SFTP To Go vs. AWS Transfer Family: A Complete Technical Buyer’s Guide

SFTP To Go and AWS Transfer Family both provide managed file transfer, but they differ in setup complexity, storage flexibility, automation, and infrastructure control. This guide compares the two services across nine key criteria to help businesses choose the right solution. 

Round 1: Learning curve & usability

Managed file transfer solutions SFTP To Go and AWS Transfer Family eliminate the need to run your own file transfer and storage infrastructure. However, their setup processes differ significantly.

SFTP To Go provides a unified dashboard that lets users start file transfers quickly, while AWS Transfer Family requires customers to additionally configure the storage and manage the underlying AWS resources.

AWS Transfer Family: Setup 

AWS Transfer Family supports customized file transfer workflows, but setting them up requires configuration of associated AWS resources. 

At a high level, the setup involves: 

1. Creating an AWS account if you don't already have one.
2. Creating and configuring an Amazon S3 bucket or Amazon EFS file system for file storage.
3. Creating an AWS Transfer Family server and connecting it to the storage resource.
4. Configuring user authentication, IAM roles and policies, and storage permissions.
5. Testing the connection and verifying that users can transfer and access the intended files and folders.

These five steps describe the main stages, but do not reflect the full implementation effort. Administrators must verify that storage and access controls are configured correctly.

Depending on the required configuration, firms may need additional effort for custom identity providers, VPC networking, DNS, and integrations with other AWS services.

This flexibility comes with responsibility for configuring and maintaining the associated AWS resources. AWS knowledge reduces the learning curve for setup and troubleshooting; however, teams without that expertise will need additional administrator time or specialist support.

After configuration, users can transfer files through standard file transfer clients.

SFTP To Go: Setup

SFTP To Go includes built-in cloud storage and a single dashboard to configure secure file access. You don’t need to provision an S3 bucket, create IAM roles, or configure AWS networking to set up users.

From the dashboard, you can:

• Create separate user accounts: Give each person, application, or external organization its own credentials so access can be managed individually.
• Keep users’ files separate: Restrict each account to the folders it needs, keeping other customers’ or teams’ files out of view.
• Set permissions: Control whether users can upload, download, list, or delete files to match their role in the exchange.
• Configure virtual folders: Give an account access to multiple selected folders, with individual permissions, without exposing the parent directory or reorganizing your storage.

Your setup focuses on users and their access requirements, while SFTP To Go manages the underlying transfer and storage infrastructure.

The File browser tab lets you create folders and manage files easily. Users can transfer files through the web interface or commonly supported file transfer clients, as well as supported SFTP or S3-compatible SDK workflows.

AWS Transfer Family: Browser setup

Although AWS Transfer Family provides a browser-based interface via "Web Apps", it remains an infrastructure-level cloud building block rather than a turnkey SaaS product.

Setting up AWS Transfer Family Web Apps for a browser involves configuring S3 PrivateLink endpoints, IAM Identity Center users and groups, a VPC-hosted web app, user permissions, S3 Access Grants, bucket policies, and VPC-restricted access for secure file transfers. Configuring these takes additional time, technical expertise, and resources to set up the browser.

SFTP To Go: Browser setup

The built-in web portal is ready to use without deploying a separate browser application or connecting additional AWS services. Users sign in with their assigned credentials and see the folders and actions their permissions allow.

Administrators can also open the file browser from the dashboard to upload and organize files, create folders, and manage the initial folder structure. The same configured access restrictions apply when users work through the browser.

By bringing storage access, credentials, and folder permissions into one service, SFTP To Go reduces the number of separate configuration tasks administrators need to coordinate.

Teams can get started without first developing expertise in any infrastructure like AWS. Administrators will need to configure user access and permissions within SFTP To Go. This makes it particularly practical for businesses that need secure file exchange without dedicating additional time and expertise to configuration.

