Comparison
GoAnywhere and MOVEit alternatives for small businesses
A fair look at why small and mid-size businesses look beyond enterprise MFT suites, and which self-hosted, open-source and cloud options to compare.
In short: Fortra GoAnywhere MFT and Progress MOVEit are mature enterprise platforms. Small and mid-size businesses usually look elsewhere for three reasons: quote-based pricing, the effort of running a large platform, and the need to patch internet-facing file transfer servers very quickly. Good alternatives depend on whether you want open source, a published price, a cloud service or a lightweight self-hosted tool.
GoAnywhere and MOVEit in brief
Fortra GoAnywhere MFT and Progress MOVEit are full managed file transfer suites with broad protocol support (SFTP, FTPS, HTTPS, AS2 and more), workflow automation, partner management and compliance reporting. Both are actively developed; Progress shipped a MOVEit Transfer service pack in January 2026.[1] Neither vendor publishes its prices: both are quote-based.[1] For regulated enterprises with many trading partners, they remain strong choices.
Why smaller businesses look for alternatives
- Cost and sizing. Quote-based enterprise licensing is hard to budget for a team that needs a few dozen automated transfers.
- Operational effort. Large platforms need someone who has time to administer them.
- Patch discipline. Internet-facing file transfer servers are attractive targets. In January 2023 the CL0P group exploited a zero-day in GoAnywhere MFT (CVE-2023-0669) and claimed data from about 130 victims; from May 2023 it exploited a SQL injection zero-day in MOVEit Transfer (CVE-2023-34362).[2] Both vendors released fixes. The lesson applies to every product, including smaller ones: whatever you choose, keep its exposure to the internet minimal and patch it fast.
Alternatives worth comparing
| Product | Type & hosting | Pricing | Good fit when |
|---|---|---|---|
| SFTPGo | Open-source SFTP/FTPS/WebDAV server, self-hosted | Community edition free (AGPLv3); commercial Enterprise edition[6] | You have Linux skills and mainly need a capable SFTP server |
| Cerberus FTP Server | File transfer server for Windows, self-hosted | Published per-server prices, from $899 per year[3] | You run Windows servers and want a known price |
| Diplomat MFT | MFT, self-hosted | Published, from $335 per month[4] | You need PGP and scheduled partner transfers |
| JSCAPE MFT Server | MFT, self-hosted or cloud | Quote-based[5] | You need many protocols with central administration |
| Files.com, Couchdrop, SFTP To Go | Cloud SFTP / MFT services | Subscription | You prefer a hosted service and your data may live in the vendor's cloud |
| Emona MFT | Lightweight MFT, self-hosted (in development) | To be announced; waitlist discount | You move files between your own sites and systems and want monitoring, alerts and an audit trail on your own server |
Prices as published by the vendors or cited sources in October 2026; check the vendor sites for current offers.
Where Emona MFT fits, honestly
Emona MFT is not a like-for-like replacement for an enterprise suite. It does not aim to cover AS2, partner web portals or dozens of protocols at launch. It focuses on one job: watching folders on your machines, transferring files to a central server you control, verifying them, and showing the status of every client on one dashboard with alerts and an audit trail. It is built on the source-available jFiltra core, which you can try today. The product is still in development; see Security and roadmap for what the core does now and what is planned before the first release.
How to choose
- List your transfers: which systems, which partners, how often, how large.
- Decide where the data may live: your own servers only, or a vendor cloud.
- Check the protocols your partners require (SFTP, FTPS, AS2, HTTPS).
- Ask how failures are detected and reported, and how you prove a transfer happened.
- Compare the total cost: licence, hosting, and the hours someone spends running it.
- Check the vendor's security track record and how quickly it ships fixes.
Frequently asked questions
Is Emona MFT a drop-in replacement for GoAnywhere or MOVEit?
No. Emona MFT targets small and mid-size businesses that mainly move files between their own sites and systems. If you need AS2, partner portals or many protocols, an enterprise suite or a specialised MFT product is the better fit.
Is an open-source SFTP server enough instead of MFT?
Often, yes, for simple and occasional transfers. If you need automation, alerts on failed transfers and an audit trail, you either build those around the SFTP server with scripts or use an MFT tool that includes them. Our guide MFT vs SFTP explains the difference.
Self-hosted or cloud MFT: which is safer?
Neither is automatically safer. Self-hosting keeps files on infrastructure you control, which helps with GDPR and data residency, but you are responsible for patching and access control. Cloud services take over operations, but your data lives with the vendor.
GoAnywhere is a trademark of Fortra, LLC. MOVEit is a trademark of Progress Software Corporation. Other product names are trademarks of their owners. Emona MFT and BLUEGEM are not affiliated with these companies.
Sources
- Peony, Enterprise File Transfer in 2026: MFT vs File Sharing (pricing models, MOVEit 2026 service pack).
- CISA and FBI, Advisory AA23-158A: CL0P Ransomware Gang Exploits CVE-2023-34362 MOVEit Vulnerability.
- Cerberus FTP Server, Pricing.
- Coviant Software, Diplomat MFT pricing.
- JSCAPE, Get a price quote.
- SFTPGo, README on GitHub (Community and Enterprise editions).