MegaShares, RapidShare, or both? An In-depth Analysis

MegaShares, RapidShare, or both? An In-depth Analysis
As an avid uploader and downloader of both MegaShares and RapidShare, I am here to provide you good folks with an in-depth unbiased comparison of both services. Both services are excellent, and have their advantages and disadvantages, hence neither can qualitatively be labeled as better. After viewing all of the below information you should have a very good idea of the services and features of each respective filehost, and can then proceed to make an informed decision.

Contents Overview
Account Statistics

• Pricing
  Points
  Rewards

Downloading

• Speed
  Limits
  Link Size
  File Deletion
  Content
  Extra Features

Uploading

• Storage
  File Retention
  Remote Uploading
  Overall Usability
  Extra Features

Why Paid Filehosting?
Final Words


Account Statistics

• Pricing
  MegaShares
  30 Days ~ $10 (Unlimited Links
  180 Days ~ $25 (Unlimited Links)
  Lifetime ~ $150 (Unlimited Links + 30 Day Linkcard)
  
  ShareMe ~ $50 (500 Links)
  RapidShare
  3 Days ~ $5.74
  30 Days ~ $8.91 (+1000 points)
  90 Days ~ $21.66 (+3000 points)
  180 Days ~ $38.24 (+6000 points)
  365 Days ~ $70.11 (+12,000 points)
  
  TrafficShare (extra downloading bandwidth)
  100GB ~ $12.74
  500GB ~ $57.36
  2500GB ~ $254.99
  Bottom Line
  As of right now, both are virtually the same price for a month, but as you look more long term MS is actually the better deal as far as price is concerned. It is also pretty shady in my opinion that RS makes you pay for more traffic.
  
  Points
  MegaShares
  1 point for every premium user download
  250 points for every user who buys a link card from one of your links
  RapidShare
  1 point for every free user 5MB+ download provided they have not generated more than 3 RapidPoints in the last hour
  1 point for every premium user 5MB+ download (maximum of 255 points per day)
  Bottom Line
  Both services offer great programs for gaining points, but since MS points are only generated through premium service and has less users, it is a fact that gaining RS points is much easier, although the 250 points you get for MS referrals somewhat helps to make up for this . However what do these points really get you? Read on.
  
  Rewards
  MegaShares
  10,000 points ~ Extend Linkcard for 30 days
  25,000 points ~ $100 PayPal payout
  75,000 points ~ $300 PayPal payout
  RapidShare
  1 point ~ 9MB TrafficShare (10GB max)
  10,000 points ~ Extend premium account 30 days or create a new 30 day premium account
  30,000+ points ~ Random material prizes
  Code:

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  http://rapidshare.com/rewards.html

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  Bottom Line
  Obviously both services offer a month extension for 10,000 points, which is what many users strive for. RS gives you the option of increasing your available traffic which is nice considering how low the daily limit is. Some may say earning money off of uploading (through MS) may be wrong or not in the spirit of warez, but a little extra cash never hurts, right?

Downloading

• Speed
  MegaShares
  Premium
  I regularly max out at 1MB/s
  Free
  I get an average of 75KB/s
  RapidShare
  Premium
  I regularly max out at 1MB/s
  Free
  I get an average of 150KB/s
  Bottom Line
  Both services offer great consistent premium speeds, and although RS's free speed is double that of MS, this is an insignificant fact when the below limitations are considered.
  
  Limits
  MegaShares
  Premium
  Unlimited downloads, period.
  Free
  250MB at a time per 12 hours generally
  RapidShare
  Premium
  2.66GB per day, 80 GB per month.
  Free
  2 links per 12 hours generally
  Bottom Line
  As a MS premium member you can download freely without ever having to worry about limits, however as a free member you are severely limited by the above limit, which makes downloading just about anything an arduous task. As a free user of RS, downloading small sets of files is relatively easy, although downloading anything large will take quite a bit of time. The situation with RS premium is quite complicated. Originally their limit was 25GB per 5 days, with the ability to spread the traffic over the span any way you chose. Next they decided to up double the limit to 10GB a day, which was an excellent step forward. However their recently introduced 2.66GB per day (effective on new accounts and extensions), over a 73% decrease in traffic with no effect on prices, has adversely affected a number of users. For a large number of users this may not be a big deal, since they may rarely if ever use all of their traffic; but for those users who frequently download large files this can be quite a bane. Say you want to download a DVDR, 720p BluRay movie, Wii game, or PS2 game, it will take you two days regardless of your connection, sparing you less than 1GB of traffic for the two days. An XBOX360 game would take you no less than 3 days with less than 700MB spare, and a 1080p BluRay movie would take an entire 3 days worth of traffic to download. These estimates are of course discounting the TrafficShare function, but assuming you don't upload at all and regularly download the aforementioned material it fair to assume it will run out in due time.
  
