docevent.io

What It Is

DocEvent Simple FTP Service is a managed file transfer service built for cloud object storage. It lets businesses access their own AWS S3, Azure Blob Storage, or Google Cloud Storage via SFTP, FTP, FTPS, and SCP. According to the documentation, files are transferred directly to the user’s backend as in-memory streams and are not stored on DocEvent’s servers; FTP/S connections are encrypted using Let’s Encrypt SSL certificates.

Core Capabilities

Its main value is reducing the operational complexity of running your own FTP/SFTP gateway. The service runs on DocEvent-managed AWS EC2 auto-scaling clusters, with support for multiple regions and availability zones. Listed regions include US East, EU West, and Australia. On the management side, it provides a dashboard for viewing connections, users, and upload/download activity. Audit logs can record the commands executed by each user, with retention periods of 7, 30, or 90 days depending on the plan; longer retention can be requested, and the site also mentions storage for up to 7 years. Security features include IP allowlists/blocklists and SSH key authentication. Advanced features include file recovery/reprocessing, root username aliasing, and triggering AWS Step Functions, Azure/Lambda/GCS Functions after file arrival.

Pricing and Deployment

The Basic plan is free for up to 5 users, including 200MB of transfer and 5,000 operations. Standard costs $2/user/month, with a $10/month minimum. Premium costs $5/user/month, with a $25/month minimum. Each additional 10GB of transfer or 100,000 operations costs $10/month. Credit card payments are supported via Stripe. In addition to the cloud-hosted service, a Self-Hosted service and optional perpetual license are available for deployment behind your own firewall.

Pros and Cons

The advantages are its clear multi-cloud backend coverage, good potential compatibility with parts of the S3-compatible storage ecosystem, and the fact that high availability, load balancing, monitoring, and updates are handled by the provider. The downsides are that the included traffic quotas are relatively small, so high-volume file exchange needs additional cost calculation; the core sfs-server daemon is explicitly proprietary and not open source; the site does not disclose a full API/SDK; and there is no clear mention of Asia regions.

Who It’s For and Access from China

It is suitable for teams handling B2B file exchange, EDI, legacy FTP client access to cloud storage, or automated processing workflows triggered after upload. The documentation does not provide information on access from China. Stripe payments and overseas regions may affect procurement and network latency for mainland Chinese companies. Alternatives to compare include AWS Transfer Family, Azure Blob SFTP, SFTPGo, or a self-managed OpenSSH/SFTP plus object storage setup.