Overview
FileMage Gateway is a SFTP and FTP server that reads and writes files directly to Amazon S3, enabling customers to leverage the reliability and scale of Amazon S3 for exchanging and storing files internally or with business partners. Transfers are streamed in memory, not staged on disk, so changes are fast and visible immediately.
Now featuring a web portal where end users can view and transfer files in their browser!
User Portal
- Upload and download files in the browser.
- White-label using custom branding and styling.
- Self-service multi-factor authentication configuration.
- Account set up and password reset emails.
File Sharing
- Set user home directories (chroot).
- Assign folder level permissions to users and groups.
- Assign users to groups for easier permission management.
- View all permissions assigned across all users.
Security Features
- Per-user IP address restrictions
- Audit log of all user actions.
- Configurable password rules and expiration.
- Brute-force login prevention.
- Require multi-factor authentication.
Server Management
- Intuitive browser management portal.
- Free TLS certificates from Let's Encrypt.
- JSON API for configuration automation.
SFTP/FTP Features
- Configurable SFTP ciphers, key exchange algorithms, and digest algorithms.
- SSH password, public key, certificate, and interactive (for multi-factor) authentication.
- FTP/FTPS, implicit, explicit, active and passive modes.
Need High Availability? FileMage Gateway can be clustered behind a load balancer and configured to connect to a managed database. We have sample Cloudformation templates available at https://github.com/filemage/aws-cloudformation-templates .
Don't see a feature you want? Let us know at feedback@filemage.io ! Be sure to check back here regularly for new features or sign up for product updates at https://www.filemage.io/ .
This product requires users to input a email address for login and password reset purposes. This data is not sent to us and remains on the virtual machine.
Highlights
- Transfers are streamed in memory, not staged on disk, so changes are fast and visible immediately.
- Automatically issue and renew free TLS/SSL certificates using Let's Encrypt.
- Now featuring a web portal with customizable branding where end users can view and transfer files in their browser.
Details
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Dimension | Cost/hour |
|---|---|
m5.large Recommended | $0.049 |
t3.micro | $0.029 |
m4.4xlarge | $0.049 |
h1.2xlarge | $0.049 |
r5.large | $0.039 |
i2.2xlarge | $0.049 |
r6in.2xlarge | $0.049 |
r5d.xlarge | $0.049 |
r3.xlarge | $0.049 |
m1.large | $0.039 |
Vendor refund policy
Refunds are considered on a case-by-case basis. To request a refund please contact support@filemage.io .
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Delivery details
64-bit (x86) Amazon Machine Image (AMI)
Amazon Machine Image (AMI)
An AMI is a virtual image that provides the information required to launch an instance. Amazon EC2 (Elastic Compute Cloud) instances are virtual servers on which you can run your applications and workloads, offering varying combinations of CPU, memory, storage, and networking resources. You can launch as many instances from as many different AMIs as you need.
Version release notes
Additional details
Usage instructions
Once the instance is running, enter the public DNS or IP address provided by Amazon into your browser. If you have not yet configured a valid HTTPS certificate you will need to accept the self-signed default certificate. You will then see the signup page with instructions on how to create an initial administrator account. You will need SSH access to the instance, the default username is 'ubuntu'. Once an account has been created refresh to get to the login page. For additional setup instructions and frequently asked questions please go to https://docs.filemage.io/
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Support
Vendor support
Email support@filemage.io
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AWS Support is a one-on-one, fast-response support channel that is staffed 24x7x365 with experienced and technical support engineers. The service helps customers of all sizes and technical abilities to successfully utilize the products and features provided by Amazon Web Services.

Standard contract
Customer reviews
Modernized file transfers have reduced onboarding time and simplify secure cloud data ingestion
What is our primary use case?
FileMage serves as our primary solution for deploying a secure, cloud-native SFTP, FTP, and API gateway backed directly by AWS S3 to handle automated B2B file transfers and vendor data ingestion.
One example of how we use FileMage for automated B2B file transfers and vendor data ingestion is our automated vendor onboarding and reporting pipeline, where our external partners need to upload large financial data sets daily via SFTP. Before FileMage, we managed traditional Linux FTP servers which required provisioning local disk space and writing brittle cron scripts to sync files to the cloud. With FileMage, vendors upload files to an isolated SFTP folder, and the data streams directly into our secure AWS S3 buckets in real time, triggering our downstream process pipelines instantly.
We use FileMage to centralize credential management for external clients, allowing us to strictly isolate folder access using IAM roles without managing complex Linux permissions.
How has it helped my organization?
FileMage has positively impacted our organization by drastically modernizing our file transfer infrastructure, providing security gains associated with legacy SFTP setups, and significantly reducing vendor onboarding time.
