The two side by side
Both types share the same delivery pipeline — fraud queue, email template, customer download page — but differ in where the asset lives.
| File products | Link products | |
|---|---|---|
| Where does the content live? | Alva's secure file storage (uploaded by you) | Any external URL — Vimeo, Drive, Notion, Teachable, your own server |
| Bandwidth | Unlimited via Alva's CDN | Whatever the destination platform allows |
| Ownership | You uploaded the bytes; Alva serves them | You don't host the content; Alva only stores the URL |
| Visit / download caps | Per-customer download limit + max IPs per order | Per-customer visit limit, with strict enforcement to prevent race conditions |
| Expiry | Configurable per shop; secure, time-limited download links generated on click | Configurable per link; access link expires on a date you set |
| Where customers go | Browser saves the file to disk | Browser redirects to the destination URL (with Referrer-Policy: no-referrer) |
When to choose file products
- You own the bytes and want full control of the delivery surface.
- The customer needs the asset offline — print files, design source files, audio stems.
- The content is one-time download territory — invoices, ebooks, photo packs, software installers.
- The asset is large media that benefits from Alva's unlimited CDN bandwidth instead of Drive throttling.
When to choose link products
- The content streams — Vimeo videos, Wistia recordings, Loom playlists where transcoding lives on the source platform.
- The content is collaborative or live — Notion docs you keep editing, a Google Doc the customer comments on, a shared Drive folder you keep adding to.
- The content is a live course, cohort, or community — Teachable, Circle, Discord invite, Mighty Networks.
- You're granting SaaS access — a private dashboard, a members area, a tool you've built that lives on its own domain.
Can I have both?
Yes. A single Shopify product can have both files and links attached at the same time — plus packs and license-key tags. The customer gets one combined delivery: download buttons for every file or pack and access buttons for every link, all on the same page and email. Use this when, say, a course bundles downloadable workbooks (files) with a private Vimeo Showcase (link).
Customer download page for a single order showing a "Download workbook" button (file) and a "Watch the lessons" button (link) both visible together. No real customer data.
Frequently asked questions
One combined delivery. Files, packs, links, and license keys mapped to the same product appear in the same email and on the same download page.
No. Alva Digital Downloads stores only the destination URL, so link products do not consume the storage allowance shown on the billing page. Files do.
Yes. Each link has its own visit limit and expiry, enforced per customer with strict controls to prevent race conditions. A customer who hits the limit sees an error page instead of the destination.
See also
Was this helpful?
Last updated 2026-05-06