Overview of AWS Transfer Family and Couchdrop

AWS Transfer Family is Amazon's fully managed service for transferring files over SFTP, FTPS, FTP, AS2, and web browsers directly into and out of AWS storage services (S3 and EFS). It allows you to maintain existing client-side configurations while migrating file transfer workflows to AWS. 

The service complements organizations already heavily invested in the AWS ecosystem and who need to transfer files directly into their AWS storage.

Couchdrop is a cloud-native managed file transfer (MFT) platform that connects to your existing storage systems. It provides SFTP, FTP, and AS2 capabilities along with automation, secure intake and sharing tools, and comprehensive file management, all without storing your data. 

Couchdrop is designed to simplify complex file transfers between different systems and storage platforms so you can securely exchange files with external parties. You can send files directly from cloud storage or receive files into a cloud directory without sharing storage access or requiring a temporary storage layer. 

Storage Integration & Flexibility

AWS Transfer Family only supports transferring files into and out of Amazon S3 and Amazon EFS storage. This means your data must live within the AWS ecosystem to use the service.

SFTP connectors can expand connections to remote SFTP servers, but directly connecting to other cloud storage platforms is currently not supported. To transfer to cloud storage, you'd first need to send the files to S3, then use a service like AWS Lambda and create a function to push to cloud storage. 

Couchdrop connects to over 20 cloud storage platforms and on-premise systems natively, including SharePoint, Google Workspace, Dropbox, AWS S3, and more. Couchdrop never stores your data, instead acting as a secure connector between systems, meaning your files remain in your chosen storage. This approach maximizes flexibility while minimizing risk.  

This flexibility is particularly valuable for organizations using multiple storage platforms or planning to migrate between systems in the future.

Pricing & Cost Structure

AWS Transfer Family uses a complex pricing model that includes hourly charges for endpoints ($0.30/hour or approximately $216/month per endpoint) plus data transfer fees ($0.04/GB). Unless your transfer volumes don't fluctuate much, estimating costs can be a challenge. 

And that's before calculating different types of transfers. For instance, with outbound SFTP transfers, AWS offers "connectors" with a different pricing model: $0.001 per connector call and $0.40 per GB transferred. 

For very simple transfer requirements like sending a few files via outbound SFTP only, this model can work to your advantage and costs can be low, as you'll only have to pay for the connector calls when sending files and $0.40/GB. But for businesses that need to regularly exchange files with partners, vendors, and customers, pricing can fluctuate massively and balloon quickly, especially with high transfer volumes or forgetting to delete unused endpoints. 

Couchdrop takes the opposite approach to pricing. Pricing is simple, straightforward, and easy to understand with four tiers:

  • Couchdrop Link: $50/month (1 external user/endpoint, 100GB storage/transfer)
  • Essentials: $300/month (up to 10 users/endpoints, 1TB storage/transfer)
  • Business: $450/month (up to 100 users/endpoints, 5TB storage, unlimited transfer)
  • Enterprise: From $750/month (unlimited capacity with premium features) 

Know exactly what you'll get before you sign up, with the flexibility to change or cancel at any time. 

Automation Capabilities

AWS Transfer Family offers basic workflow capabilities to copy, tag, or delete files, but requires integration with other AWS services like Step Functions for more complex automation. While this combination can create intricate, robust workflows, it also requires coding skills and familiarity with multiple AWS services, as well as paying for each of these services. 

Couchdrop includes a visual workflow automation builder that allows you to create multi-step processes without coding. These automations can be triggered by events or on set schedules, and include actions like file copying, moving, renaming, PGP/AES encryption/decryption, compression, and webhook triggers.

You can also combine automation with file intake methods like mailboxes, upload links, and webhooks to trigger a workflow as soon as a file arrives.  This integrated automation capability means you don't need to build and maintain complex integration systems between multiple services, and can instead configure and manage everything from the Couchdrop web interface. 

File Sharing & Collection

While AWS can reliably transfer files using secure transfer protocols, they don't have multiple options for intaking and sharing files. Instead, authenticated users can connect via SFTP using the client of their choice. 

While Couchdrop also supports this method, there are several other options as well. Mailboxes extract email attachments and send them to specified storage. Upload links are brandable web portals for users to upload files, with optional forms to collect additional data. Shared Links allow for securely sharing files with configurable security parameters like expiry and one-time use. 

Combined with automation and cloud storage connectivity, this makes Couchdrop much more flexible without having to manage multiple platforms. 

Deployment & Management

AWS Transfer Family requires creating an AWS account, enabling transfer protocols, choosing an identify provider, domain, role, and logging. This complexity can be challenging for organizations without dedicated AWS expertise.

Couchdrop offers a simple deployment process with an SFTP server created immediately upon registration. The entire platform is managed through a web interface with no infrastructure setup or management required. Creating users, connecting storage, and managing settings are all done in the web interface.

With either solution, after deployment, management is relatively simple. The cloud infrastructure allows for automatic updates and patches, and there's no need to manage virtual machines.

Customer Reviews

On G2, AWS Transfer Family is rated 4.3 stars with 112 reviews. Customers are generally happy with the features, security, and that it doesn't require on-prem infrastructure. Common concerns involve complexity, speed of transferring large files, and pricing, both with figuring out how much the solution will cost and the price itself. 

Couchdrop has earned 4.9 stars on G2 with 19 reviews. Ease of use, simple integrations with cloud storage, and zero infrastructure are mentioned frequently as strong points, as well as experience with the support team. Overall, customers are extremely pleased with Couchdrop, with all reviews being 5 out of 5 stars. 

Who Should Choose Each Solution?

AWS Transfer Family can be a good choice for certain organizations. For those already in the AWS infrastructure who have significant experience, the deep integration with other AWS services can allow for complex workflows and multiple options for handling any file transfer need. It's also a solid option for companies with low transfer volumes that only need to transfer files to/from S3 or EFS, especially with an outbound focus.

For organizations looking for predictable pricing, powerful transfer automation, and unmatched versatility, Couchdrop's native ingerations with cloud storage platforms, granular controls, and file intake methods make it the ideal solution. Companies can bridge the gap between legacy systems and modern cloud storage, all without needing to write a line of code.

The simple deployment and management mean anyone can set up and configure transfers, and transfers between multiple cloud storage platforms can be set up and managed from one place. Find out if Couchdrop is right for you by trying it for yourself with a 14 day free trial with no credit card or demo required. Simply sign up now to get started.