SFTP To Go vs. ExaVault: Complete Comparison Guide

Both Exavault and SFTP To Go can help teams move business files through secure protocols, but they represent very different operating models.

ExaVault is positioned as a free self-hosted file transfer appliance, while SFTP To Go is a managed cloud MFT service for teams that want secure file transfer, storage, auditability, automation, and monitoring handled as part of the service.

A free appliance may look attractive at first, especially for teams that want file transfer inside their own infrastructure. But file transfer cost is not only license cost; it also includes hosting, patching, monitoring, backups, certificates, support, audit needs, and long-term maintenance.

SFTP To Go looks like the stronger fit if you need managed SFTP, FTPS, HTTPS access, S3-backed storage, user and folder controls, audit logs, webhooks, REST APIs, native File Automations, and SIEM-ready visibility without maintaining file transfer infrastructure.

This comparison looks at setup, protocols, storage, security, automation, audit logs, SIEM visibility, compliance support, pricing, and day-to-day management.

If ExaVault is on your shortlist because the appliance is free, the next question is what it will cost to host, secure, monitor, update, support, and maintain properly.

What sets SFTP To Go and ExaVault apart

The main difference is in where the responsibility lies.

With ExaVault, the file transfer environment runs inside infrastructure your team manages. That can work well when self-hosting is the point, or when FTP, SFTP, FTPS, and WebDAV need to stay inside a customer-controlled setup.

With SFTP To Go, the transfer environment is managed for you. Teams still control credentials, folders, permissions, network rules, file workflows, audit review, and integrations, but they don’t have to deploy the appliance, patch the server, plan storage, or build backup processes around the file transfer service.

SFTP To Go supports managed cloud SFTP, FTPS, HTTPS web portal access, S3 API access on eligible plans, S3-backed storage, user and folder permissions, home directory restrictions, inbound network rules, audit logs, admin-event logging, webhooks, REST APIs, native File Automations, notifications, and SIEM or observability streaming on certain plans.

ExaVault is stronger when the team specifically wants to self-host. SFTP To Go is stronger when the team wants file transfer to run as a managed business service, with storage, automation, auditability, and monitoring included.

Round 1: Setup and onboarding

ExaVault’s free appliance has a clear entry point: download it, deploy it, and run file transfer in your own environment.

That works if your team already has the hosting environment, security process, update process, and support capacity to manage it properly. It’s also useful when file transfer must remain inside your own network boundary.

SFTP To Go follows a managed setup path. Teams can start with a trial, create credentials, assign folders and permissions, choose protocol access, and begin transferring files without deploying a file transfer appliance.

That helps when a customer needs an SFTP destination, a vendor needs a secure upload folder, a finance export needs a controlled landing point, or a healthcare workflow needs encrypted transfer and audit logs without another infrastructure project.

Round 1 winner: SFTP To Go

ExaVault wins for teams that specifically want to self-host. SFTP To Go wins for teams that want secure managed file transfer running quickly, without appliance deployment and maintenance work.

Round 2: Day-to-day management

The real cost of a free appliance usually appears after setup.

Someone has to host it. Someone has to patch it. Someone has to manage certificates, storage, backups, users, logs, monitoring, access reviews, and incident response.

ExaVault gives teams direct infrastructure control, which can be valuable. It also leaves more operational work with the team.

SFTP To Go separates organization administration from file-transfer credentials. Admins can manage settings, files, credentials, webhooks, inbound network rules, and organization controls from the dashboard. Credentials can be used by people, systems, vendors, customers, or applications, and each credential can be bound to a home directory with specific permissions.

That model works well for business and regulated file exchange. A team can give each customer, vendor, department, application, or workflow its own access path without running another transfer service.

Round 2 winner: SFTP To Go

ExaVault gives infrastructure control. SFTP To Go gives managed operational control, which is usually more useful for teams that want secure file transfer without another system to run.

