How to upload to Arweave for free – ArDrive
So you want to use Arweave for free? You’re in the right place.
ArDrive – known to many as the Dropbox of Web3 – is a protocol that has made using Arweave that much easier for the average user, with its easy-to-use web app and – as of recently – mobile app.
The decentralised storage platform has now announced that it will not charge users for uploads under 100KB in size. The decision comes as a result of ArDrive collaborating with Forward Research, a company dedicated to creating a more open and fair cyberspace using Arweave.
Want to learn more?
Let’s dive in!
Getting a hold of $AR can be a pain 😩🤬
Good news though! Uploads of 100KB or less are now 🆓 to all ArDrive users 🤯
That means users will be able to create Drives, rename folders, move files, & generate manifests with our web & mobile app 🚀🐘 pic.twitter.com/UVgmsGlIgJ
— 🐘🔗ArDrive.arweave.dev (@ardriveapp) February 23, 2023
ArDrive’s free 100KB uploads
ArDrive is a protocol built on top of Arweave’s immutable and decentralised Permaweb and offers its users the ability to store and manage their files in a secure and permanent way that is relatable to Web2 equivalent storage solutions like Dropbox or Google Drive. With ArDrive, users can access their files from anywhere in the world, without having to worry about data loss, censorship, or third-party access.
And now, they can do it for free!
So, how does it work? According to ArDrive, if users upload only one file, it must be equal to or less than 100KB to qualify for the free offer. However, if users are uploading multiple files at once, each item must be less than or equal to 100KB individually, but the sum of all the files together can be larger than 100 KB. This could benefit many users greatly including:
- Students with multiple small doc files, such as essays, homework assignments, and study notes.
- Small business owners with multiple records that they need to securely store for years for tax purposes.
- Generative art NFT creators with thousands of small image files.
Furthermore, all the basic ArFS metadata is covered, making it easier for users to manage and organise their files.
ArFS metadata is a feature that improves the file browsing experience of Arweave by adding the ability to create data hierarchy (folders), private encryption, file versioning, controlled sharing, and more. With ArFS metadata, users can have more control over their files, making it easier to navigate and organise them.
To take advantage of the free uploads, users must have an ArDrive account. For new users, creating an account is a simple and free process. With an account, users can start uploading their files for free right away.
The decision to offer free uploads for files under 100KB makes the platform more accessible to users who may not need to store large files but still want the security and permanence of a decentralised storage solution. So if you have ever wanted to try Arweave, now is a great time to do so.
Get the full scoop straight from ArDrive right here.
With the release of free uploads of under 100kb on the ArDrive flutter app, the engineering team is super excited to finally share with the ArDrive users a taste of the enterprise-grade upload service infrastructure we’ve been working hard on fine tuning for some time. Expect more updates about Turbo! – Derek, AR.IO (ArDrive’s parent company) Software Engineer.
Public Drives – aka ArDrive’s “Perma-Free” feature
ArDrive offers Public Drives, which anyone can access for free, even without an account. Public Drives are open to the world for anybody to see and include photos, books, videos, art, research, or other files curated by ArDrive users that want this content to stay around permanently for public use.
There are many Public Drives available, but some of the recommended ones include:
- 51 Books in the Public Domain – curated by drkiddo.
- ArDrive Official Public Drive – pictures, videos, presentations and other permanent content from the ArDrive community.
You can download any of the digital books that are in the Public Drive for free by selecting the book of your choice and clicking on the download icon in the top right corner of the screen.
If you are not a fan of classic books, you can browse a multitude of other featured Public Drives.
It’s important to note that although it’s free to upload files smaller than 100KB and to view and share Public Drives and download files from them, uploading files that are larger than 100KB in size still incurs a fee. The pricing calculator on ArDrive’s website helps users estimate how much they will have to pay for their uploads. In order to upload files to ArDrive, users will need to get the Arweave Token (AR) to pay for those uploads.
We’ll leave you with this. To upload 1 GigaByte of data to ArDrive right now we would only have to pay $1.70. Don’t forget, that data is stored on Arweave’s Permaweb forever, so you will not incur a monthly fee. The more data you have, the more cost-efficient it becomes to use Arweave over traditional Web2 storage solutions.
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