  Link Sizes
  MegaShares
  Premium
  10GB
  Free
  Can still download premium files with a download manager, provided passport reactivation
  RapidShare
  Premium
  2GB
  Free
  200MB
  Bottom Line
  Both services offer premium members the ability to download large files, although virtually none of RS's come this way either because most uploaders don't use RS Manager but most likely because they upload simply for points, whereas virtually all of MS files come in large sizes taking full advantage of the large maximum link size. As a result of this the average MS thread contain generally 1-2 links for any given content, whereas the average RS thread for any given content can contain anywhere between 1-82 links (refer to table below for comparisons). Another advantage to MS is no need to extract any download, essentially eliminating the possibility of CRC errors, and provided you are using a download manager, there is no need to worry about broken downloads.
  http://sadcloud.com/images/v466xy76fb2nwspeyjal.jpg
  
  File Deletion
  MegaShares
  On average the quickest a link is deleted is 2 weeks.
  RapidShare
  Links can be blocked as quick as a couple of hours, but generally are taken down in a matter of days or a week.
  Bottom Line
  These estimates of course only apply to 'hot' material, such as new movies, major label music, and new games. Of course any content can be reported and removed, however the aforementioned content is the most subject to being the target of reporters. The reason for the disparity in the times it takes to take down links from the respective services is because RS requires only an email, whereas MS requires a letter through snail mail.
  
  Content
  MegaShares
  The majority of content is all of the newest scene releases including XviD and 720p TV shows; XviD, DVDR, 720p, and 1080p movies; all the hottest new PC games, and of course all of the new console games
  RapidShare
  Has just about everything imaginable
  Bottom Line
  There is no dispute that RS has by far more content in almost every area, with loads of old content in addition to almost all of the new content. Although this is the most common argument of why people say RS is better than MS, it in itself can only be a valid point entirely dependent on what type of content you seek. Refer to the conclusion for further analysis.
  
  Extra Features
  Direct Click to Download
  MegaShares
  Does not offer this feature
  RapidShare
  Can be selected under settings for premium users
  Bottom Line
  Almost necessary feature for RS users due to the prevalence of having to download multiple links, would be nice for MS but not totally necessary.
  
  Resume Broken Downloads
  MegaShares
  Available to both free and premium users
  RapidShare
  Available only to premium users
  Bottom Line
  Great option for if anything is to accidentally happen to your connection, and an absolute must for MS free users.
  
  Save Links for Future Download
  MegaShares
  Available to both free and premium users via your MyMS account
  RapidShare
  Does not offer this feature
  Bottom Line
  Not the most important feature by far, but a nice little feature if you want to save some links for possibly downloading later.

Uploading

• Storage
  MegaShares
  A free MyMS account allows you to store an unlimited amount of data
  RapidShare
  Allows you to store up to 500GB in an account
  Bottom Line
  You can in actuality store an unlimited amount on either service, although needing to only have one MS account is less of a hassle as compared to managing multiple RS accounts, although managing multiple accounts is not really that much of a hassle anyway. For the most part this may not be a big deal as many uploaders don't upload large files, so a large storage capacity is not really necessary.
  
  File Retention
  MegaShares
  A file must have one unique download within the first 15 days, and ten unique downloads within 45 days, with an additional ten unique downloads every subsequent 45 days.
  RapidShare
  Collector's Account
  A file must be downloaded at least once every 90 days.
  Premium Account
  Files will never be deleted for not being downloaded.
  Storage XXL Account (Premium Account with 20GB+ data)
  A file must be downloaded at least once every 90 days.
  Bottom Line
  Although RS has the superior file retention policy, it is not a major factor if you are uploading good content. For example virtually all of my files that end up deleted on either service is a result of TOS violations, almost never for not being downloaded.
  
  Remote Uploading
  MegaShares
  Any user has the ability to upload an unlimited amount of files, with a 10GB limit on each individual file size.
  RapidShare
  Provided you have a Collector's or Premium account, you have the ability to upload up to 30 files, with a 200MB limit on each individual file size.
  Bottom Line
  Both services offer the ability to remote upload either HTTP or FTP links, with each service having a good upload speed. The possibilities with MS's custom uploader is limitless, whereas RS's remote uploader is severely limited in the number of simultaneous links, as well as the maximum link size.
  
  Overall Usability
  MegaShares
  Standard Uploader
  Allows the uploading of a single file up to 10GB in size
  Custom Uploader
  The Java-based custom uploader is extremely versatile, allowing you to upload as many files as you want, entire folders, and remote upload as many files as you want all at the same time. Of course the 10GB limit applies to any single file or folder.
  RapidShare
  Standard Uploader
  Allows the uploading of 1-10 files provided the total does not exceed 200MB.
  RapidUploader
  This standalone program available on their site allows you to create an unlimited list of files to upload (provided no file is larger than 100MB), uploading the files 1 at a time.
  RapidShare Manager
  This standalone program available on their site allows you to create an unlimited list of files to upload (provided no file is larger than 2GB), uploading the files 1-5 at a time, with the added benefit of generating a link in your account once the upload passes 1MB.
  Bottomline
  Both of these services offer excellent uploading capabilities, each with their pros and cons.
  
