Since the FBI shut down shutdown file-sharing website Megaupload there has been shockwaves sent through the internet. Unfortunately those shockwaves are not just being felt by the world of illegal file-sharing they are being felt by those of us who used Megaupload as a genuine and easy to use cloud storage service allowing us to backup, store and share large files with the greatest of ease.
Thankfully there are other cloud based storage solutions that are out there which are ready to fill that empty void which has been left by Megauploads demise.
Here are some of the popular alternatives to Megaupload.
Rapidshare.
Rapidshare is probably in number one place when it comes to looking for an alternative to Megaupload. Rapidshare has been around for a good few years and is well established.
Rapidshare, like Megaupload, gives its user the ability to store and share large files through use of cloud based storage.
While Rapidshare is a free service if users wish to upgrade to the Rapidshare Pro version they do gain a few extra features. Rapidshare Pro costs $13 a month or $130 a year and means that any uploaded files will be stored forever without expiring. Rapidshare Pro users also will not be forced to wait several minutes before a file download begins.
MediaFire.
MediaFire is full of nice little features which make it easy to use. One of those features is a drag and drop function for the uploading and downloading of files. Users can upload files sized up to 200mb and those files will remain active for 30 days. Unlike Rapidshare users are not required to wait for downloads.
If you wish to pay the $9 a month and upgrade to the MediaFire Pro version you can upload files up to 2GB in size and store them for as long as you have MediaFire subscription.
Becoming a MediaFire Pro subscriber will also remove all of the adverts from the MediaFire user interface.
YouSendIt.
You may have not heard of YouSendIt but the site has actually been up and running online for quite some time. Like most other sites of this nature there is a free version open to users although those of you who use the free service will be bombarded with a lot of adverts. Free users are also limited to 50GB of storage space and cannot upload files bigger than 50mb.
Upgrading to the YouSendIt Pro subscription will set you back $10 a month or $50 a year and you will up your available storage to 5GB with and have the ability to upload files up to a size of 2GB.
Users also have the option of upgrading to a YouSendIt Pro Plus subscription which costs $15 a month or $149 per year. With the YouSendIt Pro Plus subscription you get the luxury of unlimited storage space and the ability to upload files of an unlimited size.
Minus.
Minus actually started its life as a website for image hosting but quickly turned its attention to large file storage.
Minus, just like MediaFire, has that nice little drag and drop feature for uploading and downloading files so the user interface is really friendly to all involved.
Minus gives you 50GB of storage space and allows files up to 2GB to be uploaded. You can store your files forever and Minus wins a lot of votes because it has several cell phone apps and browser extensions available to its users.
Hotfile.
Hotfile was launched back in 2001 and has quickly grown to become a very popular file-sharing site.
Users who use the site for free are required to wait up to 30 minutes between file downloads while users who pay to use the service are not required to wait between downloads.
The biggest problem we see with Hotfile is that it appears to be very popular with illegal file-sharers so it is only a matter of time, in our opinion anyway, before Hotfile goes the same route as Megaupload.
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