ExpanDrive vs Files.com
Files.com acquired ExpanDrive in January 2024 and relaunched it under a new licensing model in April 2025. They're two products under one roof — a cloud-drive desktop tool for individuals and small teams, and an enterprise File Orchestration Platform for IT teams managing transfers at scale. Here's the honest take on which one fits you.
You're an IT team running file workflows for the org
Files.com is the platform IT configures once and rolls out to the whole organization. Centralized admin, org-wide visibility, group-based access, one console managing every transfer. ExpanDrive is per-user mounts on individual desktops; Files.com is one platform every user reaches through.
You need to orchestrate, not just mount
Files.com runs scheduled and event-triggered workflows that move, transform, and route files between systems. ExpanDrive's job ends once the file is on your desktop.
You need compliance evidence
SOC 2 Type II, HIPAA, PCI DSS Level 1. If your security review requires real compliance attestations, Files.com has them — published, audited, and ready for the vendor security questionnaire.
You need SSO and SCIM with your existing IdP
Files.com plugs into Okta, Microsoft Entra ID, ADFS, Duo, and Google Workspace SSO out of the box. SCIM provisioning means account lifecycle flows through your identity stack — joiners get the right groups automatically, leavers get deprovisioned the moment IT flips the switch.
You need full audit logs
Every read, write, share, and download lands in a queryable log. Filter by user, by folder, by time window, by IP. ExpanDrive runs at the user-and-desktop layer; there's no central log of who touched what. The moment the question becomes serious, Files.com is the answer.
You're onboarding external partners or vendors
Branded share portals, time-bounded share links, inbox folders for partner uploads, per-partner access policies. Sending an external collaborator their own ExpanDrive license is a workaround; Files.com handles partner onboarding as a first-class feature.
You're replacing a legacy MFT vendor
Sterling, GoAnywhere, MOVEit, Axway. Files.com is the modern cloud-native alternative — the Consolidator pitch IT teams use when they're retiring legacy MFT and standardizing file movement on one platform. ExpanDrive doesn't compete in that lane; Files.com is built for it.
You're an individual or a small team
One to ten users, working on personal or team cloud storage from the desktop. Free for personal use, a flat $29/month for the whole team on the Business plan with Server Edition.
You want every cloud as a drive on your desktop
Google Drive, OneDrive, SharePoint, Dropbox, S3, Box, SFTP — all mounted in Finder or Explorer at the same time. Streamed on demand, no full local sync.
You need a real Linux desktop client
ExpanDrive runs natively on Linux — the cloud-drive product nobody else ships on Linux. Native .deb and .rpm packages, signed apt and yum repositories.
You're not (yet) at the scale that needs orchestration
A drive letter that maps to your cloud is the whole product. Audit logs, automation, SSO, partner onboarding — those are problems you don't have yet. Stay on ExpanDrive until you do.
— What it costs
Two pricing models, two different scales.
ExpanDrive is priced for individuals and small teams. Files.com is priced for organizations running file movement at scale — it does more, and it costs more.
ExpanDrive
Free for personal use and for teams up to 10 users. A flat $29/month for the whole team on the Business plan — pennies per user. Custom Enterprise pricing for larger fleets. Sized for individuals and small teams.
Files.com
Starts at $199/month for the smallest plan. Enterprise customers pay anywhere from there into the millions of dollars per year, scaling with transfer volume, user count, compliance requirements, and required features. Sized for the org running file movement at scale.
— When you outgrow ExpanDrive
Five moments to step up to Files.com.
The signals that the desktop-drive model has stopped fitting and the orchestration platform is the right answer. Hit one of these and the migration guide is the next click.
IT asked about audit logs.
ExpanDrive runs at the user-and-desktop layer — there's no central log of who touched what. The moment that question becomes serious — for security review, compliance, or just operational visibility — Files.com is the answer. Every read, write, share, and download lands in a queryable log.
An auditor mentioned SOC 2, HIPAA, or PCI.
ExpanDrive doesn't make compliance claims; it's a desktop tool. Files.com is SOC 2 Type II, HIPAA-compliant, and PCI DSS Level 1. If you're prepping for an audit or filling out a vendor security questionnaire, Files.com is the platform that has the answers.
You're wiring up integrations or automations.
ExpanDrive's job ends once the file is on your desktop. If you need to move files between systems on a schedule, transform them en route, or trigger workflows when files land — that's File Orchestration, and that's what Files.com was built for.
Someone needs SSO or SCIM.
ExpanDrive authenticates per-user against each cloud. Files.com sits behind your SAML SSO and provisions users via SCIM. When your IT team starts treating cloud storage like any other enterprise app, the SSO/SCIM moment is when you outgrow the desktop tool.
You're onboarding partners or vendors.
Sending external collaborators their own ExpanDrive license to mount your cloud is a workaround. Files.com handles external user provisioning, time-bounded shares, branded portals, and inbox folders — the partner-onboarding workflow as a feature, not an improvisation.
— Common questions
ExpanDrive and Files.com.
The questions that come up when someone realizes both products live under one roof — and the honest answer to which one fits.
Try ExpanDrive. It's free.
Mount every major cloud as a drive on macOS, Windows, and Linux. Free for personal use. When you're ready for orchestration, Files.com is one short migration away.