Comparison · vs MASV
MASV vs Mountain Creative Directory: when does pay-per-GB beat flat monthly?
Two different tools, two different pricing philosophies. MASV sells transfer by the gigabyte — fast, no subscription, you pay for what you ship. Mountain Creative Directory bundles client review AND master delivery into one flat monthly bill, and recipient downloads don’t count against you. Below: where each one wins, with real numbers.
Short answer
Pick MASV if you send huge files rarely (a few times a year), raw transfer speed is the bottleneck you care about, or the production is reimbursing you for transfer costs anyway. PAYG with no subscription is the right shape for that.
Pick Mountain Creative Directory if you have a regular delivery cadence (monthly, weekly) and you also want client review in the same tool. Flat pricing means a TB-scale send doesn’t spike the bill, and your recipients download as many times as they want without it counting against you.
At a glance
Head to head
| MASV | Here | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | ~$0.25 / GB delivered | Flat monthly |
| Send 100 GB once | ~$25 | $19 / mo (Studio) |
| Send 1 TB once | ~$250 | $35 / mo (Pro) |
| Send 1 TB every month | ~$3,000 / yr | $420 / yr (Pro) |
| Client review built in | No | Yes |
| Frame-accurate comments | No | Yes |
| Per-asset approval | No | Yes |
| Recipient downloads count against your bill | Yes (per GB delivered) | No (unlimited) |
| Native Mac app for recipients | Yes | Yes (free) |
| Transfer speed on huge files | Faster (Accelerator) | Fast (chunked) |
| Recipient sees folder hierarchy | Flat list | Yes |
| Password-protected links | Yes | Yes |
MASV pricing reflects their published PAYG rate; subscription bundles exist that lower per-GB cost for committed volume. The comparison above uses PAYG because that’s how most filmmakers use them.
Pick the right one
When each tool wins
MASV is the right call
- You send huge files only a few times a year — no recurring cost beats a one-off charge
- Raw transfer speed on multi-hundred-GB files is the bottleneck and worth paying for
- The production reimburses you for transfer costs as a line item — per-GB billing is fine when it’s not your money
- You don’t need a review surface — recipients just download and move on
Mountain Creative Directory is the right call
- You have a regular delivery cadence (monthly, weekly) and flat pricing predictably wins
- You also want client review (timecoded comments, approvals) in the same tool
- Your recipients download multiple times (re-shared with colorist, sound, archive) and you don’t want to pay for it each time
- You’re paying out of pocket and need a predictable line item, not a variable bill
What it actually costs
Real annual cost, by delivery cadence
MASV numbers assume their PAYG pricing at roughly $0.25/GB. Real bills can be lower if you commit to a subscription bundle and actually hit the volume.
Occasional sender
One 200 GB send / quarter
MASV
~$200 / yr
800 GB delivered × $0.25
Here
$228 / yr
Studio plan · $19 × 12
Roughly even — MASV PAYG fits this shape
Regular cadence
One 500 GB send / month
MASV
~$1,500 / yr
6 TB delivered × $0.25
Here
$228 / yr
Studio plan · $19 × 12
Save ~$1,272 / yr
Heavy delivery
One 1 TB send / month
MASV
~$3,000 / yr
12 TB delivered × $0.25
Here
$420 / yr
Pro plan · $35 × 12
Save ~$2,580 / yr
These numbers don’t count recipient re-downloads. If a producer loses your link and re-downloads a 500 GB delivery once, that’s another ~$125 on MASV — and zero on Mountain Creative Directory.
Questions people ask
Frequently asked
- Is Mountain Creative Directory cheaper than MASV?
- Depends on cadence. MASV is pay-as-you-go at roughly $0.25 per GB delivered, so a single 100 GB send is around $25. A 1 TB hand-off is around $250. Mountain Creative Directory is flat — $19/month for 500 GB storage or $35/month for 1 TB, with unlimited recipient downloads. If you send big files a few times a year, MASV is fine. If you send them every month, flat pricing wins by a lot.
- Is MASV faster than Mountain Creative Directory?
- Yes, on really large files. MASV's Accelerator transfer protocol is engineered to saturate big pipes and is genuinely faster on multi-hundred-GB sends. We're not trying to beat them on raw speed. We're trying to beat them on the bill at the end of the month and on the workflow (review + delivery in one tool).
- Does MASV have client review?
- No. MASV is a transfer tool — recipients download files, that's the entire surface. There's no timecoded comments, no per-asset approval, no shared workspace. If you want client review, you pair MASV with Frame.io, Vimeo, or something else (and pay for both). Mountain Creative Directory has review and delivery in one subscription.
- Do recipients pay anything on MASV?
- Not directly — recipients don't pay MASV. But every GB they download counts against your billed delivery (PAYG) or your monthly subscription quota. If a producer downloads your 500 GB delivery twice (lost the link, re-shared with their colorist), that's effectively 1 TB you're paying for. Mountain Creative Directory recipient downloads are unlimited and don't count against your bill.
- Can I use the MASV app instead of a browser?
- Yes, MASV has a desktop app and it's good. Mountain Creative Directory also has a free native Mac app for recipients — paste a share link, pick a folder, walk away. The MCD app is free even if the recipient never creates an account. Same outcome, different bill.
- What about deliveries to NLEs or color suites?
- Both work. MASV's app drops files into a folder on the recipient's machine; Mountain Creative Directory's app does the same. The difference is again the bill — MASV charges you per GB delivered no matter who downloaded it, MCD doesn't.
- When is MASV the right choice?
- Three cases: (1) one-off enormous sends where PAYG is cheaper than a subscription you wouldn't otherwise need; (2) workflows where raw transfer speed is the bottleneck and the extra cost is worth it; (3) productions that bill the transfer to the client anyway, so per-GB cost doesn't come out of your pocket. Outside those, the flat-monthly model is almost always cheaper.
Try it on a real delivery
3-day trial. Predictable bill, no per-GB math.
Send one master delivery and one review link. See whether the workflow + bill works for you. Cancel any time before the trial ends to avoid the charge.