Salesforce Platform: Salesforce Content - Content Deliveries vs Public Links

To publicly share content saved in Salesforce there are two approaches: Content Deliveries or Public Links. Here are the main differences:

Content Deliveries: 

Content Deliveries is a Salesforce feature that enables secure sharing of files with external users through a generated public link. It allows password-protected access, configurable expiration dates, and tracking of file interactions such as views and downloads.

• Creating Content Deliveries explains how these can be created in the UI
• Allow many links per ContentDocument, specifying expiration date, etc.
• API access is available via the ContentDistribution entity
• Use Content Deliveries when sharing files with customers that require security, password protection, expiration control, and tracking of views or downloads.

Public Links:

Public Links in Salesforce allow users to generate a shareable URL for a file stored in Salesforce so that external users can access it without needing a Salesforce login.

• Share Files Via Link explains how these can be created in the UI
• Only one public link per file
• API access is provided via the Files Shares Link REST API resource. From Apex, public links can be created by sending an HTTP callout to this REST API.
• Use Public Links when sharing non-sensitive content such as marketing materials where easy access is important and users should be able to open the file without logging in.

Note: When a content delivery is created for a content document, the file detail UI will not display a public link, as a ContentDocument record can have multiple links via multiple ContentDistribution records. However if the public link is created from the UI, a SOQL query on ContentDistribution will return a corresponding record with a non-API exposed field set to determine this is related to a public link.

Use Cases:

Use Content Deliveries for secure customer file sharing with audit trails
Content Deliveries are appropriate when files need to be shared externally in a controlled and trackable manner. They allow administrators or users to apply password protection, set expiration dates, and monitor activities such as who viewed or downloaded the file. This makes them suitable for sharing sensitive or customer-related documents like contracts, reports, invoices, or proposals where security and visibility into file access are important.

Public Links are useful when files need to be distributed widely and accessed easily without authentication. Since anyone with the link can open the file, this option is ideal for non-sensitive content such as brochures, product catalogs, presentations, or marketing collateral where ease of access and quick sharing are the primary requirements.

See Also: 
Enable 'Content Deliveries'