Round 3: Protocol support and file access

ExaVault supports FTP, SFTP, FTPS, and WebDAV through its on-premise appliance. Its documentation also describes SCP support through the SFTP server. That range is useful for teams with older clients, internal systems, or self-hosted transfer requirements.

SFTP To Go supports SFTP, FTPS, HTTPS web portal access, and S3 API access on eligible plans. That gives teams several ways to work with the same managed storage environment:

• SFTP: For system-to-system file transfer, vendor uploads, automated exports, EDI files, and integration workflows.
• FTPS: For systems that require FTP over TLS.
• HTTPS web portal: For browser-based upload, download, copy, move, delete, and file access.
• S3 API access: For eligible plans and workflows that benefit from direct object-storage access.

For broader protocol context, see FTP vs SFTP and SFTP encryption.

Round 3 winner: Tie, depending on protocol needs

Choose ExaVault if self-hosted FTP, WebDAV, or SCP support is a hard requirement. Choose SFTP To Go if managed SFTP, FTPS, HTTPS web access, S3-backed storage, and S3 API access on eligible plans are the priority.

Round 4: Storage and infrastructure

ExaVault puts storage and infrastructure decisions in the customer’s hands. That may be exactly what some teams want, especially when file transfer must run inside an internal environment.

It also means the team needs to decide where files live, how storage grows, how backups work, and what happens when the host, network, certificate, or storage layer has a problem.

SFTP To Go uses AWS-backed managed cloud storage and standard transfer protocols. Teams don’t need to build the storage foundation before they can receive files, share files, automate events, or create separate credentials for external parties.

For regulated teams moving EDI files, finance batches, healthcare records, payroll exports, vendor files, operational reports, or data pipeline files, the managed storage model is easier to build around. SFTP To Go also supports regional data residency options on eligible plans, which can help with governance, latency, contractual, or data-location requirements.

For more context, see Cloud SFTP and Storage: Benefits of Managed SFTP.

Round 4 winner: SFTP To Go

ExaVault gives teams self-hosted storage control. SFTP To Go is stronger for teams that want managed S3-backed storage, regional options on eligible plans, and less infrastructure planning.

Round 5: Security and access control

ExaVault’s self-hosted model can suit teams that want file transfer inside their own infrastructure. It also makes the customer responsible for more of the surrounding security environment.

SFTP To Go provides secure protocols, password authentication, SSH public key authentication for SFTP, MFA for web portal access, SAML SSO for dashboard accounts, user and folder permissions, home directory restrictions, inbound network rules on eligible plans, static IP options, and encryption in transit and at rest.

That helps when different systems, vendors, customers, or departments need restricted access to different folders. Credentials can be separated by workflow, permissions can be narrowed, and activity can be reviewed through audit records.

For more security context, see SFTP security and SFTP encryption.

Round 5 winner: SFTP To Go

ExaVault can support secure self-hosted file transfer. SFTP To Go is stronger when teams want security controls, storage, access management, and auditability in a managed file transfer service.

Round 6: Automation

Automation is one of the clearest differences.

ExaVault’s current appliance pages position the appliance as a self-hosted file transfer server. Broader automation capabilities and scheduled transfers are positioned under Files.com, not ExaVault.

SFTP To Go gives teams several automation paths.

Webhooks can notify external systems when files or directories are created, deleted, or downloaded. Endpoints can send events to webhook URLs, Slack, Microsoft Teams, or email. Filters help limit events by user, path, file, folder, or event type.

REST APIs support management workflows around credentials, SSH public keys, webhooks, inbound network rules, share links, audit logs, and audit exports.

Native File Automations let more file work happen inside the managed file transfer environment. Workflows can be triggered by file events or schedules, then run actions such as move, copy, delete, create file or folder, delay, PGP encrypt, PGP decrypt, send notifications, or trigger a webhook after processing.