Bottom line for learning curve & usability

AWS Transfer Family: AWS is a better fit for organizations that need customized authentication, deep AWS integration, and control over their file-transfer architecture, especially if they have the expertise to manage it.

SFTP To Go: SFTP To Go wins on ease of use, with built-in storage, browser access, and centralized user management that help teams get started quickly without configuring the underlying AWS infrastructure.

Round 2: Protocol support and secure file access

AWS Transfer Family and SFTP To Go both support secure file transfers and multiple protocols with minor differences.

AWS Transfer Family: Protocol support

AWS Transfer Family supports protocols like SFTP, FTPS, FTP, and AS2, plus browser-based file transfers to S3 via web apps. Plain FTP transfer, a legacy system method, lacks encryption for both the control channel (authentication data and commands) and file contents in transit, which can pose a security risk.

AWS Transfer Family customers also need to set up Transfer Family web apps for browser access to manage files.

SFTP To Go: Protocol support 

SFTP To Go supports secure file-transfer workflows through SFTP, FTPS, HTTPS web portal access, and direct S3 API access. Unlike AWS Transfer Family, SFTP To Go includes an out-of-the-box browser interface so staff can manage files sent by vendors, customers, and apps over SFTP or FTPS without setting up a separate web application. 

By excluding unencrypted plain FTP, SFTP To Go helps protect files and credentials during transfer. This ensures compliance with encryption-in-transit requirements by strictly disabling plain-text data transfers.  

AWS Transfer Family: EDI support

In addition to the protocols covered earlier, AWS Transfer Family offers AS2 (Applicability Statement 2) for Electronic Data Interchange (EDI), offering signed messages and MDN delivery receipts for transmission verification.

This adds setup and administration overhead compared with using SFTP/FTPS for EDI file exchange. Customers must configure and manage the required AWS resources to support AS2.

SFTP To Go: EDI support 

SFTP To Go supports EDI workflows through encrypted SFTP/FTPS file transfers, automated file processing, and secure S3-backed storage. Any business partner can securely exchange standard EDI file formats (X12, EDIFACT, and XML) with any trading partner without requiring complex AS2 setups or server maintenance.

AWS Transfer Family: Access flexibility 

AWS Transfer Family is a decoupled infrastructure gateway that sits directly on top of your Amazon S3 or EFS storage.

Instead of routing all protocol access through a single managed application layer, AWS natively exposes the same underlying S3 bucket paths to standard SFTP/FTPS/AS2 endpoints, the managed AWS Transfer Family Web App for browser users, and direct S3 API calls simultaneously with zero file duplication or sync delay.

This architectural separation gives enterprise administrators granular IAM identity control, native CloudTrail auditing, and EventBridge automation across every access method, trading turnkey SaaS simplicity for complete cloud control, compliance, and scalability.

SFTP To Go: Access flexibility 

Assigning tailored access methods across roles helps administrators avoid separate infrastructure for each role.

• Partners and clients can use standard SFTP or FTPS endpoints (system-to-system file transfer, vendor uploads, recurring exports, and integration workflows).
• Business users can use HTTPS web portals (for manual uploads, downloads, in-browser file preview, and sharing links).
• For programmatic workloads, S3 API access can work directly with object-storage access.

Bottom line for protocol support and secure file access

AWS Transfer Family: AWS is advantageous when broader protocol support is essential, particularly for AS2-based EDI workflows requiring signed messages and Message Disposition Notifications (MDNs), or specialized AWS integrations.

SFTP To Go: SFTP To Go wins for everyday secure file exchange through SFTP, FTPS, an included HTTPS web portal, and S3-compatible API access. It also supports EDI workflows when SFTP or FTPS meets trading-partner requirements.

Round 3: Day-to-day management

AWS Transfer Family has more configuration steps than SFTP To Go when it comes to managing tasks on a daily basis.

