ups that may annoy. Also had a habit of deleting copyrighted files. Oh, and last year they decided to erase many "abandoned" accounts.
https://www.solidfiles.com/ - not bad host from Sweden (however not very good either). Up to 15 gb free storage, 500 mb size limit per file. If you don't use adblock, be wary of advertisment pop-ups and false download links. From my experience, files like game soundtracks don't get deleted, though they officially state that they would comply to dmca if needed. Also don't upload anything there without account - guest uploads live 30 days since last download.
https://drive.google.com/ - another obvious choice for many. 15 gb free storage, however it's same space as whatever mail and photos services use, keep in mind. I've no idea if people had problems with it, in my case very often it was googledrive links that worked and were not deleted, unlike mega. The only downside i can think, it's being tied to your mail and personal identity / internet fingerprints. Not for paranoics.
https://disk.yandex.ru/ - basically, russian clone of google. Better interface, easier to use. Up to 20 gb free storage with 2 gb size limit per file. Good for uploading stuff like artbook scans as they don't care much (yet?).
https://dropmefiles.com/ - if you need to share a file that would not be available long, this one is excellent service. Can choose 1 download, 7 days or 14 days durability. As it's also russian, might be more relaxed than others (well, also considering it's short longevity host). Maximum size for file is freaking 50 gb.
https://files.fm/ - curious alternative based in latvia. However, free account is just up to 5 gb. Has good settings for privacy and support torrent download option.
https://www.filesend.jp/ - alternative to DropMeFiles. Can choose 7/4/21/30 days longevity for files, also no registration needed. File size could be 50 gb or more.
https://www.file.io/ - in extreme cases if you want file to be automatically deleted after the only download (or expired time), you may also use this instead of DropMeFiles. However, it supports file size up to 100 mb in free version.
https://catbox.moe/ - cute site hosted by some imageboard nut. May be good for uploading files up to 200 mb. Anime and tv show uploads are forbidden, other stuff is ok (except pure illegal shit like gore, obviously). Be ware, site owner might go autistic and actually check each file, lmao. And do stuff like this. ROFL!
http://kouploader.jp/ - funny japanese host. File size up to 1,8 gb. They ask to not upload adult content (well, adult by japanese sense of thing) and i guess better not upload stuff that was copyrighted in japan. It's good for private uploads as it always demand you to provide a key (password) for each file. And while there is a list of files on front page, nobody knows what's inside unless author wrote it in comment. No idea how long files are kept.
http://www.chitaro.com/ - similar one, but much smaller size limit. Up to 200 mb. Also password on each file.
https://tikuwa.net/ - and another, even smaller. Limit per file is 120 mb, as it's proposed for mp3 or mp4 upload. As usual, pass required for file and not really a long term solution.
https://www.easypaste.org/ - cute host from poland. File size is up to 10 gb. Don't upload questionable stuff. Also not recommended for long term hosting unless file is popular.
IMAGE HOSTS
https://postimages.org/ - very nice, i often use it. Can resize during upload into popular dimensions. If multiple pictures uploaded, album is created. Limit of size is 24 mb and 10k pixels per image for free account. Can upload up to 1000 images at once. There is no limit to how many you can upload, but they may ask you to go for paid account if you upload too many (extremely too many).
https://abload.de/ - great hosting from germany. Allows losless images, size limit per file is 20 mb.
https://imgbb.com/ - another nice alternative with very clean interface. Supports plenty of formats and allows up to 32 mb per file. Album creation is optional.
https://imgur.com/ - extremely popular choice, but i would not recommend it. While it's not as bas as ImageShack or PhotoBucket were, it's still pretty awful. Overwhelming interface with unneeded shit, doesn't work in older browsers, stripped down functional (it used to have "grid" display for albums, now it's gone), feels like shitty social network overall with comments and such. Also it degrades image quality pretty much due to compression. Plus, there are cases when it randomly deletes images.
https://www.flickr.com/ - if you are doing photography (and not just posting random pictures), this is best solution. Supports images up to 200 mb in size, and can display EXIF data (if you ask what the hell it is, then you are not photographer). Also provides different sizes for shared pictures. Downside is that free users can upload only up to 1000 photos.
https://photos.google.com/ - one of obvious choice to host some shit for a long time. However, it uses same storage space as mail and GoogleDrive files, so 15 gb are not that much big, in the end. Also it doesn't allow images bigger than 16 megapixels.
https://cubeupload.com/ - simple in many ways. File sizes up to 5 mb, supports most basic formats. Registration is required. It exists since 2006 or so. Can be used as additional option for some other image uploads (content wise - it better be family friendly). Not good enough for back-ups.
https://www.imagebam.com/ - if you ever need to use an image host that optionally allows adult pictures, that's the only good one. Very few ads, no shitty pop-ups, no bullshit.
https://imgbox.com/ - also this one, though slightly worse as it loads slower and may give some shitty ads. Up to 10 mb per image size, adult content allowed (not hardcore shit, of course).
VIDEO HOSTS
Ok, obligotary mention of https://www.youtube.com/ and https://vimeo.com/ as two most obvious mainstream platforms that have their own shortcomings.
http://dailymotion.com/ - this one is more relaxed alternative to YT. Well, so much relaxed that it got banned in my region, lol. Not sure if it's still like that nowodays.
https://ulozto.net/ - actually it's more like general host for any files, but i saw it often used for videos. Based in Czech, for better or worse. File sizes up to 18 gb, storage not limited. Download speed for free users is not very good though.
AUDIO/SPEECH HOSTS
Obviously, you can playback audio straightly from GoogleDrive or YandexDisk without downloading, so if you wanna share some favorite game soundtrack or whatever, use them or other general file hosts. However, if we talk about your original content created, there are better places.
https://whyp.it/ - cool and simple for sharing quick stuff.
https://soundcloud.com/ - main platform for musicians to share tracks or sketches.
https://bandcamp.com/ - if you're an artist who recorded albums, this one is good to both upload for listen and also sell (digitally, CD, vinyl...)
https://vocaroo.com/ - use to record your voice and send. Xed loves this when drunk, lmao.
Ok, that's all for now. If [mention]Xed51[/mention] or [mention]Bigmanjapan[/mention] have something to add, i will edit this post.
Hopefully it's at least somewhat useful to you, [mention]Jack[/mention] in case you gonna bring forward your stuff.
