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GoAnywhere MFT vs Sterling Commerce Connect:Direct comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jun 8, 2025

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

GoAnywhere MFT
Ranking in Managed File Transfer (MFT)
2nd
Average Rating
9.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
44
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Sterling Commerce Connect:D...
Ranking in Managed File Transfer (MFT)
8th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.5
Number of Reviews
11
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2025, in the Managed File Transfer (MFT) category, the mindshare of GoAnywhere MFT is 9.2%, up from 6.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Sterling Commerce Connect:Direct is 8.1%, up from 8.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Managed File Transfer (MFT)
 

Featured Reviews

Joel Vinas - PeerSpot reviewer
Created a much better working relationship with our partners and saved a lot of time
While I was happy with the training and support, more of it could be beneficial. We had some basic training and support. I talked with Fortra recently, and they said that they revamped and changed their training support. I have not used it since December. I got support in February and May of last year, and it was not bad. I was just not sure which questions to ask. Trying to learn this stuff on the fly as you are handed a project is always stressful. I like that you can tweak the interface so much, but it would be nice to be able to tweak it some more. The ability to further tweak the interface would be advantageous, as our end users had some questions about modifications that we could not address. Other than that, GoAnywhere seemed to fulfill its role as a simple solution for secure file transfer.
Sumit Mundik - PeerSpot reviewer
Has good file transfer speed, but licensing cost is too high
The initial setup of the solution is not straightforward because it's not GUI-based. If you are installing the solution on a UNIX server, you should have a basic understanding of UNIX. You should know how to go from one directory to another, what the config files are, how to edit those files, and how to get the backup of those files. You need a little technical knowledge for it. The developers working on the solution are very costly for the organization. Also, the complexity of having this kind of setup is very difficult. This solution is only used by giant financial companies like BNY Mellon, Barclays, and JPMorgan Chase. They cannot replace the solution because they have several files transferred internally using it. It is very difficult and cost-consuming for them to change, migrate, or upgrade their system. That's the reason they are not able to do it very easily.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"The whole application of GoAnywhere MFT is excellent. The user interface is intuitive. The flexibility for creating projects for managed file transfer is quite robust. I"
"It has saved significant time on both the security aspect and data transfers."
"This product has numerous benefits as it has automated many processes that we previously had to do manually every day."
"The whole application of GoAnywhere MFT is excellent."
"I like the organization of resources, specifically listing out all of our FTPs and having a name and description to easily organize them. I also like the scheduler. The organization and the scheduling, being able to create the folders and the jobs, have been really helpful."
"It is very easy to use. It is easy to create projects in a graphical environment. The configuration and the setup of the environment is very easy"
"GoAnywhere MFT is the best; we prefer it."
"Another nice feature is that you can invoke a native program from GoAnywhere. That helps you because you don't have to get fancy with agents. If a native program runs on the server that GoAnywhere is running on, like sed or perl, you can use it,"
"Security is the most valuable feature of this product."
"The most valuable feature of Sterling Commerce Connect:Direct is its flexibility with encryption."
"Connect Direct offers Check Point functionality to ensure data integrity during transfers."
"The Security Plus feature of this solution is excellent, and allows you to send encrypted files very securely to remote destinations."
"The solution's file transfer speed is quite high."
"Offers secure file transfers with a fast and efficient protocol for very large files."
"For Sterling Commerce Connect:Direct, my overall rating is ten out of ten."
"Connect Direct offers Check Point functionality to ensure data integrity during transfers."
 

Cons

"The solution's support for the Unix platform and AS2 should be improved."
"Fortra needs to offer more use cases for GoAnywhere MFT during training."
"Without knowledge, it can be challenging to manage as it uses XML files for configurations and has tricky variables. While it's not particularly intuitive for new users, it becomes easy once mastered."
"The security features must be updated regularly."
"A drawback is that it is not as feature-rich compared to its competitor Sterling, which we used before. It has fewer features, though it is more intuitive."
"There's not a lot of improvement I can think of. Maybe in the tools section, they have an SQL Wizard and a URL Wizard, which are really good. I think that the SQL Wizard might need some improvement. I don't know how to improve it, but it's just a little slow here and there."
"GoAnywhere's interface could be a little more intuitive."
"We are a little concerned because the maximum number of open connections allowed is 200, and we are pretty much maxed out... if they expanded the number of open connections allowed, we would be better off."
"The user interface could be more user-friendly."
"Technical support is the number one concern."
"They have File Agent, which is an additional utility and a component of Connect:Direct, for automated file transmission. In that utility, there is some issue with the file name. There is a limitation on the file name, and that is being fixed by IBM."
"Sterling Commerce Connect:Direct could improve by adding some of the functionality that some other vendors have. For example, GoAnywhere has call agents, which are small clients that can be installed on the endpoints and can be handled by the central point on the server. If I want to do this with the IBM solution, I have to sell a lot of account addresses. The price could be unprofitable for the customer. There is some small functionality that could be implemented and could be easily done to improve this solution."
"The initial setup could be simpler and better."
"The resources required for this tool are costly and not easily available in the market."
"User interface is not user friendly."
"I do not have any notes for improvement."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The cost of GoAnywhere versus the value it brings to our data transfer operations is reasonable... The cost is relatively expensive but, back to the car analogy, that's to be expected with a Ferrari."
"Fortra's GoAnywhere MFT pricing is competitive."
"For what we pay to GoAnywhere every year, we are getting a fantastic deal. From a dollar perspective, it provides very good value."
"To have a solution like this for the price we're paying makes it cheap. Considering the time that it has saved us, and considering the development that we don't need to do, such as connectors and handling servers, the price is really affordable."
"The product is not cheap, but it is not expensive."
"It would be good for the company to explore a modular approach to selling the product so it could be cheaper and more attractive to users."
"Fortra's GoAnywhere MFT carries a higher price tag than other MFT solutions."
"After evaluating other solutions, we found the pricing they offered to be genuinely competitive."
"The price and licensing of Sterling Commerce Connect:Direct is expensive."
"The solution's licensing cost is too high."
"Annual licensing fee."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
15%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Healthcare Company
8%
Computer Software Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
42%
Computer Software Company
8%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Insurance Company
5%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Fortra's GoAnywhere MFT?
GoDrive eliminates the need to use the exchange server for file sharing.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Fortra's GoAnywhere MFT?
The pricing for GoAnywhere MFT seems reasonable when compared to other similar services, especially cloud services. Azure is significantly more expensive.
What needs improvement with Fortra's GoAnywhere MFT?
The application uses resources such as network connections to shared directories or SFTP connections. I would appreciate seeing utilization metrics for these resources. For example, when opening a ...
What needs improvement with Sterling Commerce Connect:Direct?
I do not find anything that needs improvement in Sterling Commerce Connect:Direct as a product. I have been supporting this solution, and it serves billions of customers well. Capgemini, in collabo...
What is your primary use case for Sterling Commerce Connect:Direct?
The primary use case of Sterling Commerce Connect:Direct is to transmit data. It offers two modes of transfers: SFTP, which is straightforward, and FTPS, which provides secure file transfer. A sign...
 

Also Known As

HelpSystems GoAnywhere MFT, GoAnywhere MFT, GoAnywhere Managed File Transfer,
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

McKesson City of Modesto, California Kwik Trip Northwestern University Charter Communications
HZMO, Bank of Communications
Find out what your peers are saying about GoAnywhere MFT vs. Sterling Commerce Connect:Direct and other solutions. Updated: June 2025.
856,873 professionals have used our research since 2012.