We have achieved almost a 100% reduction in local storage cost and maintenance for file transfer, reducing manual user provisioning and configuration tasks from hours to just a few minutes for vendors.
What is most valuable?
The best features of FileMage that I value are direct cloud storage backing, IAM and permission mapping, Let's Encrypt integration, robust audit logging, and a web-based admin view.
Among those features, I find myself relying on the web-based UI the most because it provides a simple, clean dashboard for managing users, keys, and virtual folders, with automated SSL/TLS certificate management for SFTP saving considerable time. Files stream straight to AWS S3 without consuming local space, which is also a valuable feature to have.
The direct S3 storage backend of FileMage has made the biggest impact because it eliminates disk monitoring alerts and automates the data transfer pipeline without custom synchronization scripts.
What needs improvement?
To improve FileMage, I would appreciate seeing an enhanced web-based file manager for non-technical users and more native webhook destinations for event-driven automation.
Overall, the platform is very stable and lightweight, and most improvements would be minor quality-of-life updates for administrator tasks and advanced user management in larger corporate setups.
Native automated multi-region HA clustering configuration could be more seamless to set up out of the box.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been working in the DevOps and cloud infrastructure space for around five years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
FileMage is very stable and has demonstrated high stability and resilience in our production environment with zero unscheduled downtime.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
FileMage's scalability is very good because all the heavy lifting of storage scalability is offloaded to AWS S3, and FileMage handles large volume uploads and spikes in concurrent transfers without any issues.
FileMage is easy to scale and represents a highly scalable platform.
How are customer service and support?
The level of documentation and community support available for FileMage is very good. The support team has been great, highly technical, and responsive, quickly helping us clarify initial questions around IAM role policy configuration during setup.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We previously evaluated AWS Transfer for SFTP, and while it is a good managed service, the baseline hourly protocol cost and data transfer fees were far too high for our budget. We switched to FileMage, which gave us the same S3-backed functionality at a fraction of the cost.
Before choosing FileMage, we evaluated traditional options for SFTP where we provisioned a server, but they were not reliable and not useful for us, so we moved to FileMage.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup and configuration of FileMage for our team was easy as it was self-hosted rather than serverless.
For those comfortable with cloud infrastructure frameworks such as AWS, Azure , GCP , IAM roles, and networking, setting up FileMage is highly intuitive. FileMage is distributed as a pre-built machine through cloud marketplaces, so launching the instance, running the initial setup command, and mapping to a storage bucket takes less than an hour. The web admin panel handles configurations that usually require complex Linux setup.
What was our ROI?
We have seen a return on investment, which was clear immediately by bypassing expensive native cloud file transfer protocols and saving engineering hours spent on patching legacy Linux SFTP setups. FileMage paid for itself within the first couple of months.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Our experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing has been excellent. The setup process was incredibly fast, with us up and running in less than an hour. The pricing model is highly cost-effective and predictable compared to other cloud-managed SFTP alternatives, making it easy to justify to our finance team.
What other advice do I have?
I would advise others looking into using FileMage to clearly define your IAM roles and S3 bucket policy before deployment. If you configure your cloud permissions cleanly from the start, FileMage integrates perfectly and runs almost entirely on autopilot. I would rate this review a 9 out of 10.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Addressed security gaps has improved how my team manages and automates large file transfers
What is our primary use case?
FileMage works well in GCP with no issues. The quickest Terraform required a few modifications though. It is very easy to install, easy to use, and has a very user-friendly interface. FileMage works very well with GCP cloud storage right out of the box. It also has a pretty nice web UI for administration, which makes things much easier for the team that manages it. Overall, it is a very solid product.
I use FileMage day-to-day for managing and automating file transfers across my organization.
What is most valuable?
The best features FileMage offers include that it is a cloud-based managed file transfer solution that enables my organization to securely share 20 GB plus videos and files to our clients, manage and automate file transfers, hence saving a lot of time and cost.
For managing and automating those large file transfers, the specific features I find most useful include a focus on ease of use, such as drag-and-drop interfaces, automated workflows, and detailed audit logs to streamline file exchange processes.
FileMage provides robust security measures, including end-to-end encryption to protect sensitive data during transfers of files and other valuable data.
FileMage has positively impacted my organization through improvement in workflow; collaboration has improved because we are able to share files and videos with our clients and employees. The security of my organization has also improved since it offers flexible and robust security features to protect sensitive data during transfers.
What needs improvement?
FileMage can be improved in the area of cloud deployment, which left the permissions wide open, and the Quick Start Terraform does as well. Minor modifications were needed, but it was not anything too difficult, just something to double-check after installing.