AWS Transfer Family: Creating a user

Creating a user in AWS Transfer Family involves several configuration steps. An administrator needs to create or assign an IAM role with the correct storage permissions, specify the user’s home directory, configure SSH public-key authentication, and restrict access to the intended files and folders.

AWS Transfer Family does not natively support password-based authentication through its "Service Managed" directory, which only supports SSH public keys for SFTP.

Setting up password-based SFTP authentication in AWS Transfer Family requires configuring a custom identity provider, integrating Secrets Manager with Lambda or API Gateway, setting up the required IAM permissions, and configuring the server to use this authentication method.

More complex setups may require logical directory mappings, session policies, or identity-provider integration. Each step adds configuration work and potential troubleshooting.

Many administrative and integration tasks like custom identity providers and custom workflows often require writing custom code, deploying AWS Lambda functions, and orchestrating multiple AWS services. 

SFTP To Go: Creating a user

SFTP To Go has user-friendly steps for teams managing recurring business workflows. Separating organization administration from file-transfer credentials highlights a strong focus on secure access control. 

SFTP To Go offers greater control from a centralized dashboard where you can access credentials, a file browser, automations, and settings. You can customize settings for individual users.

Each credential set automatically gets an isolated home directory, which admins can change or replace with virtual folders. Audit logs show credential changes, administrative actions, and file-transfer activity. SFTP To Go manages file transfer servers and built-in storage, saving customers time and resources.

Here are two simple examples of creating a user and updating a password.

Example: Create a user and a password

To create a user in SFTP To Go, go to the Credentials tab, click Add Credentials, and fill in the single pop-up that appears; that’s all you need to create a user. Most fields are optional, and SFTP To Go will auto-generate values if you don't specify them.

SFTP To Go creates the password automatically.

Update the username, email address, and nickname. Update the home directory or assign virtual folders, then set an access expiration date. Click Add Credential, and your user is ready. 

AWS Transfer Family: Updating passwords

AWS Transfer Family does not natively support password authentication for its built-in service-managed users.

AWS Transfer Family’s service-managed users authenticate with SSH keys only, so password authentication requires an external identity source, such as a custom Lambda-based identity provider backed by Secrets Manager, or AWS Directory Service for Microsoft Active Directory. 

SFTP To Go: Updating passwords

SFTP To Go has a default hardened password policy. If you need a password update, SFTP To Go simplifies user management by allowing administrators to update passwords directly from its dashboard. Search for the username and click Password (reset) to update it, or easily get an auto-generated random password.

Bottom line for day-to-day management

AWS Transfer Family: AWS suits organizations that need granular control over authentication, identity providers, and storage permissions, particularly for complex access-management requirements.

SFTP To Go: SFTP To Go wins for routine administration, offering a centralized dashboard for managing users, credentials, folder permissions, SSH keys, IP allowlists, and audit logs without building custom workflows for common tasks.

Round 4: Storage, limits, and flexibility

SFTP To Go and AWS Transfer Family both support Amazon S3 storage, but they differ in how storage is provisioned, managed, and integrated into file-transfer workflows.

AWS Transfer Family: Storage

Besides Amazon S3, AWS Transfer Family supports Amazon Elastic File System (EFS) for storage. EFS is useful when connected applications need a shared file system with conventional directories, POSIX ownership and permissions, and file-system operations.

It can benefit certain high-throughput workloads. If you don't need underlying file-system features like POSIX permissions or file locking, AWS EFS may offer little advantage when your primary goal is simply exchanging files via SFTP, FTPS, or AS2. 

SFTP To Go: Storage

SFTP To Go combines managed file transfer with cloud storage in a single service. Here are the flexible options to choose from:

• Use SFTP To Go's managed S3 storage (reduces infrastructure administration)
• Connect your own Amazon S3 bucket (for direct control over storage policies and data retention) 
• Integrate file exchange with your existing storage and business systems (to move files between SFTP To Go and other systems without making those systems part of its built-in storage layer).

