Bridglet vs FilePulse five users and a transfer meter, or five shared folders and neither
FilePulse sells managed SFTP and FTP servers, priced by how many users you have and how many gigabytes move through them each month. Bridglet sells a client file drop that happens to speak SFTP, priced by shared folders and space.
Choosing for the first time? Read on. Already on FilePulse and weighing a move? The FilePulse alternative page is written for that.
Entry plans compared
FilePulse Small
5 users, 1 storage backend, 100 GB of transfer a month, SFTP and FTP, no API
Bridglet Starter
10 GB of space, 5 shared folders, guest portal, webhooks and retention
The two meters are different. FilePulse counts people and throughput. Bridglet counts folders and the space they hold, and retention keeps that number from creeping up.
A server you run, or an inbox you hand out
Both are managed hosting. What you get handed at the end is not the same thing.
FilePulse gives you a server
- Deploy an SFTP or FTP server, add users to it, point it at one or more storage backends.
- Bring your own storage plans keep the files in your S3, GCS or Azure account, and cost less than the managed ones.
- FTP is still on the menu, which matters if a partner's twenty-year-old script only speaks it.
- The company is in Gent, Belgium, and the self-managed option runs in your own infrastructure.
Bridglet gives you an inbox
- Make a shared folder, hand one client the way in, repeat. There is no server to size.
- Anyone who cannot install an SFTP client gets a link instead and uploads at bridglet.com/portal.
- Retention runs per shared folder in days, so old files leave without anyone remembering to delete them.
- Nothing about the price changes when a sixth person starts sending you files.
FilePulse Small and Bridglet Starter, line by line
| FilePulse Small | Bridglet Starter | |
|---|---|---|
| Price to start | $25/mo, verified 2026-09-22. | $15/mo, printed on the pricing page. |
| What the plan holds | 5 users, 1 storage backend, 100 GB of transfer a month, SFTP and FTP, SSH key authentication, email support. | 10 GB of space, 5 shared folders, 5 guests per shared folder, teammates uncounted. |
| The rest of the ladder | Medium $49/mo for 25 users and 500 GB, Large $99/mo for 100 users and 2 TB, XL $150/mo for 250 users and 5 TB. Enterprise and self-managed are quoted. Verified 2026-09-22. | Pro $49/mo with 100 GB and 25 shared folders. Business $149/mo with 500 GB and unlimited shared folders. |
| Per-user fees | Users are the unit the tiers are cut on: 5 on Small, 25 on Medium, 100 on Large. | None. Guests are not seats and teammates cost nothing. |
| Transfer | Metered monthly, 100 GB on Small, verified 2026-09-22. | Not metered. The plan's space is the only ceiling. |
| REST API | Not on Small. The feature matrix shows it from Medium, $49/mo, and up. | On Pro and Business. |
| Audit logging | Also from Medium up, not on Small. | Uploads show in the app, and the webhook carries each arrival to whatever you log with. |
| Web upload portal for people who will not use SFTP | A web file browser is listed for account users. The pricing page does not offer a portal for outside senders. | Guest access with per-person credentials at bridglet.com/portal. The guest picks a passphrase and works in the browser. |
| Webhooks | Not listed on the pricing page, verified 2026-09-22. | Yes, on every plan. One call to a URL you set per shared folder. |
| Retention | Not listed on the pricing page, verified 2026-09-22. | A number of days per shared folder, on every plan. |
| Where the files live | FilePulse storage on the standard plans, or your own S3, GCS or Azure account on the BYOS plans, from $18/mo. | Bridglet's own storage. There is no way to point a shared folder somewhere else. |
| Protocols | SFTP and FTP. | SFTP, plus HTTPS in the guest portal. |
FilePulse figures read off filepulse.io/pricing on 2026-09-22. Bridglet figures are the ones billing enforces.
Four reasons to buy FilePulse instead
These are real gaps, and no amount of price difference closes them.
The files belong in your own bucket
FilePulse BYOS plans start at $18/mo and keep everything in your S3, GCS or Azure account, in the region you chose, under your own lifecycle rules. Bridglet stores files on its own disks and cannot be pointed elsewhere.
A partner still needs FTP
Plain FTP is on every FilePulse plan. Bridglet speaks SFTP and HTTPS, so an FTP-only sender is a hard stop here.
Volume is the thing you actually have
At 2 TB a month across a hundred users, FilePulse Large at $99/mo is priced for you. Bridglet Business tops out at 500 GB of space, and moving a terabyte a week through it is not what the plan is for.
Your review asks about SSO or on-premises
SSO and SAML arrive on the FilePulse Enterprise tier, and the self-managed build runs inside your own infrastructure. Bridglet offers neither. Sign-in is an email link and the service runs where it runs.
Which one to buy
Buy FilePulse if
- arrow_right Your storage account is where the files have to sit.
- arrow_right Someone on the other end still connects over FTP.
- arrow_right Terabytes a month is normal traffic for you.
- arrow_right A European supplier or an on-premises build is part of the requirement.
Buy Bridglet if
- check_circle What you need is a place for clients to send things, not a server.
- check_circle You would rather not watch a monthly transfer number.
- check_circle Some senders are people, not scripts, and they need a browser.
- check_circle Webhooks and retention should be in the cheapest plan, not two tiers up.
What Bridglet costs
Three plans, sized by shared folders and space. The guest portal, webhooks and retention are in all of them.
Starter
$15/mo
- 10 GB of space
- 5 shared folders
- Guest portal, webhooks, retention
Pro
$49/mo
- 100 GB of space
- 25 shared folders
- REST API
Business
$149/mo
- 500 GB of space
- Unlimited shared folders
- REST API
A lifetime round is open while you are reading this. Both lifetime tiers carry the REST API. The terms and what is left are on the lifetime page.
SaaS SFTP exports
Customers who want a nightly export dropped somewhere they can reach, without you standing up a server for each one.
Ecommerce SFTP
Supplier catalogues and inventory files arriving on a schedule, with a webhook that starts the import.
FilePulse alternative
For the reader who already has a FilePulse plan and wants to know what switching costs in practice.