Stylus SFTP Server - 2026 Pricing, Features, Reviews & Alternatives

Stylus SFTP Server is an enterprise grade secure file transfer platform designed for Windows and Linux environments. The platform supports five access protocols: SFTP, FTP, FTPS in explicit and implicit modes, WebDAV and a browser based portal. Unified authentication, quota management and audit capabilities apply across all protocols. The platform is built on Java twenty one and Apache MINA SSHD.

Authentication flexibility is achieved through integration with multiple identity sources configurable via a single XML element. Directory services such as Active Directory or LDAP bind can be used, with directory groups mapped to protocol permissions without per user configuration. JDBC database authentication supports H2, MySQL, PostgreSQL and SQL Server backends. SSH public key authentication enables certificate based access control. Time based one time password multi factor authentication extends across protocols and administrative access with self service enrollment in the browser portal. Defense in depth security features include IP block lists with CIDR notation, connection rate limiting, GeoIP country restrictions and configurable account lockout policies. Post quantum cryptography support is provided by ML KEM key exchange for SFTP sessions. A database filesystem option stores files directly in SQL databases with hierarchical folder structures and copy on write duplication for identical file visibility across protocols.

Audit and monitoring infrastructure records every event through four parallel audit sinks. Options include JDBC database logging, SLF4J and Log4j two file logging, RFC five four two four syslog forwarding and HMAC signed webhooks. The Web Admin Console offers real time monitoring with three live charts displaying per user bandwidth, transfer events and active sessions at five second resolution and thirty days of data history. The browser file portal enables uploads and downloads from any modern browser without client software. Features include a collapsible folder tree, keyboard shortcuts for cut copy and paste, conflict detection with atomic file replacement, parallel uploads and drag and drop support. WebDAV protocol support allows mounting of secure file spaces as network drives on Windows, macOS and Linux with HTTP Basic authentication over TLS and instant move operations on database backends.

Three administrative interfaces offer full feature parity and varied management workflows. The command line interface provides sixty one commands. A Swing based desktop GUI presents eleven configuration tabs. The Ext JS based web admin console enables remote management. Zero configuration defaults and a self contained installer that includes a Java twenty one runtime minimize deployment complexity. Windows installations register as an NT service and Linux deployments create a systemd unit to ensure automatic startup. The installer generates host keys for RSA, ECDSA and Ed two five five one nine algorithms, creates an initial database schema and applies foundational server configuration. Continuous integration includes over one thousand automated tests to validate stability and repeatability.