Hello!
I’ve completed a client site and was about to purchase the basic plan when I realized that in order to add a “File Upload” feature to the form, I need to upgrade to the Business site plan. This is completely unacceptable to my client and is unreasonable on Webflow’s part to restrict this feature to only the Business plan.
Is there any way to access the File Upload feature without having to purchase the Business site plan?
Hey @Mark_Web_Dev ,
Yes, the File Upload feature seems to be available on Business / Ecommerce plans other than Standard one.
If you are ready to store the uploaded files in some database solution, then you could make use of a custom script to accept file uploads (without it being native to Webflow) and then handle the form submission as per your use-case.
Here’s an example script of doing it using Make + Google Drive, but you could use S3 or other solutions whichever seems fit for your project.
Alternatively, you could explore something like Uploadcare as well.
In case, you want it natively in Webflow, then unfortunately the advanced plans seems like the way to go 
Adding to AJ’s notes-
Webflow requires a Business plan for this because it can result in a LOT of additional data, depending on how you’re using it. Much simpler than creating metered plans tied to storage utilization.
Uploadcare has a free plan, but a steep cliff if you exceed it, which cost much more than $20/mo difference between a CMS plan & the Business plan.
Personally I use Basin already for forms processing due to its spam handling, and it handles file uploads very well. You can probably do file uploads on the $7/mo plan. I’ve some notes on that here-
Uploading Files with Basin | Webflow Forms | Sygnal-U
Another quick and dirty option if you have < 50 submissions per month and don’t mind the styling limitations, it to drop a Jotform in, but the free plan includes a Jotform logo.
@memetican Michael,
Thanks for the added information. Did you get my private message I sent earlier? If not, I’ll send it again.
Mark
No way to unlock Webflow’s native upload without the Business plan, but you can drop in a third-party form tool like Basin, Jotform, or Uploadcare and pipe files to Drive/S3. Had to do this on a client build,Basin was easiest since it plugs right into Webflow forms.
Honestly this is really ridiculous. So annoyed. Been with Webflow from the start and these costs are really starting to rule it out as a solution for smaller business websites. Honestly feels like they don’t want to serve that type of client or the agencies that serve them. Feels like a slap in the mouth tbh.
Hey @Paul76 the file upload feature has been that way forever. I suspect for Webflow it’s a difficult choice to know at what points to scale pricing, so that the entry point pricing can remain affordable for small projects and new users. File uploads does generally align with businesses, so it’s kind of made sense to me as a breakpoint into the business plan.
That said, a lot of free solutions out there, that don’t require hosting the files in Webflow’s S3 CDN ( so no cost to WF ).
@memetican I understand your point. I’ve a few bigger business clients that are on that plan and utilise the associated benefits and are happy to pay the cost - no problem. I just feel that the form upload functionality really doesn’t constitute the nearly 300 bucks upgrade for that one piece of functionality for a smaller client. I don’t think a file upload field is “big business” functionality. I get this costs the company. I just think this should be a more appropriately priced bolt-on with lower submission tiers that wouldn’t be so prohibitive. I use Webflow because it’s a great system to allow me to build sites for ALL my clients - rather than now having to start to weigh up this type of cost for smaller clients. It means selling it on gets more difficult for people like me who actively promote the solution, and the base user demographic will shift away from the platform to other alternatives. When the client is comparing 2 yearly hosting costs between 2 solutions this becomes an issue.
Yes, and I think that’s a fair analysis. Uploadcare is an easy alternative and free if your volume is low, then it jumps hugely.
If you’re an SP ( freelancer / agency ) you might consider a solution like Basin. It solves a lot of issues for me that aren’t quite native to Webflow yet-
I use one Basin account for 50 clients, and they each have access to their own form submissions. Works really well for me, at maybe $1/client/month in total, so I just bundle it into the monthly.
+1 here for Basin Forms: a solid, easy to implement forms solutions (has a Webflow App) and a top-notch support/dev team and fair pricing model. Been using them for 7+ years.
Addtionally, the spam controls/management are much better than Webflow’s form solution.