Short answer: for a free one-off link, InstallOnAir is the closest Diawi alternative. For a free tool with tester invites, Firebase App Distribution. For large public betas, TestFlight. If you want builds that don’t expire and signing handled for you, AppSign — at a monthly price.
Why people look beyond Diawi
Diawi turns an already-signed IPA into an install link in a minute, no signup required. Its limits show up as a team grows[1]:
- Links expire fast. A build stays available 1 day after the last install without an account, 3 days on a free account, 7 days on Starter and 15 days on Premium and Enterprise. Longer availability is a paid add-on.
- Installs are counted. 2 installs per app without signup, 10 on a free account, 50 on Starter, 100 on Premium.
- Diawi doesn’t sign builds. You upload an IPA that is already signed; the tester’s device must already be in your provisioning profile. Every new tester still means updating the profile and re-exporting the build yourself.
- Team features sit at the top tier. Shared app management and single billing appear in the Enterprise plan at €299.99/month.
Also worth knowing: Microsoft’s Visual Studio App Center, once a popular choice here, retired its Distribute feature on March 31, 2025[2], so former App Center users are looking for a new home too.
How we compared
We looked at what matters when you hand iOS builds to testers every week: how long a link lives, whether installs are limited, whether the tool signs or re-signs builds when testers are added, whether it helps collect UDIDs, and what it costs. Prices and limits come from each vendor’s own pages, checked September 17, 2026.
At a glance
| Tool | Link / build lifetime | Signs builds for new testers | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Diawi | 1–15 days after last install | No | Free; €2.99–€299.99/mo |
| InstallOnAir | 3 days (7 with account); paid extension | No | Free; one-time extensions from $1 |
| Firebase App Distribution | Builds kept 150 days | No — you rebuild | No cost |
| TestFlight | 90 days | Not needed (no device registration) | Included in $99/yr membership |
| Loadly | “Never expires” (vendor claim) | Not stated | Free (vendor claim) |
| Appcircle | — | Re-signing tools | Free Starter; custom Corporate |
| AppSign | 14 days (Basic); no expiry (Pro, Enterprise) | Yes | $20 / $50 per month; Enterprise custom |
1. InstallOnAir — the closest free swap
Same idea as Diawi: upload an IPA or APK, get a short link and a QR code. Builds up to 200 MB are free; bigger ones up to 1 GB cost $2 per upload. Links live 3 days for guests and 7 days with a free account, and you can extend a build with one-time payments of $1 (a month), $4.99 (six months) or $9.99 (a year) — nothing renews automatically, and you can extend again. There is a UDID finder for testers. It doesn’t sign builds: if a tester’s device isn’t in the profile, InstallOnAir tells them to contact the developer[3].
Choose it if you want Diawi’s flow with longer, cheap one-time link extensions.
2. Firebase App Distribution — free, with tester invites
Google’s tool is free on every Firebase plan. You invite testers by email; when they accept, App Distribution asks permission to share their device identifier and emails it to you. Builds stay in the console for 150 days. The catch: after a new UDID arrives, you still update the provisioning profile and distribute a new build yourself[4].
Choose it if your app already uses Firebase and you don’t mind rebuilding when testers join.
3. TestFlight — for large betas
Apple’s own channel needs no device registration at all. Up to 100 internal testers from your App Store Connect team and 10,000 external testers per app; builds are testable for 90 days, and the first build for external testers goes through Beta App Review[5]. We compare it in depth in AppSign vs TestFlight.
Choose it if you’re running a public or large external beta before an App Store release.
4. Loadly — free hosting with generous claims
Loadly says it is free with no paid tiers, accepts uploads up to 2 GB, offers password and login protection, and that links never expire[6]. We haven’t verified these claims independently; like Diawi, it hosts builds you have already signed.
Choose it if you need large uploads and long-lived links for already-signed builds at no cost.
5. Appcircle — part of a mobile CI/CD platform
Appcircle combines builds, testing distribution and an enterprise app store. The free Starter plan includes 100 testing-distribution downloads a month, and the platform can re-sign existing binaries with another certificate or profile[7].
Choose it if you want distribution as one module of a full CI/CD pipeline.
6. AppSign — when signing is the actual pain
AppSign works under your own Apple Developer account. You register testers once; AppSign signs the build for their devices, stores it and gives them access. Testers get something that feels like their own App Store, and every next update installs without the profile-and-re-export routine. Releases don’t expire on Pro and Enterprise plans, and you can keep several versions of one app — including builds configured for different clients — side by side.
Where Diawi is better: Diawi gives you a link in a minute with no account. AppSign needs a sign-up, a paid plan from $20/month and a moderation step for each app before testers can install it. For a single build you send once, that’s more than you need.
Choose it if you ship builds to the same testers every week and want links, devices and signing to stop being a job.
Which one to pick
- One quick link, no account: Diawi or InstallOnAir.
- Free, with tester invites and UDID collection: Firebase App Distribution.
- Thousands of external testers: TestFlight.
- Builds for a regular team or client that shouldn’t expire, with signing handled: AppSign.