The cost is reasonable. The support has always been proactive.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using FileMage for two years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
FileMage is very stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
FileMage's scalability is very strong because it has ensured it grows with my organization's needs very well.
How are customer service and support?
FileMage's customer support is very responsive and proactive.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I previously used Amazon S3 .
How was the initial setup?
The ease of deploying FileMage in my environment was a little bit easier, though deployment left the permissions wide open and the Quick Start Terraform does as well.
My experience with the configuration process is quick and easy.
What was our ROI?
I have seen a return on investment as we have been able to save time through automation of transferring files. I have reduced errors and minimized human errors. I have already been able to save time and cost through automations. Collaboration in my organization has greatly improved.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing is that the cost is very affordable. It scales up as we scale up, so it is affordable.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
Before choosing FileMage, I evaluated other options, including Amazon S3 .
What other advice do I have?
FileMage is a great software, and I recommend using it. Make sure to check those network inbound and outbound rules to ensure you lock it down to fit your company's security posture.
Modern file gateway has transformed secure cloud transfers and now simplifies partner onboarding
What is our primary use case?
My primary use case for FileMage is deploying a secure cloud-native SFTP and FTP gateway backed directly by AWS S3 to handle automated B2B file transfers and vendor data ingestion.
In my day-to-day operations, my external partners upload large financial data sets daily using FileMage for those automated B2B file transfers and vendor interactions. Before FileMage, I managed traditional Linux SFTP servers which required provisional local disk space and involved writing brittle cron scripts to sync files to the cloud. With FileMage, vendors upload files to an isolated SFTP folder and the data streams directly into my secure AWS S3 buckets in real-time, triggering my downstream process pipeline instantly.
I use FileMage to centralize credential management for external clients, allowing me to strictly isolate folder access using IAM roles without managing complex Linux permissions, which covers the main way I'm using FileMage.
What is most valuable?
In my experience, the best features FileMage offers are direct cloud storage backing, IAM and permission mapping, Let's Encrypt integration, robust audit logs, and a web-based admin UI.
Out of those features, I find myself relying on the web-based UI admin the most because it is a simple, clean dashboard for managing user keys and virtual folders. The direct S3 storage backend has made the biggest impact, completely eliminating disk space monitoring loads and automating the data transfer pipeline with custom synchronization scripts.
FileMage has positively impacted my organization by drastically modernizing our file transfer infrastructure, eliminating storage maintenance overhead, closing security gaps associated with legacy FTP setups, and significantly reducing vendor onboarding time.
What needs improvement?
I would like to see an enhanced web-based file manager for non-technical end-users, allowing them to easily preview or move files via GUI. I would also appreciate more native webhook destinations for event-driven automation and deeper out-of-the-box integration with identity providers like Okta for admin single sign-on.
The platform is very stable and lightweight in my experience, and most improvements would be minor quality-of-life updates for administration and advanced user management in larger corporate setups.
I give it a nine out of ten because I do not think it deserves a ten as it lags in some spaces, especially where large organizations are concerned. FileMage is self-hosted, not serverless, and manual high availability setup is difficult. The basic end-user web interface is a limitation. There is a lack of native complex workflow automation, so I think nine is appropriate.
For how long have I used the solution?
My experience with integrating FileMage into my existing workflows and systems has been an overall turnaround for my organization. Earlier, I was having manual SFTP transfers, and now with FileMage, the transition has been significant. The setup was smooth, and FileMage has a web-based GUI that helps transfer files easily, which was needed by everyone for a long time. The overall process was smooth and well-received.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
FileMage is highly stable and resilient in my production environment with zero unscheduled downtime.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
FileMage's scalability is very good because the heavy lifting of storage scalability is offloaded to AWS S3, allowing it to handle large volume uploads and spikes in concurrent transfers without any issues.
How are customer service and support?
My experience with the FileMage support team has been great. They are highly technical, responsive, and quickly helped clarify some initial questions I had around IAM role policy configuration during the setup.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I previously evaluated AWS Transfer for SFTP, but while it is a good managed service, the baseline hourly protocol cost and data transfer fee were far too high for my budget. FileMage gave me the same S3-backed functionality at a fraction of the cost, which is why I switched.
How was the initial setup?
The setup process was incredibly fast, as I was up and running in less than an hour. The pricing model is highly cost-effective and predictable compared to managed SFTP alternatives. The hours spent on patching legacy Linux SFTP setups meant FileMage paid for itself within the first couple of months. Productivity has increased significantly for my team as FileMage is a much faster tool compared to traditional setups.
What was our ROI?
