Compare/FileFeed vs Flatfile
A Flatfile alternative built for files that keep arriving
Flatfile is an in-app importer, now in long term support under a company that builds something else. FileFeed handles the files your clients send again and again over SFTP and email: mapped once per client, checked on every run, delivered as clean JSON.
Hellora onboards clients from 30+ HR systems on FileFeed, with no engineer per client. Read how
The whole path of a client file
Flatfile was built for the upload moment
An importer needs a person at the screen for every file. A feed needs nobody. This is what that means along the path of a recurring client file.
01
Intake
02
Mapping
03
Validation
04
Transforms
05
Delivery
06
Monitoring
Someone uploads it
Again on each upload
While the user waits
In the importer
Your listener code
No run history for feeds
SFTP and email
Once per client
Every row
Built in
JSON pushed to your API
Run history, reprocess
01Intake
Someone uploads it
SFTP and email
02Mapping
Again on each upload
Once per client
03Validation
While the user waits
Every row
04Transforms
In the importer
Built in
05Delivery
Your listener code
JSON pushed to your API
06Monitoring
No run history for feeds
Run history, reprocess
For a one time upload inside your app, an importer is the right tool, and FileFeed's own importer is free. For files that arrive every night, the dashed boxes are people and code.
Why teams pick FileFeed
Three things you get that Flatfile leaves to you
01
A product that is the whole company
The company behind Flatfile is now called Obvious and builds an AI agent workspace. The Flatfile changelog has been quiet since July 2025. FileFeed has one product, recurring client files, and all of our work goes into it.
Public record
31 Jan 2025
Portal v2 and v3 retired. Moving on meant a new account and a rebuilt importer.
23 Jul 2025
Last entry in the public Flatfile changelog.
5 Dec 2025
The company becomes Obvious. Flatfile stays in what it calls active, long term support.
Mar 2026
flatfile.com carries a banner on every page pointing to Obvious, a separate per seat AI agent product.
02
Files arrive on the client's schedule, with nobody watching
Clients drop files on SFTP or email them. FileFeed picks each one up, runs the saved mapping and checks every row. Nobody opens a review screen, selects a sheet or matches columns again.
Connections
Reusing this connection. No new one will be created.
03
Map a client once and leave it alone
Flatfile customers rebuilt their importer twice as product versions were retired. In FileFeed a client's mapping is saved in the dashboard and replays on every later file from that client.
Pipeline & Mappings
Map source columns to schema fields.
Map every required schema field: start_date.
Side by side
FileFeed vs Flatfile
Recurring feeds over SFTP
Files sent by email
Mapping saved per client
Files validated with nobody present
Clean data delivered to your API
Run history and reprocess
In-app importer
Active development
Flatfile details from its public documentation and pricing as of September 29, 2026.
What it costs
A published price, on the website
FileFeed Feeds
$90per client connection / month
after a $3,000 pilot with a 30 day money back guarantee
- YesMinimum 5 connections, up to 50
- YesEvery new client feed set up by us
- YesIntake, mapping, validation and delivery included
- YesNo per row pricing, billed annually
- YesEmbeddable importer free forever
Flatfile
$799per month, billed annually
- Portal plan, an in-app importer
- Projects is sold through sales with no public price
- Recurring SFTP and email feeds are not part of either
Switching
Start with the clients who already send files on a schedule
Those clients move to a feed and stop uploading by hand. In-app uploads can stay where they are, or move to FileFeed's free importer when you are ready.
- 1
Define your schema once
The same fields your importer uses today, with types and required flags.
- 2
Add a connection per client
Hosted SFTP, the client's own SFTP server, or an inbox with a sender allow list.
- 3
Confirm the suggested mapping
Drop one recent file. FileFeed suggests the mapping, you confirm it, and it is saved for that client.
- 4
Point the webhook at your API
Set the URL and verify the signature. Every later file lands as clean JSON.
Send us one real client file and we set the first feed up with you. Send a file
In production
Hellora runs every client onboarding on FileFeed
Rosters arrive from dozens of HR systems, each in its own layout. Every format is mapped once and then runs on its own.
Read the Hellora story30+
HR systems connected
1
mapping per client format
0
engineers per new client
FAQ
Flatfile and FileFeed, in plain answers
Is Flatfile still being developed?
The company behind Flatfile renamed itself Obvious on 5 December 2025. Obvious builds a separate AI agent product, sold per seat, with its own architecture. Flatfile stays available as a product in what the company calls active, long term support. As of 29 September 2026, the public Flatfile changelog has no entries after 23 July 2025.
Does Flatfile support SFTP or email file feeds?
Not as a product. Flatfile's current documentation has no pages on SFTP, email intake, schedules or recurring feeds. SFTP appears only in the legacy docs, and those say every file uploaded over SFTP needs a manual review, including sheet selection, header row selection and column matching. Email intake does not exist.
What happened to Flatfile Portal v2 and v3?
Flatfile retired Portal v2 and v3 on 31 January 2025. Moving to the current platform meant a new account and rebuilding the importer in code. Teams that built on Portal have now been moved off two generations of the product.
What does Flatfile cost?
Flatfile's public Portal pricing lists a Professional plan at $799 per month, billed annually. The Projects product is sold only through sales, with no published figures. FileFeed starts with a $3,000 pilot with a 30 day money back guarantee, then $90 per client connection per month, billed annually, with no per row metering.
What does FileFeed do?
FileFeed takes the files your clients send on a schedule. Files arrive over SFTP or email. You map each client's format to your schema once. Every later file is validated on every run. Clean JSON is pushed to your webhook or pulled through the API. It is built for implementation and onboarding teams at B2B software companies.
How is this different from an embeddable CSV importer?
An embeddable importer like Flatfile handles one upload inside your app, done by the end user. FileFeed handles files that keep arriving over SFTP or email: each client is mapped once, every file runs through the same validation, and clean JSON is delivered to your API. FileFeed also includes its own embeddable importer, free forever.
How fast can I see FileFeed work on my own file?
Drop one real client file in your browser on the Try page and see it mapped to your schema in about a minute, with nothing uploaded. If you want a working feed on it, send us the file and we set it up with you.
How is FileFeed priced?
A $3,000 Feed Pilot puts your first client feed live within 30 days, or your money back. After that it is $90 per client connection per month, billed annually, minimum 5 connections, with every new client feed set up by us and no per row pricing. The embeddable importer is free forever, and Enterprise covers more than 50 connections, priced on request.
See it on one real client file
Drop a file a client sends you today. You see the mapping, the rows that fail and the clean JSON in about a minute. Nothing is uploaded and you need no account.
Comparing more tools? See all comparisons or read the complete guide to recurring client file feeds.