SFTP To Go integrations can use standard protocols, APIs, webhooks, and tools such as iPaaS platforms. 

AWS Transfer Family: Limits and native S3 & EFS ecosystem Integration

AWS Transfer Family uses pay-as-you-go pricing, with charges for enabled protocols and data uploaded and downloaded, plus separate costs for underlying S3 or EFS storage, requests, and applicable data transfer.

AWS customers must also configure and manage data-protection measures such as S3 versioning, replication, and backups using the appropriate AWS services, which can add cost and administration.

SFTP To Go: Soft limits 

SFTP To Go's storage and bandwidth allowances vary by plan, but these are soft limits: occasional usage spikes do not automatically shut off the service. If usage exceeds the plan limits for two consecutive months or significantly in a single month, the team will contact the customer to discuss upgrades.

Bottom line for storage, limits, and flexibility

AWS Transfer Family: AWS wins on storage architecture flexibility, supporting both Amazon S3 and Amazon EFS for workloads that require shared file-system access, POSIX permissions, or specialized storage integrations.

SFTP To Go: SFTP To Go wins where businesses want managed storage, support for customer-owned S3 buckets, and more predictable capacity planning through subscription-based storage and bandwidth allowances.

Round 5: Compliance and audit readiness

Both SFTP To Go and AWS Transfer Family support regulated file exchange. The key difference for teams is the data availability and how easy it is to access audit evidence. 

AWS Transfer Family: Compliance coverage 

AWS Transfer Family supports regulated file exchange through AWS compliance programs, including SOC, PCI DSS, GDPR, HIPAA eligibility, and applicable FedRAMP programs. Organizations need AWS Artifact to access relevant audit reports.

AWS provides the underlying infrastructure and compliance documentation. Still, customers must configure their environments, manage access and data protection, and implement controls appropriate to their regulatory obligations, which may involve additional efforts.

 SFTP To Go: Compliance coverage

SFTP To Go’s controls support compliance with HIPAA, SOC 2, GDPR, FERPA, GLBA, and DORA. SFTP To Go continues to update and add controls as regulatory requirements evolve. SFTP To Go integrations can use standard protocols, APIs, webhooks, and tools such as iPaaS platforms.

SFTP To Go operates on AWS under an active, continuous compliance posture, undergoing annual SOC 2 Type II audits that govern everyday infrastructure and operational workflows. A Business Associate Agreement (BAA) is available on eligible plans for HIPAA-related workflows. 

SFTP To Go’s security policies and managed service design cover many underlying infrastructure and operational controls, reducing the work customers must do themselves.

Access control includes IP whitelisting, multi-factor authentication (MFA), and virtual folders with separate permissions. You can also track compliance by streaming audit logs to your SIEM and observability platforms for real-time monitoring, alerting, and centralized security visibility.

By combining end-to-end encryption, comprehensive access controls, and real-time audit logging, SFTP To Go directly addresses core technical requirements across strict frameworks like HIPAA, SOC 2, and GDPR.

AWS Transfer Family: Shared responsibility model

AWS manages the underlying infrastructure for AWS Transfer Family, but customers are responsible for configuring and managing security controls for their file transfer environment.

This includes setting up IAM permissions, securing access to Amazon S3 or Amazon EFS, configuring encryption and network controls, and implementing appropriate logging and monitoring. The level of effort depends on the architecture and AWS services used.

SFTP To Go: Shared responsibility model

SFTP To Go manages the security of its service and underlying infrastructure, reducing customer effort, while customers remain responsible for managing user accounts, credentials, permissions, data retention, and appropriate use of the service.

Customers must also review audit evidence and apply their own policies and procedures to meet their compliance obligations.

AWS Transfer Family: Audit readiness 

AWS customers can use AWS security and compliance services to implement and document the controls required for their audits. However, they must configure and manage the relevant services, policies, and workflows to meet their compliance requirements.

