Why the FTP server is still there
FTP survives in studios and agencies because it does one thing that consumer tools do not: it accepts a 500 GB folder without a per-GB bill. Everything else about it is a cost. Clients need a client and a set of credentials that gets shared around; transfers run over TCP and slow down with distance; a dropped upload leaves a half-written file with no way to tell; there is no expiry, no download count, no notification and no record of who took what. Plain FTP also sends passwords and data in the clear, and even the secured variants leave the server itself for you to patch.
What replaces each part
Transfers run through an accelerated transfer engine over UDP with its own rate control, at your line rate regardless of distance, as parallel sessions sized to your plan. In the desktop app they resume by themselves after a drop, sleep or reboot, and the server records a checksum for every file on arrival, so a half-written file is impossible to mistake for a finished one.
Outbound, a share link replaces the download directory: expiry, an optional password, a download limit, an email when it is downloaded, and a sender dashboard of who took what. Recipients open a page and download without credentials or an account. Inbound, an upload portal replaces the incoming directory: a request link into a folder you choose, each upload in its own dated inbox folder with the sender’s name attached, on a token that can write to that folder only.
A workspace instead of a shared login
Members join by email invitation with owner, admin or member roles. Two-factor authentication is live, and a per-workspace audit log records logins, shares created and opened, downloads, deletions and admin actions. Every upload and download runs on a token minted for that operation, scoped to exact paths and direction and expiring in minutes; nobody holds a standing credential to the transfer server. Folder permissions per member or group are on Scale and above, workspace policies cap link expiry and require a password on every link, and single sign-on is on Enterprise.
Files sit in a Drive with folders, rename, move, search and a trash with a recovery window, and storage usage is on every page with an email before you reach your quota.
Automation and migration
A watch folder in the desktop app for macOS, Windows or Linux replaces the script that pushed to FTP: point a local folder at a workspace folder and new files upload on their own once they have stopped changing, restart-safe. The headless Linux agent runs the same watch folders on a server under systemd, and the boita CLI works from scripts. Scoped API keys and signed webhooks are included from Pro; Enterprise workspaces can auto-deliver anything landing in a folder to their own transfer server or S3-compatible bucket.
Migrating is a transfer like any other: install the desktop app on the machine that can see the FTP data and upload the folders you want to keep. Plans are flat monthly amounts sized by storage, retention and seats, with no per-GB fees; the desktop app and portals are included from Pro.
- Line-rate transfers with a checksum on every file; desktop-app resume
- Share links and portals instead of shared FTP credentials
- Roles, invitations, two-factor authentication and an audit log
- Per-operation tokens; no standing credential to leak
- Watch folders, agent, CLI and API keys from Pro; auto-delivery and SSO on Enterprise