Files.com is the cloud platform teams move to when they outgrow Cerberus FTP. Cerberus is a Windows SFTP/FTPS server you run and patch on your own box, with a dated interface and no real cloud. And it isn’t even that cheap anymore. Files.com serves the same protocols as a managed cloud platform and adds automation, partner workflows, sharing, and a tamper-proof audit trail. 4,000+ organizations run their file transfer on Files.com, the #1 platform in Gartner Peer Insights for managed file transfer.
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Cerberus FTP is a Windows-based SFTP/FTPS server. You install it on a server you own, configure it through the admin GUI, and it does the one job well: an on-prem SFTP endpoint with Active Directory integration. For years its draw was simple: it was the cheapest credible SFTP server you could buy.
Two things changed: the workload grew past what a bare SFTP server carries, and the price crept up under new ownership. What’s left is a dated Windows server you patch yourself, doing a fraction of the job.
Files.com is where that workload goes next. It serves the same SFTP and FTPS as a managed cloud platform, with nothing to patch, and adds automation, partner onboarding, sharing, and a tamper-proof audit log, with an Agent for the systems that stay in your data center.
Files.com is a managed cloud platform with nothing to operate, and its on-premise Agent reaches the systems still in your data center over an outbound-only connection. You get the on-prem reach without the on-prem server. Cerberus FTP is a Windows service on a server you own: you patch the OS, manage the box, and carry its uptime.
Files.com is a modern web platform with a desktop app that mounts as a drive, a mobile app, and a CLI: a product your whole team can use rather than a server only your admin touches. Cerberus is the Windows admin GUI it has been for a decade.
Files.com runs the work around the transfer: automation on file arrival, partner onboarding, sharing and inboxes for people, and a tamper-proof audit log. Cerberus is an SFTP/FTPS server, and that is where it stops.
Files.com publishes a flat platform price that includes the automation, governance, and support a bare server never did. Cerberus won its install base by bottoming the market on price. Under its current ownership the per-server license has climbed, and the “cheap SFTP server” reason to choose it has eroded.
The replacement had to sustain a contractual file pickup or dropoff every 8 to 10 seconds through Automate, the backend estate's only permitted path out.
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Each new deal’s counterparty feed is now a matter of configuration rather than another engineering project.
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Preserving the existing hostname, host key, and access controls let a HIPAA-regulated partner estate move in one hard cutover without partner-side reconfiguration.
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A managed SFTP endpoint is one of these six capabilities. Files.com ships all of them on one platform, for about the price of the endpoint.
Dedicated, fully managed SFTP, FTPS, and FTP endpoints, with every protocol your partners already use. No servers to patch and no DMZ to maintain.Replaces IBM Sterling, GoAnywhere, MOVEit, Axway, AWS Transfer Family
See Cloud SFTP ServerBranded portals, secure share links, and request inboxes, plus co-editing for Office documents. Partners and customers get access with no account and nothing to install.Replaces Box, Dropbox, ShareFile, Egnyte
See CollaborationMove files up to 5 TB at full speed over any distance, with chunked, resumable transfers on standard protocols and custom UDP acceleration in the Agent.Replaces IBM Aspera, Signiant
See Fast TransfersTrigger on a file arriving, a schedule, or an event, then route, convert, and notify, with retries and alerts built in. The reliable replacement for the scripts and cron jobs nobody wants to own.Replaces fragile custom scripts and cron jobs
See AutomationsReshape files inline as they move: convert formats and pull fields out of EDI, HL7, XML, JSON, and CSV, so downstream systems get exactly what they expect.Replaces hand-built parsing and conversion scripts
See Transform & ExtractNative apps for Windows, macOS, iOS, and Android mount your cloud storage as a local drive, so you can retire aging file servers and NAS without changing how people work.Replaces NetApp, Nasuni, aging NAS, Windows file servers
See File Server ReplacementEvery capability runs on one platform — SOC 2 Type II certified, HIPAA BAA available, with a complete audit trail on every action.
Files.com Starter is $199/month with SFTP, FTPS, FTP, and WebDAV all included — no per-protocol surcharge, no quote to get a number. When you outgrow the included counts, the overages are cheap, not a forced upgrade.
Files.com has run for 15+ years with zero breaches. The controls your auditors ask about are standard here, not add-ons.
Independently audited, every year.
Certified under FedRAMP 20x at Class A, with Class B in progress.
BAA and DPA available, with EU and regional data residency.
AES-256 at rest, TLS 1.2 and 1.3 in transit.
SAML SSO, SCIM provisioning, MFA, and granular role-based access.
Every action logged immutably and streamed to your SIEM.
No Level 1 runaround, no script, no callback queue. When something breaks, you reach a seasoned file transfer expert who can actually fix it.
Talk to file transfer experts who understand how you work.
A dedicated Customer Engineer and a step-by-step plan — most teams are live within five business days.
Clear documentation, training materials, and how-to guides.
“Files.com's strengths are simplicity, ease of use, and the cloud connectors. We don't have to invent custom infrastructure for every partner.”
“Files.com is versatile — it can manage many different situations from a single platform. We've consolidated multiple tools onto it.”
“Files.com is robust and scales to a large enterprise. We get multiple files per minute, per second — and we're a 24/7 organization, so everything has to always be up.”
What buyers ask most when comparing Files.com to Cerberus FTP.
Cerberus FTP is a Windows-based SFTP/FTPS server you install and run on your own infrastructure. Files.com is a managed, cloud-native File Orchestration Platform: the same protocols, plus automation, partner workflows, sharing, and a tamper-proof audit trail, with nothing for you to install, patch, or scale.
No. Cerberus FTP is on-premise software: a Windows service that runs on a server you manage and patch. Files.com is a true cloud platform, operated and patched for you, with an on-premise Agent to reach the systems that must stay in your data center.
Yes. Cerberus historically bottomed the SFTP-server market on price, but under its current ownership the per-server license has moved up. A Cerberus license still costs less than Files.com. What it buys is a bare server on a box you patch. Files.com publishes a flat platform price that includes the automation, governance, and support the server never carried.
Files.com is a cloud platform; for systems that must stay on-prem it uses the on-premise Agent, an outbound-only connection that reaches your local servers and NAS with no inbound firewall change. You get on-prem reach without running and patching an on-prem SFTP server yourself.
Yes. Files.com covers the SFTP and FTPS that Cerberus serves and adds the automation, partner workflows, sharing, governance, and audit a workload needs as it grows, without a Windows server to operate. Teams move when the workload outgrows a bare SFTP server or the renewal price stops making sense.
Yes. Files.com publishes its pricing: $199/month Starter and $499/month Power, with no contract required and the full platform included, not a per-server license plus the cost of the VM you run it on.
If all you will ever need is a bare on-prem SFTP server and you’re happy patching the box it runs on, Cerberus does that. The workload rarely stops there: partners, automation, sharing, an audit trail that holds up. Cerberus stops at the transfer, while its price has crept past “cheap.” Choose the managed cloud platform that runs itself and does the whole job.
The same SFTP, with automation, partner workflows, sharing, and a tamper-proof audit trail, managed in the cloud, with no Windows server to patch. Start a 7-day free trial or talk to our team.
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