SFTP To Go: Audit readiness 

SFTP To Go provides a range of security and access controls that support audit readiness, including encryption at rest and in transit, logical access controls and permissions, configurable data retention, backups where required, password policies, multifactor authentication (MFA), single sign-on (SSO), and audit logging.

These controls help organizations enforce security policies and demonstrate compliance with applicable requirements. Audit logs record file activity, access events, login attempts, and administrative changes. Administrators can filter and export logs as CSV files or stream events to support SIEM and monitoring platforms on eligible plans.

By making these capabilities readily available, SFTP To Go reduces the configuration effort and ongoing operational work required to implement and maintain compliance controls.

Bottom line for compliance and audit readiness

AWS Transfer Family: AWS is a strong fit for organizations that want to leverage AWS compliance documentation and security services within their broader compliance programs, with the flexibility to implement controls around their specific regulatory requirements. 

SFTP To Go: SFTP To Go wins on integrated operational controls and accessible audit evidence, with SOC 2 Type II audit evidence, built-in security controls, and audit-log export and streaming. Customers remain responsible for their own policies, data governance, and regulatory obligations.

Round 6: Automation

Both SFTP To Go and AWS Transfer Family support automated file-processing workflows, but setup efforts differ: SFTP To Go offers built-in automation. AWS Transfer Family provides workflow steps for common file-processing tasks and supports custom automation through other AWS services.

AWS Transfer Family: Ecosystem-driven automation

AWS Transfer Family supports workflow steps such as copying, tagging, decrypting, and deleting files. For more customized processing, administrators can use AWS Lambda and EventBridge to connect file events with other services. This offers flexibility for complex AWS-based pipelines, but may require additional functions, permissions, service configuration, and maintenance.

SFTP To Go: Native dashboard automation

SFTP To Go handles routine file workflows natively through its management dashboard. It allows administrators to build multi-step automations on a single screen without writing code or deploying external resources. 

How It Works:

1. Triggers: Initiate automations based on file/folder events (create, delete, download) or set scheduled time-based runs.
2. Filters: Apply sequential filter rules based on specified file paths, file types, actor IDs, or actor types.
3. Actions: Execute file operations like copy, move, rename, delete, or PGP encrypt/decrypt, with optional delays to pause the flow.
4. Notifications: Send automated alerts via webhooks, Slack, Microsoft Teams, or email.

Example: Encrypt an uploaded file and notify the team

An administrator sets a trigger to detect when a new file arrives in a target folder. Upon detection, SFTP To Go automatically encrypts the file with PGP and sends a Slack or email alert to the team while running seamlessly in sequence without requiring separate infrastructure.

SFTP To Go also supports webhooks and extends built-in actions. Teams can trigger custom code or workflows in external tools while keeping common file operations in SFTP To Go. This reduces the need for separate tools for routine processing and limits the number of services and access policies that need to be managed.

Bottom line for automation

AWS Transfer Family: AWS wins for highly customized automation pipelines that connect file transfers with AWS Lambda, EventBridge, and other services to support complex, event-driven workflows.

SFTP To Go: SFTP To Go wins for common file-processing automation, with dashboard-configured triggers, filters, file operations, PGP encryption and decryption, scheduled tasks, and notifications. Webhooks extend automation to external tools when needed.

Round 7: Logs, monitoring, and security operations

AWS Transfer Family: Monitoring 

AWS Transfer Family integrates with Amazon CloudWatch, AWS CloudTrail, and Amazon EventBridge for monitoring, auditing, and event routing. CloudWatch captures transfer-session activity and operational metrics, while CloudTrail records AWS API activity, including administrative changes to Transfer Family resources. 

To fully investigate file access, administrators may also need to enable Amazon S3 data events or configure S3 server access logging, depending on their requirements. Configure and correlate these logging sources to build a complete audit trail.

