AWS Transfer Family alternative
A simpler, cheaper AWS Transfer Family alternative
AWS Transfer Family is powerful, but it means an always-on hourly endpoint charge, per-GB fees in both directions, and IAM/VPC setup before anyone can log in. Firepipe gives you managed SFTP onto the same S3 bucket, predictable pricing, no networking to wire up, live in minutes.
Bring your own bucket · no data migration · live in minutes
The short version
Both put managed SFTP in front of your own S3 bucket. Transfer Family bills an always-on endpoint by the hour plus per-GB both ways and needs IAM and VPC setup. Firepipe is a small base plan plus metered throughput, set up in minutes, with per-user access and audit built into one UI.
Firepipe vs AWS Transfer Family
| Firepipe | AWS Transfer Family | |
|---|---|---|
| Managed SFTP onto your own S3 bucket | ✓ | ✓ |
| No always-on per-endpoint hourly charge | ✓ | — |
| Set up without writing IAM policies or VPC config | ✓ | — |
| Per-user path jails + audit trail in one UI | ✓ | CloudWatch / DIY |
Comparison reflects each product's standard offering for the bring-your-own-bucket use case, per public documentation. Vendor features and pricing change, check current docs before you decide.
Why teams choose Firepipe
No idle endpoint tax
A Transfer Family endpoint bills by the hour the moment it exists, whether or not anyone connects. Firepipe starts at $0 and $19/mo, so a low-traffic SFTP endpoint costs a fraction of an always-on managed endpoint plus per-GB charges in both directions.
Live in minutes, not an afternoon
No IAM policy authoring, no VPC and security-group setup, no Route 53 wiring. Point Firepipe at a bucket via a scoped cross-account role, create users, and hand out the hostname.
Access and audit built in
See who is connected, jail each user to a path prefix, and revoke instantly, with a full upload/download/delete audit trail you can export, instead of assembling the picture from CloudWatch and CloudTrail yourself.
When AWS Transfer Family is the better choice
We'd rather you pick the right tool than the wrong one and churn. AWS Transfer Family is a solid product, here's when it's the better fit:
- You need Transfer Family features Firepipe does not offer, managed file-processing workflows, AS2/EDI, EFS as a target, or FIPS-validated endpoints.
- You are standardising entirely inside one AWS account and want everything billed and governed through AWS (e.g. drawing down an EDP commitment).
- You need deep native integration with other AWS services around the transfer rather than a focused standalone SFTP endpoint.
Simple, metered pricing
Start free, then pay for throughput, no per-operation or per-listing fees from us.
Early-access pricing, these starting tiers may change. Your own cloud usage is billed by your provider, directly to you.
Frequently asked questions
Does Firepipe work with my existing S3 bucket?
Yes, the same way Transfer Family does. Firepipe connects to your bucket through a scoped cross-account IAM role you control (no long-lived keys for us to store) and leaves your files in your account. Nothing to migrate.
How is pricing different from AWS Transfer Family?
Transfer Family charges per protocol-endpoint hour (always on) plus per-GB for data in and out. Firepipe charges a small base plan plus metered throughput, with no per-operation or per-listing fees. You still pay AWS directly for your own S3 storage and usage.
Do I still pay AWS?
You pay AWS for your own S3 storage and any AWS usage in your account, billed directly to you. You pay Firepipe for the managed SFTP gateway. There is no Transfer Family endpoint charge.
Try Firepipe on your own bucket
Connect a bucket you already own and hand out a clean SFTP endpoint in minutes, your files and your keys stay yours.
Start free