Although I do not have specific numbers, the ROI was clear immediately by bypassing expensive cloud-native file transfer protocols and saving engineering hours spent on patching legacy Linux FTP setups. FileMage paid for itself within the first couple of months.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing has shown that the setup process was incredibly fast. I was up and running in less than an hour. The pricing model is highly cost-effective and predictable compared to other cloud and managed SFTP alternatives, making it easy to justify to finance. The ROI was clear immediately.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
I evaluated AWS S3 and AWS Transfer for SFTP before choosing FileMage.
What other advice do I have?
The accuracy and reliability of output from FileMage's AI capabilities are incredibly reliable. File actions are transactional, and I have not experienced any corrupted file transfers or sync lag between the gateway and AWS.
FileMage has impacted my team's productivity and efficiency significantly. Out of those features, I find myself relying on the web-based UI admin the most because it is a simple, easy-to-manage dashboard for managing user keys and virtual folders. The biggest difference is the web-based UI and Let's Encrypt integration, robust audit logs, and a web-based admin UI.
The learning curve for new users or admins when adopting FileMage is comparatively quite easier as I have a GUI. New users in the traditional setup required too much to learn. If someone is already comfortable with cloud infrastructures, the easy part is distributed as per built-in machine through the cloud marketplace. Launching the instance, running the initial setup command, and mapping into a storage bucket takes less than an hour. The web admin panel handles things that usually required complex Linux configuration. The slight learning curve comes down to mapping cloud object patching, where someone has to translate traditional directory permission into cloud storage prefix and pair them correctly with IAM policies. If someone decides to go HA, they have to architect an external database configuration and a load balancer. The learning curve is very low for an experienced user, while for a new user, it is slightly higher, but for users who have knowledge, the learning curve is almost non-existent.
I find FileMage quite flexible when it comes to customizing workflows or integrations with other tools, as it becomes part of the cloud ecosystem. I deployed it on EC2 , so it is very straightforward to connect it with the S3 bucket, making the integration smooth and becoming part of the ecosystem. From a technical and DevOps standpoint, FileMage is highly flexible, but it uses a building block approach. It does not feature a massive marketplace of native SaaS plugins; instead, it provides robust cloud standards, webhooks, a RESTful API, and native cloud provider support to fit into any pipeline.
When handling high volumes of file transfers or large data sets, FileMage performs exceptionally compared to traditional FTP servers, and I have not noticed any bottlenecks. Earlier, when I was using the traditional setup, I was facing numerous bottlenecks, but after switching, FileMage's performance profile is highly predictable because of its core architectural choice: in-memory file stream. Rather than caching incoming data onto a local hard drive, FileMage streams data blocks straight through the system's memory directly into cloud object storage like AWS S3 or Azure Blob.
I feel confident in my ability to handle disaster recovery and backup with FileMage, as I have backed up my EC2 EBS volume apart from relying specifically on FileMage. Since FileMage streams files directly to cloud object storage in real-time, data resilience depends entirely on my cloud provider. I have enabled cross-region replication on the target AWS S3 buckets, so if my primary region goes entirely offline, my file data is already safe and accessible in my secondary region. The FileMage instance layer contains user account, password, SSH, and virtual folders, so that needs to be safe. If using a single instance deployment, the action should be to use EBS snapshot, which I do. Therefore, I feel confident in disaster recovery while using FileMage.
Managing user access and permissions with FileMage is easy and without challenges, as I use IAM roles and permissioning is provided to the user from IAM itself. I do not find any challenges here in user access and permission since I have integration with AWS. Managing user access and permission in FileMage is highly intuitive and a massive quality-of-life upgrade over traditional Linux server admin. Instead of configuring complex Linux permission, ACL , and system groups via command line, everything is handled through a clean web administration portal or a REST API.
Others looking into using FileMage should consider it as it is highly affordable, highly reliable, scalable, and very good compared to other competitors and partners. I shifted directly and had used many options in comparison with FileMage, but I feel this is very reliable, and I have been using it for more than a year. I suggest other colleagues and users to shift to FileMage, share their experience, and look out for other better solutions and then compare them with FileMage. I have done this, and I find it a better tool than the competitors in the market which are available. I give FileMage a rating of nine out of ten.
Great piece of software
Easy to set up and launch. I had the server up and running in less than an hour. User setup and endpoint setup is easy. I highly recommend locking down your security group with private IPs if possible. Now I have my backups going straight to S3 buckets bypassing the commercial cloud backup solution offered to me by another company.
The compatibility of FTP with the resilliance of S3
You can write your software to use s3 with its many advantages over FTP while allowing legacy systems to use the FTP, SFTP or FTPS to send or receive data.
Customer support is fantastic! I always hear back very quickly from someone who has deep technical insight into the product.
Throughput is very good and there are a lot of available configuration options.