Example workflows include:

• File arrives → decrypt → move → notify
• File arrives → encrypt → copy → webhook
• Scheduled trigger → find files → move → send email
• Downloaded file → copy to archive → trigger webhook

To learn more, read SFTP To Go Automation documentation. For deeper workflow context, see SFTP automation and secure file transfer automation for regulated workflows.

Round 6 winner: SFTP To Go

ExaVault supports self-hosted file transfer, but automation workflows are positioned under Files.com rather than the ExaVault appliance. SFTP To Go is stronger for managed, event-driven file workflows because automation is part of the service.

Round 7: Audit logs, monitoring, and SIEM

Auditability is one of the main reasons to use managed file transfer instead of ad hoc file sharing.

ExaVault’s current materials describe audit logs, and paid licensing adds SIEM export. That gives ExaVault a monitoring path for teams that want to run the appliance and send events into security systems.

SFTP To Go gives teams audit logs, CSV export, API-triggered audit exports, webhook-based workflows after audit export files are created, and direct audit-log streaming to SIEM and observability platforms on certain plans.

The audit model covers file activity and access events, but it also records important administrative activity. Dashboard actions by organization admins are recorded with the admin principal, and event data identifies the admin actor. Audit records can include file events, failed access, share link events, credential changes, webhook events, domain changes, audit export events, and streaming destination changes.

For security teams, file transfer risk isn’t only about uploads and downloads. It can also come from permission changes, credential changes, failed access attempts, unexpected downloads, webhook failures, or configuration changes.

For more on these capabilities, see new SFTP To Go features: log streaming, webhook retries, and usage metrics and SIEM solutions.

Round 7 winner: SFTP To Go

ExaVault’s paid licensing can support SIEM export. SFTP To Go is stronger for managed audit visibility because it combines file logs, admin-event logging, audit exports, API access, webhook workflows, and SIEM or observability streaming on certain plans.

Round 8: Compliance and regulated workflows

ExaVault may fit organizations that need a self-hosted file transfer appliance for internal, isolated, or infrastructure-constrained environments.

SFTP To Go is better suited to teams that want secure file transfer as a managed service for regulated workflows. It supports SOC 2 Type II reporting, GDPR support, HIPAA and BAA support, FERPA, GLBA, encryption in transit and at rest, access controls, audit logs, SIEM or observability streaming on certain plans, and regional data residency support on eligible plans.

Those controls can support healthcare, finance, education, SaaS and technology, EDI, payroll, reporting, logistics, and vendor exchange workflows where teams need strong access control and a clear activity record.

For related guidance, seeHIPAA compliant cloud storage and transfer, GLBA compliance for secure file transfer in financial services, FERPA compliance with cloud SFTP, and the 2026 data compliance outlook for sensitive file transfer and sharing.

Round 8 winner: SFTP To Go for managed regulated workflows

ExaVault is useful where self-hosting is the requirement. SFTP To Go is stronger where regulated teams want managed secure file transfer, compliance-supporting controls, auditability, and automation without running their own transfer infrastructure.

Round 9: Cost and total ownership

ExaVault is free, but that's just a hook. Self-hosting has its cost.

For small self-hosted deployments, that may be enough to start. It can be attractive if the team already has infrastructure, monitoring, security operations, backups, update processes, and internal support capacity.

The problem is that file transfer cost is not only license cost.

A self-hosted appliance still needs a place to run, storage to use, certificates to manage, updates to apply, logs to retain, users to support, security events to monitor, backups to verify, and outages to handle. If the business later needs production support, SSO, 2FA, automatic updates, automatic SSL, or SIEM export, the free appliance may no longer cover the full requirement.

SFTP To Go is paid, but the service includes the managed transfer environment, storage foundation, protocol access, dashboard administration, support path, API access, webhooks, audit logs, and automation capabilities. Teams manage the business side of file transfer: users, credentials, folders, permissions, network rules, share links, and workflows.

