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Fortra's Globalscape WAFS vs GoAnywhere MFT comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 22, 2026

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

Fortra's Globalscape WAFS
Ranking in Managed File Transfer (MFT)
20th
Average Rating
4.0
Reviews Sentiment
5.3
Number of Reviews
1
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
GoAnywhere MFT
Ranking in Managed File Transfer (MFT)
1st
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
120
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2026, in the Managed File Transfer (MFT) category, the mindshare of Fortra's Globalscape WAFS is 1.4%, up from 1.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of GoAnywhere MFT is 8.5%, down from 9.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Managed File Transfer (MFT) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
GoAnywhere MFT8.5%
Fortra's Globalscape WAFS1.4%
Other90.1%
Managed File Transfer (MFT)
 

Featured Reviews

it_user2754 - PeerSpot reviewer
IT Manager at a construction company with 51-200 employees
We dropped the product because of the corruption issue.
Two main issues. 1) It can be a bandwidth resource hog over a small WAN link. We would routinely saturate a 3Mbps link with WAFS. This can be mitigated with tuning what gets replicated. 2) In some cases, it can look like the files get replicated because the files have the correct date, file size, etc. However, the file itself was actually all nulls. In our replication case, we had more than 10,000 files get corrupted this way (out of 1.2 million). GlobalScape support basically said that there were issues with W2K8 R2 but the problem actually dated back to 2008 on a W2K3 server.We dropped the product because of the corruption issue.
Anuj Bhagwat - PeerSpot reviewer
Dev Ops Engineer at a computer software company with 11-50 employees
Has enabled secure, centralized file sharing while saving significant time and resources
The best features in GoAnywhere MFT are that it's fast, reliable, and secure. First, the improvement is that we have resolved one of our security points with compliance. So that compliance point we resolved. And also it's a centralized file sharing system. All the users are able to access the file. There is no one-to-one sharing. It's improved about 80 to 85%. It saves about 80 to 90% resources. In terms of time, we can say 90 to 95% time is also saved because it avoids the one-to-one sharing and simply a user can put one centralized directory and all the users are able to access this solution and access the file. So it's 95%.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"When it works, WAFS is a good way to keep data synchronized between multiple servers in multiple locations."
"When we were doing the demo, we took one project from the old system and got it running in GoAnywhere in less than 30 minutes. That says a lot. I've written queries and understand code, so I'm not a novice. Still, I think that's pretty impressive for a software product to be able to deliver a functional use case in half an hour."
"Overall, it has been a reliable and efficient platform for secure file transfer automation, especially in environments where visibility, compliance, and workflow reliability are important."
"GoAnywhere MFT is the best; we prefer it."
"We are a review website for enterprise IT, and we perform two main functions: First, we publish these reviews for other people to read, either publicly or anonymously; second, we work directly with vendors who are interested in understanding what users think about their product."
"What I appreciate most about GoAnywhere MFT is the SFTP file transfer capability, which is a secure file transfer protocol; it also includes a file encryption module, scheduling, and email notification features, which are very useful."
"We immediately saw the benefits of GoAnywhere MFT because it is a cloud-based solution and that is where we were lacking in transferring data in a more secure manner."
"The security and vendor management features are helpful in terms of providing access to data."
"GoAnywhere is like a Ferrari versus a Volkswagen Beetle."
 

Cons

"In some cases, it can look like the files get replicated because the files have the correct date, file size, etc. However, the file itself was actually all nulls."
"The process of adding a vendor is very easy for us, but maybe the documentation on that could be a little more straightforward."
"The area where I would suggest improvement is on the pricing side. The pricing is not favorable sometimes when we use it for a few people. Even if we purchase additional licenses, no discount is given."
"We can improve GoAnywhere MFT's API documentation and automation logs, which will make it more user-friendly and help people comprehend it much more effectively, reducing friction."
"It would be helpful to have a way to actually have a job run without notifying the email addresses you have set up and without posting to the actual FTP... when you need to make a small change to a job that is deployed to production, and test that change, you have to go back and reset everything. It's not really a great way to test."
"We do have to occasionally restart GoAnywhere because a job gets stuck or we are having connectivity issues."
"The solution's built-in functions could be better; I want to see easier file transfers and management."
"I want to highlight the user interface as an area for improvement in GoAnywhere MFT, as it is slightly difficult to understand."
"I'd improve the UI and the file-sharing aspect because the UI needs lots of improvement because it's very confusing and it's good for the technical person, but any non-tech person who is going to use that, they get confused."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available
"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 carries a higher price tag than other MFT solutions."
"For what we pay to GoAnywhere every year, we are getting a fantastic deal. From a dollar perspective, it provides very good value."
"I find it to be very fair. It is very good."
"The cost was definitely within reason and it has definitely been worth the cost, based on how much we can automate. It has exceeded my expectations."
"When it comes to secure systems that we have used, the price point can get a whole lot higher. You might end up saving in the short term with other solutions, but are you getting a secure product? Do you feel confident in that? Will you be able to get any support afterward? From my experience, based on the price point and the service that we got, it was a good value for our money."
"The pricing is decent for mid-sized and small-sized companies. It is good for startups or mid-scale companies."
"Pricing is based on a one-time license."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
No data available
Outsourcing Company
14%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Computer Software Company
8%
Manufacturing Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business115
Midsize Enterprise33
Large Enterprise57
 

Questions from the Community

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Fortra's GoAnywhere MFT?
Our experience with GoAnywhere MFT's pricing, setup cost, and licensing structure has been highly positive because it is completely module-based. Instead of hitting us with a rigid, monolithic ente...
What needs improvement with Fortra's GoAnywhere MFT?
I think GoAnywhere MFT is already strong from the stability and security standpoint, but it can improve more in UI modernization and advanced analytics. Features including smart monitoring and AI-b...
What is your primary use case for Fortra's GoAnywhere MFT?
I use GoAnywhere MFT for secure file transfers between internal teams such as vendors. As my domain is in banking-related services, I use it for banking systems and cloud platforms. GoAnywhere MFT'...
 

Also Known As

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

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
McKesson City of Modesto, California Kwik Trip Northwestern University Charter Communications
Find out what your peers are saying about Fortra, BMC, IBM and others in Managed File Transfer (MFT). Updated: June 2026.
902,495 professionals have used our research since 2012.