Beyond the base cost of AWS Transfer Family, additional costs may apply to CloudWatch Logs, CloudTrail, EventBridge, and other services, depending on your selected pay-as-you-go plan.

SFTP To Go: Monitoring 

SFTP To Go provides audit logs covering file activity, user access, failed logins, and administrative changes. Administrators can inspect and filter events, export audit records as CSV or JSON files, or stream events to external monitoring and SIEM tools, depending on their plan.

Supported destinations include Amazon EventBridge, Datadog, Microsoft Sentinel, Splunk Cloud, Sumo Logic, and webhooks. Events can also be routed through EventBridge to Amazon CloudWatch or other supported targets.

Example 1: Tracing a permissions change followed by a file download

Suppose an administrator changes a user's permissions, and the user then downloads sensitive files.

With SFTP To Go, the audit trail helps investigators connect the administrative change to subsequent file activity, including who performed each action and when. Streaming these events to a SIEM makes it easier to correlate activity, search for suspicious patterns, and trigger alerts.

With AWS Transfer Family, investigators need to correlate the relevant administrative event in CloudTrail with file-access evidence from CloudTrail S3 data events, Transfer Family session logs in CloudWatch, or other configured logging sources. This can provide detailed visibility, but you must enable and configure the required sources, and you may need to correlate their records.

Both services can feed external monitoring systems. With SFTP To Go, audit events can be streamed to supported destinations, including Amazon EventBridge, which can route them to CloudWatch or other tools. With AWS, CloudWatch and EventBridge can also route events to external SIEM platforms. Depending on the architecture, these integrations can introduce additional configuration and service charges.

Example 2: Tracking Password Changes

AWS Transfer Family does not provide a universal password-change audit log. Password changes must be tracked through the configured identity provider, such as AWS Directory Service or a custom identity provider. AWS CloudTrail can track relevant AWS API activity, while external identity provider logs may be needed to capture who changed a password and when.

SFTP To Go provides built-in audit logs that record password changes, including user password updates and administrator-initiated password resets or rotations. You can filter, export, or stream logs to supported SIEM platforms for centralized monitoring.

Bottom line for logs, monitoring, and security operations

AWS Transfer Family: AWS is a strong choice for organizations that need detailed observability and integration with their AWS security operations. CloudWatch, CloudTrail, and EventBridge provide flexible monitoring, auditing, and event-routing capabilities.

SFTP To Go: SFTP To Go wins on straightforward access to file-transfer audit records, with a managed interface for reviewing and exporting file activity, access events, and administrative changes, plus integrations with supported SIEM and monitoring tools.

Round 8: Data residency and infrastructure model

AWS Transfer Family: Data residency 

AWS Transfer Family lets organizations choose the AWS Region where their transfer server runs and store files in Amazon S3 or Amazon EFS. Customers configure storage, access permissions, and network connections to suit their requirements.

The transfer server and storage location should be considered separately: an S3 bucket can be in a different region from the Transfer Family server, although AWS recommends keeping them in the same Region. This flexibility suits organizations with specific networking, storage, and infrastructure requirements.

SFTP To Go: Data residency

Network Isolation by Default: SFTP To Go offers secure, isolated storage right away without complex network configuration, while you still retain control over static IPs and inbound firewall rules. For advanced architectural needs, SFTP To Go’s enterprise plans support dedicated instances, VPC peering, and custom network routing. 

SFTP To Go provides managed file transfer and storage on AWS. When signing up, customers select the AWS Region where their data will be hosted. Files are stored in SFTP To Go's managed storage, with S3 access for compatible applications and integrations available on eligible plans. 

Multi-region disaster recovery options are also available on eligible plans. This lets organizations choose a hosting region to meet latency, contractual, governance, or data residency requirements without managing the underlying transfer infrastructure.

Organizations can store data securely within SFTP To Go or connect their own cloud storage to meet strict data residency requirements. Customers can also connect their own S3 buckets and comprehensively leverage data residency options.

