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tapeshelf or Google Drive for sharing videos
Drive is where a lot of videos end up, simply because it's already there. It's fine storage, but sharing a video from it works like sharing any other file.
| What you need | tapeshelf | Google Drive |
|---|---|---|
| Private until you share it | Yes, every upload | Yes, until you share |
| Links that expire | Video links: from 1 hour to 1 week | Only for named people, on work or school accounts |
| A link for one person only | Yes, with a code sent by email | Yes, for people with a Google account |
| A password on a link | On Pro | No |
| A link to a whole collection | Yes, to your shelf; on Pro also anonymous, without your nickname | A shared folder link |
| Viewers need no account | Yes | With “Anyone with the link” |
| Watch in the browser | Yes, an encrypted stream | Yes, in Drive's preview |
| Trade videos | Yes, one for one | No |
| Organize a collection | Categories, stacks, your own order, covers, hidden videos | Folders |
| Friends and messages | Friends, messages with videos, “What's new” | No |
| No ads | Yes, on every plan | Yes |
| Open source, your own server | Yes, AGPL; your own server soon | No |
| Free plan | 1 GB per video, 20 GB in all, no ads | 15 GB, shared with Gmail and Photos |
Sharing a video from Drive
To share a video with someone outside your contacts, you usually switch the file to “Anyone with the link”. That link keeps working until you change it, and unless you turn downloads off, the person can download the file as it is, including the place and time it was filmed if the camera recorded them. Expiry dates exist only for named people, and only on work or school accounts. The free 15 GB is shared with Gmail and Google Photos.
How tapeshelf is different
- Every link expires by itself, after an hour to a week, on every plan.
- A link for one person opens with a code sent to their email, and no Google account is needed.
- People watch an encrypted stream, and the player never gets a link to the file.
- The place, date and camera details are stripped from every upload.
- Videos others share with you take no space on your shelf.
- Visitors can ask for a video, and you can trade one for one.
- Categories with their own rows and tile sizes, stacks, your own order, covers and names, and hidden videos only you see.
- Friends and messages, with videos right in the chat, and “What's new” on the shelves you follow.
- On Pro, a video editor right on your shelf: crop, cut, blur, timers, captions and sound.
- A free browser extension for Chrome, Edge, Firefox and other browsers downloads videos from other sites and can save them straight to your shelf.
- The code is open under the AGPL, and soon you'll be able to run tapeshelf on your own server.
When Drive is the better choice
When the video is one file among documents your team already works on in Drive, or you need to share a folder of mixed files, Drive keeps everything in one place.
Facts about other services come from their own help pages and plan descriptions, checked in October 2026. Plans change, so check their sites for the latest. Names of other services belong to their owners.
Questions
- How much space do I get?
1 GB per video and 20 GB in all on the free plan, 5 GB and 200 GB on Pro. Videos others share with you take no space.
- Do I have to stop using Drive?
No. Keep your files where they are and put on tapeshelf only the videos you want to show to people.