  Extra Features
  Creating Direct Links
  MegaShares
  Does not offer this feature
  RapidShare
  Can be created using TrafficShare
  Bottom Line
  A somewhat useful feature for RS users, although creating these links uses TrafficShare, which in these times of low RS download limits is not a feature I can imagine many users using.
  
  Image Hotlinking
  MegaShares
  Using the custom uploader it is possible to upload as many images as you want directly into your MyMS account
  RapidShare
  Does not offer this feature
  Bottom Line
  Is a somewhat useful feature, although the images uploaded are subject to the same file retention policies as any other file uploaded.
  
  Resume of Broken Uploads
  MegaShares
  Does not offer this feature
  RapidShare
  Available with the use of RS Manager
  Bottom Line
  This is a very strong point for RS users who have an unstable connection, and any RS user in general.

Why Paid Filehosting?
You may be wondering why choose paid filehosting when there are so many other options out there, and the answer is it is simply the best option for the majority of users. With paid filehosting and this forum's search, you can find just about anything you want quickly, and the benefit of being able to see other users comments along with a full description makes the decision of whether or not to download much easier and more informed. Below I will discuss why paid filehosting is the best option for the majority of users as compared to other free methods.

• Torrents
  The main advantage of filehosts over torrents is consistent high speeds without having any requirement of uploading, which is important because 99.9% of users are leeches who don't contribute. Public torrents are extremely slow because of this very reason, and because of this is not a very efficient way to quickly download files. Private trackers offer great speeds but can be very difficult to obtain an invite for; along with requiring high ratios in order to maintain an account, this is a lot of work and very hard for users with slow connections or limited knowledge.
  
  Free Filehosting
  Simply because there is virtually no content on these filehosts, which can be boiled down to a relatively simplistic fact, they are not uploader friendly. Uploading a large number of files is a laborious task, and not offering any incentives for uploading is yet another reason they are not very well used.
  
  P2P
  Besides being useful for downloading single mp3s, using P2P programs such as Limewire is completely useless. Besides getting generally slow speeds, downloading off of P2P is like having sex with a hooker without a condom, you're going to catch a virus eventually.
  
  FTP/HTTP
  These are great and easy to upload to, although they are not common in public areas anymore simply because unlike uploading to filehosts, you can be held liable and/or have your account shut down as the owner if infringing material is found to be hosted on them.

Final Words
After reading all of the information presented above, you should now be well informed on both services features, and their pros and cons. Now I will proceed to explain why each filehost is worth buying an account for.

MegaShares
If you are mostly here to download new movies and tv shows, HD content, or console games, MS is definitely the way to go. Although lacking in older content and many other areas, if the aforementioned items are your primary downloads you should have no problem getting by with just a MS account, as you can download anything else you may need as a free user or through other methods, since MS covers you from having to worry about downloading most very large files.

RapidShare
If you are a casual downloader, this is the filehost for you. Offering an incredible amount of content, there is no going wrong with a RS account. Although downloading anything large will be a problem, as previously mentioned many users don't, so this won't be an issue for the majority of users.

BOTH
In my opinion this is by far the best option, especially for those who want it all like myself. With this option you have the best of both worlds, the ability to download large files with one link and the freedom to download just about everything imaginable. Also not having to download large files such as movies from RS makes 2.66GB per day a large amount, essentially giving you the ability to download whatever whenever without discretion.

Important Note

-Credits are all for "lazerpoint", for this excelent job..;)

Rapidshare sucks just because it has that daily limit. If it didn't have that i think RS would be awesome

Nice Informative read .. kudos for the effort

Stuck.

Very informative indeed. And yes, I agree with Albo. Because of this new daily download limit, I'm not sure how worth it is to actually pay for an RS account now. I mean, I'm not the heaviest downloader. But 2.6gb a day, is an extremely low limit. 10gb a day limit is a little more reasonable. If you're a really heavy downloader then not even 10gb a day is going to suffice.

But anyways, this is a great read ecug. Although I do have to say, that for free RS users, you only have to wait fifteen minutes between each link you download now(at least it has been this way for me lately, and jdownloader actually looks after this fifteen minute wait for you).

Very very nice thread , thank you dud

Great read. Thanks. Ive always wondered the differences....looks like sooner or later MS will catch up tho(as far as content goes)

Thanks for the review, very useful.

Thank you for the excellent review. Well done. Rapidshare limit of 2.6 GB/day is rip off considering other hosts like MEGAUPLOAD and Netload offer unlimited downloads and are faster for the same price.

Thanks for the review!

I find myself using uploaded.to quite a lot, at least for scene music releases. Just by searching for the full release name on google, preferably by finding the nfo on mp3kingz.org, you will often see the uploaded.to link at the top. They are really cheap as well.