Customers can choose whether to keep backups and replication copies within the same hosting region to meet data residency and compliance requirements, or replicate data to another region to improve resilience and disaster recovery. The appropriate configuration depends on the organization’s compliance obligations, data residency policies, and recovery objectives.

Bottom line for data residency and infrastructure model

AWS Transfer Family: AWS suits organizations that need detailed infrastructure and regional architecture control, including flexibility over networking, storage selection, and the placement of transfer servers and storage resources.

SFTP To Go: SFTP To Go wins for organizations that prefer managed file transfers and storage in a selected AWS Region without operating the underlying transfer infrastructure. Multi-region disaster recovery options are available on eligible plans.

Round 9: Pricing and total cost of ownership

AWS Transfer Family: Pricing

AWS Transfer Family charges by the hour for enabled protocol endpoints, plus data transfer and separate storage costs for Amazon S3 or Amazon EFS. A single continuously running SFTP endpoint costs approximately $216/month at the published US East (N. Virginia) rate, before these additional charges. 

The total cost can increase quickly as organizations add more endpoints, browser-based access through Transfer Family web apps, and supporting AWS services. Costs may include data ingress and egress, S3 API requests, S3 storage or EFS storage and read/write operations, and services such as AWS Secrets Manager, AWS Backup, and Amazon CloudWatch.

Logging, monitoring, custom automation, and data-processing workflows can introduce further charges. Organizations must also account for the engineering time required to configure permissions, integrate services, maintain custom code, troubleshoot issues, and manage security across the environment.

As a result, calculating the total cost of ownership requires evaluating the complete architecture rather than the Transfer Family endpoint price alone. 

SFTP To Go: Pricing

SFTP To Go offers subscription plans with defined storage and bandwidth allowances, with features and limits that vary by plan. The subscription bundles managed file-transfer infrastructure and storage, making costs more predictable than assembling and operating a comparable solution across multiple AWS services.

Still, consider plan allowances and any applicable overages or additional charges when estimating costs. SFTP To Go reduces the operational effort required to maintain the underlying infrastructure, although customers remain responsible for users, permissions, integrations, and data governance.

Bottom line for pricing and total cost of ownership

AWS Transfer Family: AWS suits organizations that prefer usage-based pricing and architectural flexibility. Its overall value depends on transfer volumes, storage choices, supporting services, and the resources available to operate the solution.

SFTP To Go: SFTP To Go wins on pricing predictability for businesses that prefer subscription plans with defined storage and bandwidth allowances and bundled managed infrastructure. Actual value depends on plan limits, usage, required features, and any additional charges.

Choose AWS Transfer Family if

• Your organization already uses AWS Transfer Family and has a technically skilled DevOps team, or the resources to build one. 
• You need broad protocol support or highly customized infrastructure, including AS2, configurable VPC networking, identity providers, and detailed control over storage permissions.
• You want to build complex workflows within your existing AWS environment, using services such as Amazon S3, Amazon EFS, Lambda, EventBridge, CloudWatch, and CloudTrail.
• You have cloud engineering resources to manage the full solution, including permissions, logging, integrations, troubleshooting, and costs across multiple AWS services.

Choose SFTP To Go if

• You want managed file transfer and storage without adding infrastructure management overhead to your IT, security, and compliance teams. Subscription plans include defined storage and bandwidth allowances, while a dashboard simplifies day-to-day administration. 
• You want routine file processing and auditing in one managed service. Configure file automations, PGP encryption, scheduled cleanup, and notifications, then stream audit events to supported monitoring tools or trigger external workflows through webhooks.
• You need a straightforward way to exchange files securely with customers, vendors, and business systems. Managed SFTP, FTPS, a web portal, and S3-compatible API access support recurring file exchanges on eligible plans, with regional hosting and disaster recovery options available on eligible plans.

Frequently asked questions