8fs vs Dash vs Frame.io: the honest comparison for freelancers

If you're looking for a WeTransfer Portals replacement and doing the research properly, you've probably landed on three serious options: Dash, Frame.io, and 8fs.

This is the honest comparison: written by the 8fs team, so take the framing with that in mind, but with real prices, real feature lists, and a clear description of who each tool is actually for.

The short version

• Frame.io: Best-in-class video review. If you're primarily a video editor and already pay for Adobe CC, use it. For anything else, wrong tool.
• Dash: Excellent product for brand/marketing teams managing large asset libraries. If you're a 10+ person marketing department, seriously consider it. If you're a solo freelancer or small agency, it's overkill at 6× the price.
• 8fs: Built specifically for the gap: solo creatives and small agencies who need permanent branded portals, client annotation, and approval flow without the enterprise price or DAM complexity.

Frame.io

What it is: A video review and collaboration platform, originally built for film and TV post-production. Adobe acquired it in 2021 and it's now integrated into Creative Cloud.

What it does well:

• Frame-accurate timestamped comments on video
• Team collaboration with version stacking
• Integration with Premiere, After Effects, and the rest of Adobe CC
• Camera to Cloud (record on set, footage appears in Frame.io instantly)

What it doesn't do:

• Review for non-video files: images, PDFs, design files, web builds
• Any file type that isn't video or audio
• Work without an Adobe CC subscription ($54.99/month minimum)
• Give you a branded permanent portal URL

Price: Starts at $15/user/month for a basic plan, but you effectively need Adobe CC to use it properly: $54.99+/month.

Who it's for: Video editors and film production teams who are already in the Adobe ecosystem and need proper frame-accurate review. Not for designers, photographers, or agencies delivering non-video work.

Who it's not for: Anyone without Adobe CC. Anyone delivering design files, brand assets, PDFs, or web builds. Anyone who wants their client to be able to view and approve without creating an Adobe account.

Dash

What it is: A digital asset management (DAM) platform with client-facing sharing and approval features. UK-based, well-designed product.

What it does well:

• Searchable asset library with custom tags, folders, and metadata
• Client collections with comments and approval
• Brand portals for clients to self-serve and download assets
• Resizing and format conversion on download
• Good API and integrations

What it doesn't do:

• Single-file delivery links with view tracking
• URL shortening
• Secure notes
• Per-portal custom URLs without their branding on lower tiers
• Work without significant setup (tagging, folder structure, brand configuration)

Price: £79/month for unlimited users. No cheaper tier that includes approval features.

Who it's for: Marketing teams and brands that manage large, ongoing libraries of creative assets: product images, brand guidelines, campaign materials: and need a searchable, organized system for all of it. Companies with a content ops function.

Who it's not for: A solo designer or photographer who delivers finished work to clients and needs them to approve it. The product overhead: custom tags, folder structures, brand portals: doesn't make sense when you're sending five files to one client.

8fs

What it is: A client delivery and portal tool for creative freelancers and small agencies. Started as a file delivery product, now includes portals with approval flow.

What it does well:

• Permanent portal URLs (8fs.io/p/your-project) with multiple files, client annotation, and per-file approval
• Pinned comments on images (client clicks anywhere on the image to leave a dot annotation)
• Timestamped video comments
• Individual file delivery pages with view tracking ("opened 3×, not downloaded")
• File versioning: update the file, the URL stays the same
• Short links with click tracking
• Secure encrypted notes for sending passwords
• No client login required for anything
• Links never expire

What it doesn't do:

• DAM-level asset management (search by custom tag, SKU code, folder browse)
• Frame-accurate video review at the level of Frame.io
• Multi-brand management (that's the Studio plan)
• Custom delivery domain (Studio plan)
• Work as a contract/invoice/CRM system (it's not HoneyBook)

Price: Free plan (5 links, 1GB). $12/month Pro (unlimited portals and links, 100GB, no 8fs branding). $29/month Studio (1TB, custom domain, white-label).

Who it's for: A solo designer, photographer, video editor, or small agency (2–10 people) who regularly delivers finished work to clients, needs clients to review and approve it, and doesn't want to pay enterprise pricing for a DAM they don't need.

The decision tree

You primarily deliver video and you're already on Adobe CC → Frame.io. It's included, it's purpose-built for video review, use it.

You're a marketing team with 10+ people managing ongoing brand asset libraries → Dash. The organization features justify the price at that scale.

You're a solo creative or small agency delivering completed work (any file type) to clients for approval → 8fs. This is exactly what it's built for.

You just need to transfer large files and don't care about approval → Smash, TransferNow, or even WeTransfer's basic transfer product still works for this.

The specific question: WeTransfer Portals replacement

If you had WeTransfer Portals and Reviews and lost them in December 2025, here's the direct comparison of what you had vs. what each tool offers:

The "no client login required" row is the one most people don't realize matters until they try to switch. Dash requires your client to have a Dash account to leave comments. Frame.io requires an Adobe account. WeTransfer Portals didn't. 8fs doesn't.

8fs has a free plan: 5 delivery links, 1GB storage, no card required. If you're evaluating tools, try it before paying for anything.