YouSendIt has always been a go to website to send files to other folks but now the company's offerings are much more robust. The file sending company has now added cloud storage and file syncing to their bag of tricks, making themselves into a Dropbox competitor overnight. What's even more exciting is that YouSendIt has an unlimited storage option for a very reasonable price.
The new YouSendIt setup is remarkably like Dropbox in concept and execution. You can add files to your cloud drive in one of three ways: web client, Windows desktop application or iOS app. Currently there is no desktop application for Mac OS X and no Android app, though the site claims both of those are coming soon. Unfortunately, this author is running Mac OS X, but the app runs really well on iPad. There it lets me sign any of my documents, upload the photos on my device, and view all the files I've got in my folders. The web interface is nice and speedy and doesn't leave me longing for anything. The whole thing really feels quite Dropbox-like and slick.
So if you are already using Dropbox (like I am) what exactly are the advantages to YouSendIt? For starters the service offers the ability to to set permissions on folders you share with others. You can set things to read only, or read/write which is a nice little feature that all cloud storage services should adopt. File sending and tracking work as you would expect them to, given that YouSendIt started as a file sending service. The document signing is also a really nice little feature. It's easy enough to sign a document with your mouse or trackpad (or just type in a signature if you prefer) and then PDF the doc and send it on its way. This is a service I would have killed for during my home refinance.
The other feature that sets YouSendIt apart from Dropbox is the pricing structure. The free plan nets you the same 2Gb of storage that Dropbox offers and it puts limits on the file size, number of downloads per file, and how many documents you can sign (only 5). The really attractive offer is the Pro Plus plan. For $14.99 per month you get unlimited storage, unlimited document signing, and unlimited downloads per file. Dropbox offers no unlimited storage plan, the best they do is $19.99 per month for 100Gb of storage and they don't offer the document signing that YouSendIt does.
With additional apps and file versioning in the works, YouSendIt could be a worthy contender to Dropbox. There are a ton of cloud storage options out there these days but none offer unlimited storage and file signing. Maybe we'll see Dropbox switch up their plans to try and compete. For now YouSendIt is definitely worth checking out for yourself, especially with a 14 day free trial being offered.
