Try our new research platform with insights from 80,000+ expert users

AWS Transfer for SFTP [EOL] vs GoAnywhere MFT comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jun 8, 2025

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

AWS Transfer for SFTP [EOL]
Average Rating
8.0
Number of Reviews
3
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
GoAnywhere MFT
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
85
Ranking in other categories
Managed File Transfer (MFT) (1st)
 

Featured Reviews

Kyle Titus - PeerSpot reviewer
Chief Technology Officer at Revio
Always works, handles all types of load, and allows us to have S3 files as storage
Its cost needs improvement. In addition, there could be a universal client that works on all desktops. There could be client software that you use to connect to the server. Generally, AWS doesn't provide one for you, so you have to use either your CLI, maybe your SSH CLI, or use some kind of desktop solution. I had to find a desktop app from a third party to run this. Our clients also do the same everywhere else, so it would be nice if the SFTP Gateway solution came with a client that anyone could download on their Mac, Windows, or any other machine.
Anuj Bhagwat - PeerSpot reviewer
Dev Ops Engineer at a computer software company with 11-50 employees
Has enabled secure, centralized file sharing while saving significant time and resources
The best features in GoAnywhere MFT are that it's fast, reliable, and secure. First, the improvement is that we have resolved one of our security points with compliance. So that compliance point we resolved. And also it's a centralized file sharing system. All the users are able to access the file. There is no one-to-one sharing. It's improved about 80 to 85%. It saves about 80 to 90% resources. In terms of time, we can say 90 to 95% time is also saved because it avoids the one-to-one sharing and simply a user can put one centralized directory and all the users are able to access this solution and access the file. So it's 95%.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"The solution offers good data recovery."
"Being able to have the S3 files as storage is most valuable. We can use S3 as storage instead of an SFTP server or a machine."
"The solution has helped with collaboration in our organization."
"GoAnywhere MFT has improved my organization in the way that I can easily deploy the agents in remote areas."
"GoAnywhere MFT is easier and more stable than IBM Sterling, and it is also more enterprise-friendly."
"All of it is valuable, but the most valuable would be the ability to release medical records without having a limitation for size and not having to deal with the fax machine."
"GoDrive eliminates the need to use the exchange server for file sharing."
"GoAnywhere centralizes data exchanges, helping to facilitate file transfers between our critical systems."
"The automation capabilities are amazing. They help to reduce manual transfer tasks and handle the daily repetitive tasks that we do. It also ensures overall efficiency."
"It is very easy to use. It is easy to create projects in a graphical environment. The configuration and the setup of the environment is very easy"
"I have seen a lot of return on investment because the built-in automations make the workflow fast and reduce our time significantly, allowing us to focus on other administrative roles rather than routine tasks."
 

Cons

"Its cost needs improvement. In addition, there could be a universal client that works on all desktops."
"The tool's UI should be pretty easy and straightforward. I would also like to see a simple audit report of the SFTP guest account that shows the amount of data transfers and security kind enabled."
"Could be more automated, particularly for file transfers."
"We can improve GoAnywhere MFT's API documentation and automation logs, which will make it more user-friendly and help people comprehend it much more effectively, reducing friction."
"While the technical support team is knowledgeable, their response time for critical issues needs improvement. A response within one business day is insufficient for urgent matters."
"I want to highlight the user interface as an area for improvement in GoAnywhere MFT, as it is slightly difficult to understand."
"The cloud connectivity of GoAnywhere MFT to connect to different applications such as Microsoft Azure, Amazon, or Google Cloud could improve, as it's a little bit patchy right now."
"Without knowledge, it can be challenging to manage as it uses XML files for configurations and has tricky variables. While it's not particularly intuitive for new users, it becomes easy once mastered."
"When we restart the agent on each server, it tries to go out to the internet and it takes about a 13-minute timeout before it can move forward. Why is there a 13-minute timeout value when trying to go to the internet? ...If they could limit that timeout or give us a way to modify it so we could have a faster timeout, that would help us at least knock out a half-hour's worth of outage."
"Recently, Microsoft published an article stating that GoAnywhere MFT can be attacked by ransomware, indicating there was a vulnerability in the product."
"Sometimes file sharing gets failed. Many of the users in the last week faced the issue that the files are not delivered."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It's $249 per month per instance. It's not great; it's pretty pricey. We've got multiple users on that one instance. If we had to build it by hand, we would win on cost there, but obviously, there is effort and time. In terms of the additional costs, they do have some specific pricing, but for our use case, we don't end up going over $249. They do specify in their pricing what they're charging for."
"GoAnywhere's price is justified by its features and the time it saves me."
"When it comes to secure systems that we have used, the price point can get a whole lot higher. You might end up saving in the short term with other solutions, but are you getting a secure product? Do you feel confident in that? Will you be able to get any support afterward? From my experience, based on the price point and the service that we got, it was a good value for our money."
"It would be good for the company to explore a modular approach to selling the product so it could be cheaper and more attractive to users."
"HelpSystems GoAnywhere MFT is very reasonably priced for the value it brings."
"The pricing of GoAnywhere MFT is affordable compared to other similar products. It's not expensive, according to me. What influenced my purchase decision was the fact that the product was quite affordable."
"To have a solution like this for the price we're paying makes it cheap. Considering the time that it has saved us, and considering the development that we don't need to do, such as connectors and handling servers, the price is really affordable."
"For what we pay to GoAnywhere every year, we are getting a fantastic deal. From a dollar perspective, it provides very good value."
"The cost was definitely within reason and it has definitely been worth the cost, based on how much we can automate. It has exceeded my expectations."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Managed File Transfer (MFT) solutions are best for your needs.
883,546 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
14%
Computer Software Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Construction Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Healthcare Company
8%
Computer Software Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business58
Midsize Enterprise18
Large Enterprise43
 

Questions from the Community

Ask a question
Earn 20 points
What do you like most about Fortra's GoAnywhere MFT?
GoDrive eliminates the need to use the exchange server for file sharing.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Fortra's GoAnywhere MFT?
GoAnywhere MFT pricing is fine for me. I do not have any complaints regarding the pricing because SFTP is the most valuable asset in the organization.
What needs improvement with Fortra's GoAnywhere MFT?
I believe that GoAnywhere MFT can be improved because the initial setup is somewhat challenging for a new user, so they need to make the initial feature easier for everyone, whether new or experien...
 

Also Known As

No data available
HelpSystems GoAnywhere MFT, GoAnywhere MFT, GoAnywhere Managed File Transfer,
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Myriota, FINRA, Celgene, Kontor New Media, Belong, ThinkCX, BluTV
McKesson City of Modesto, California Kwik Trip Northwestern University Charter Communications
Find out what your peers are saying about Fortra, BMC, IBM and others in Managed File Transfer (MFT). Updated: February 2026.
883,546 professionals have used our research since 2012.