The Diawi Alternative for iOS Builds That Diawi Won't Accept
Diawi is great for quick, small test builds. But its free tier caps uploads at 20–50 MB and free links expire after 24 hours. If your IPA is bigger — or your beta lasts longer than a day — you need an alternative.
Upload an IPA now — freeWhy developers look for a Diawi alternative
- The 24-hour link expiry. Diawi's free uploads stop working after 24 hours. A beta that runs across a weekend means re-uploading on Monday — and every tester has to reinstall.
- The file size cap. Anonymous uploads are limited to 20 MB and free accounts to 50 MB. Modern iOS apps — games, video-heavy apps, enterprise apps with embedded assets — regularly exceed this. Diawi's paid plans (250 MB on Starter) raise it, but only if you pay.
- Account friction. Anonymous uploads are limited, and signed-up free accounts still hit the 50 MB wall.
- No practical automation. Teams that ship from CI/CD want an upload API, not a drag-and-drop page.
Diawi vs Build Installer, side by side
| Feature | Diawi | Build Installer |
|---|---|---|
| Max upload (free) | 20 MB anonymous, 50 MB with account | No hard cap |
| Link lifetime (free) | 24 hours | Until you remove the build |
| Account required | No, but limits apply | No |
| Metadata extraction | Manual / partial | Automatic from Info.plist |
| QR code | Yes | Yes, generated per build |
| OTA install manifest | Yes | Yes (itms-services) |
| Upload API for CI/CD | Limited | Yes — POST the IPA, poll, get your URL |
| Ad-hoc & enterprise certificates | Yes | Yes |
Diawi limits per diawi.com/features-services and diawi.com knowledge base (anonymous: 20 MB, free account: 50 MB, Starter: 250 MB; free links expire after 24 hours).
Keep Diawi, switch to Build Installer — or both
If your IPA is under 20 MB and you only need it for a day, Diawi works fine and you don't need to change anything. The moment a build exceeds Diawi's free limits, needs to stay live past 24 hours, or has to be uploaded by a script, Build Installer is the drop-in replacement: same OTA install flow, same QR-code workflow, none of the walls.
Try it with a real build
Upload any IPA — if it's too large for Diawi, it's exactly what we built this for.
Upload your IPAFAQ
Is Diawi free?
Diawi has a free tier, but it's capped at 20 MB for anonymous uploads and 50 MB with a free account, and links expire after 24 hours. Paid plans start at 250 MB (Starter).
What is the best free alternative to Diawi?
For ad-hoc and enterprise iOS builds, Build Installer covers the same flow with no file-size cap and no 24-hour expiry. For App Store-bound beta programs, Apple's TestFlight is the official route — see our alternatives comparison.
Can I migrate my Diawi workflow to Build Installer?
Yes — same concept: upload IPA, share link or QR, tester installs over the air. The only thing that changes is what you pay and how long the link lives.