Round 9 winner: SFTP To Go for most business teams

ExaVault can be cheaper when free self-hosting genuinely fits the environment. SFTP To Go is likely to be better value when infrastructure work, monitoring, security, storage, automation, and support are part of the real cost.

SFTP To Go vs ExaVault: comparison table

SFTP To Go vs ExaVault: who’s the winner?

Both platforms can support secure file transfer, but they solve different problems.

ExaVault is the better fit if your main requirement is a free self-hosted appliance and your team is ready to manage the infrastructure around it. For internal deployments, network-contained transfer, or teams that strongly prefer appliance ownership, it's not a bad option.

SFTP To Go is the ideal ExaVault alternative for most business and regulated file transfer workflows.

It brings the managed SFTP, secure S3 storage, access control, automation, audit logging, and SIEM-ready visibility that many teams would otherwise have to assemble around a self-hosted appliance.

That combination makes SFTP To Go a better fit for healthcare, finance, education, SaaS, logistics, EDI, payroll, vendor exchange, customer uploads, and operational reporting where teams need secure file exchange to work reliably without running their own file transfer and storage infrastructure.

For most managed business file transfer workflows, SFTP To Go wins.

Choose ExaVault if:

• You specifically want a free self-hosted file transfer appliance.
• Your team has the infrastructure capacity to host, patch, monitor, and support it.
• You need file transfer to run inside your own VPC, network, or controlled environment.
• You need FTP, WebDAV, or SCP support.
• You’re comfortable managing storage, backups, certificates, uptime, and surrounding security controls.
• You don’t need managed cloud storage, native file automations, or managed SIEM-ready audit streaming from the file transfer service itself.

Choose SFTP To Go if:

• You need managed SFTP, FTPS, HTTPS, and S3-backed storage.
• You want secure file transfer for regulated healthcare, finance, education, SaaS, logistics, EDI, payroll, reporting, or vendor workflows.
• You want to avoid running your own file transfer appliance, SFTP server, and storage infrastructure.
• You need credentials, folder permissions, home directory restrictions, and inbound network rules.
• You want native File Automations for move, copy, delete, create file or folder, delay, PGP encrypt, PGP decrypt, notifications, and webhook triggers.
• You want webhooks, REST APIs, notifications, and event-driven file workflows.
• You want audit logs that include file events, access events, admin actions, share link events, credential changes, webhook activity, and streaming destination changes.
• You want audit log streaming to supported SIEM and observability platforms on certain plans.
• You need regional data residency support on eligible plans.
• You want a managed setup path with support available when needed.

SFTP To Go as an ExaVault alternative

SFTP To Go is a strong ExaVault alternative for teams that want secure file transfer without setting up and maintaining infrastructure.

ExaVault’s free appliance may be attractive when the team specifically wants to host file transfer itself. SFTP To Go is stronger when the team wants secure protocols, managed storage, access controls, audit visibility, automation, APIs, webhooks, Share links, and SIEM-ready streaming in one managed service.

For healthcare, finance, education, SaaS, logistics, EDI, payroll, customer uploads, and vendor exchange, SFTP To Go gives teams a managed file transfer platform that can support daily file operations, regulated access needs, and automated workflows without asking the team to run the transfer infrastructure.

Wrapping up

Free can be a good reason to look at ExaVault, but it shouldn’t be the only reason to choose it.

If your team genuinely needs a self-hosted file transfer appliance and has the infrastructure resources to run it well, ExaVault may fit. It gives you control over where the service runs and how it sits inside your environment.

If your team wants secure file transfer as a managed service, SFTP To Go is the stronger choice.

It gives teams secure protocol access, managed storage, access controls, audit visibility, native File Automations, webhooks, REST APIs, notifications, Share links, and SIEM-ready streaming on certain plans.

That makes SFTP To Go a better fit for teams that need secure file exchange to work well across people, systems, customers, vendors, and recurring business workflows.

Explore SFTP To Go plans.

Frequently asked questions