Files.com vs Couchdrop

This article is part of the Compare series, where we put Couchdrop head-to-head against other SFTP/MFT platforms to help you decide which solution is best for your needs.

There are many SFTP and Managed File Transfer platforms available to choose from. One popular choice is Files.com, a SaaS file transfer platform designed to help you send files between your storage platforms like Microsoft Office and AWS.

What is Files.com

Files.com is a modern cloud SFTP and file sharing and collaboration platform built for the enterprise customer. Emphasizing data privacy and security, Files.com helps large organizations ensure that their information is protected and shared securely. With thousands of customers across key industries like healthcare, finance, and tech, Files.com helps organizations around the world exchange files securely. 

Files.com vs Couchdrop

Couchdrop is a Files.com Alternative with a similar suite of features at an affordable price point, suitable for small businesses to enterprises. 

While Files.com and Couchdrop have a lot of similarities, the two platforms have a different focus. Files.com was built for file sharing and collaboration. User data is hosted inside the Files.com cloud, where it is then shared with other users and parties. 

Couchdrop shines as a platform for backend and automated file transfers as opposed to collaboration and file sharing. Couchdrop has been developed to allow non-techie (and techie) users to transfer files with SFTP, FTP, and automated file transfers (MFT) to cloud storage like SharePoint. You can think of Couchdrop as a connector or pipe as opposed to a place where your files live permanently.

Depending on the size of your business, budget, and features you need, one platform might be better suited for your organization. We’ll break down the two offerings by platform support, features offered, and pricing to help you decide which option is best for you. 

Couchdrop and Files.com Platform Support

Both Couchdrop and Files.com support dozens of platform integrations. The most popular cloud storage platforms for businesses are integrations with both, which Files.com or Couchdrop connects to in order to send files between your connected storage. 

When connecting your existing cloud storage with Couchdrop, Couchdrop doesn’t store the data at any point. With this method, Couchdrop uses mainstream and public APIs of the storage providers to upload, download, and list information and does not store or retain data on any of its servers. Data is only stored when choosing Couchdrop hosted storage, which we explain in more detail in a below section.  

See the table below for cloud storage supported by each platform. 

Features Comparison

When it comes to features, both Couchdrop and Files.com are primarily cloud sftp servers and MFT platforms. On top of basic functionality, both platforms have additional features that can help facilitate and simplify file transfers. 

Automations

Automations are one of the most important features for file sharing, as the right automation setup can be completely set-and-forget in many cases. This means that having additional automations for file transfers can make a significant difference in what MFT platform works best for your organization. 

Both Files.com and Couchdrop offer no-code automations, with support for scheduling and action-based triggering. However, there are some differences when it comes to what specific functions are supported. 

Share Links and Inboxes

Files.com and Couchdrop both support Inboxes, which are simple ways to share files with people or organizations without a user account. Each Inbox created generates a unique URL that can include a description, help text, and custom form. Inboxes can also be password-protected or require a user login. Email Inboxes are supported by Couchdrop and Files.com, where attachments sent to a specific email are automatically uploaded to a specified folder. 

Couchdrop also adds customization to the web portal so organizations can add their own branding. 

For Shared Links, Files.Com has an option for a Live Share Link, which is the live version of the file, and Snapshot Links, which makes a copy of a file at that moment and links to the copy. When using Live links, users have the option to preview, download, upload, or have full access to the file or folder. 

Couchdrop only allows live links and only downloads from the link, but passwords and expiration can be set on the link. There is also the option to make the Shared Link one-time use, so the link can only be used to download a file a single time. 

Pricing

Depending on your use case, pricing can differ significantly between Files.com and Couchdrop. Files.com doesn’t display pricing on the website, but offers 2 plans to choose from, Power and Premier.

The Power plan includes core file transfer features, basic support, and includes a GDPR Data Processing Addendum for organizations subject to GDPR. Premier Plan increases Support capabilities, gives access to priority beta features and archive-only mode, and the option to include a HIPAA Business Associate Agreement. Several features are add-ons that will increase the total subscription cost. 

Couchdrop takes a simple approach to pricing with a single plan that offers all functionality. Everyone who signs up gets access to the same features at the same cost of $119.99/month with 5 Users/Automations/Inboxes and $9.99 for each additional. Along with this plan, Couchdrop can add organizations to HIPAA infrastructure, which comes with an additional cost due to being on a separate infrastructure and the required Business Associate Agreements that must be used for working with HIPAA Data. Enterprises with large amounts of users or a significant amount of data transfer required can also get volume discounts on standard pricing. 

Included Storage

Both Couchdrop and Files.com offer a hosted storage option, where data can be stored directly in the platform. However, they take a different approach to how this works. 

With Files.com, data storage is based on a per GB rate. On standard plans without an annual commitment, Files.com charges $0.10 per GB. Users are charged both for files directly stored by Files.com, as well as transfer usage, which applies to the bytes transferred from the Files.com network. 

Couchdrop includes 5TB of hosted storage as part of the monthly platform fee. There are no additional charges for storing or transferring data, as long as the amount of transferred data in a month doesn’t exceed 5TB. Additional storage costs $60/TB for Hosted Storage and $75/TB for data transferred. 

Free Trials

You can get a free trial of Files.com by signing up on the website. You’ll need to fill out a quick form with your contact information and then you can try Files.com free for 7 days. Some functionality is limited during the trial, but most features of either tier work. To sign up after the free trial ends, you’ll need to set up an appointment to get your pricing, choose your features, and subscribe. 

For Couchdrop, new registrations include a 14-day free trial automatically, with no credit card required. This is a fully functional trial except for Shared Links, which can be enabled in the trial period by contacting Support. You can subscribe directly in the platform at any point during the trial or once the trial is complete. 

To sign up for your account and try Couchdrop free for 14 days, register for your account now.