Why switch to Fileflare?

There are some huge reasons why you would want to switch. Using other apps may not have the specific features you want, have too many bugs, developers don’t care, bad support and much more. We have come along to solve every issue you could be running into.

One of our main goals is to help store owners protect their digital downloads. See our comprehensive guide to preventing customers from sharing your digital products.

Shopify's Digital Downloads app	Fileflare Digital Downloads app
Can only attach 1 file to each product	Attach unlimited files per product and variant
Free (no upgrade options)	Free plan available + upgrade options for when you grow
Doesn’t support customer account downloads	Display downloads links in customer accounts + fully customisable
Unlimited bandwidth	Unlimited bandwidth
5GB total storage per file	No maximum file size limit
Issues with cookies in some browsers	No issues with cookies
Cannot attach files to an single order	Personalised digital products by attaching files to a single order
Cannot override global limitations for an order	Ability to override global limitations for an order
No upgrade options	Plenty of upgrade options (we listen to customer feedback)
Display links on Thank You page	Display links on Thank You page
Cannot use your own email (white label)	Set IP Address limitations
No store branding features	Customise branding completely
Cannot set release dates	Set pre-order release dates on files
Sell digital files alongside subscription apps	Sell digital files alongside subscription apps
No update/notify options	Update files & notify previous customers
No protection features	Protect downloads using IP and fraud protection
Cannot see email tracking	Email tracking showing opens and bounces
No PDF Stamping	PDF Stamping
Cannot deliver URLs to customers	Can deliver URLs to customers
Only add single type of download limit	Add many types of download limitations
Cannot control an orders download	Expire an order (block customer’s downloads)
Sends downloads from @shopify.com email	Use your own email to send downloads (white label)
Email customisation templates	Email customisation templates
No API	API
Cannot connect your own S3	Connect your own S3

Please note: It's possible to use Fileflare alongside any other digital downloads app on Shopify. It won’t mess up your current application, and everything will run as normal. But please be aware that you may see multiple download emails being delivered by both apps. Make sure you have only one enabled at a time.

Migrated stores reviews

We’ve had a lot of stores migrate over to ours now. Here’s what they had to say.

1. Install Fileflare Digital Downloads

Go to the Shopify app store and install Fileflare Digital Downloads.

2. Disable automatic email delivery & Thank You page downloads

If you have a store that has orders coming in, this is important.

Before we carry on, we need to disable automatic download emails that are sent by Fileflare so that we can set up the app in the meantime. This makes sure that your other Digital Downloads app can keep delivering files while we complete the new setup.

Go to the "Settings" page in Fileflare
Go to "Additional settings"
Enable the setting "Disable all order download emails sent from Fileflare"
Click "Save"



Go to "Checkout settings"
Disable the option "Display download links on checkout page"
Click "Save"

3. Upload your digital files to Fileflare

You will need to upload your digital files to the Fileflare app.

There isn’t a method to transfer files directly from another app to Fileflare. You will need to download them from the old app (such as Shopify's app), or find them on your computer, and then upload them to Fileflare.

You can connect your own S3 server if you are currently using one for your other application. Meaning you don't need to download and transfer, you can just connect the server and read the files.

Go to the "Upload" page
Upload all of your digital files. You can do this in one go if you wanted. But if you have large files, I would recommend uploading in batches.

4. Attach the files to your Shopify products

All of your Shopify products are automatically synced and loaded into Fileflare’s "Products" page.

This is important because Fileflare doesn’t need you to create products twice. The process is as simplified as possible. Fileflare simply works alongside Shopify’s platform and delivers digital files alongside your Shopify products, making it super simple.

Go to the “Products” page in Fileflare
Click on a product that you want to attach files to
Then attach your files to the product using the search box/drop-down menu
Repeat this until all of your files are attached to the products

5. Set up your settings

Here you can build your settings to suit your business’s needs. Depending on your plan, you may have access to some extra features.

Take a good look at the Settings page to make sure everything is in line and set up the way you want it.

Add downloads to Shopify’s Order Confirmation email - Using Fileflare, you can add a method to deliver downloads using the Shopify Order confirmation email that gets sent with every order. You will need the Checkout thank you page downloads links enabled for this to work. This is available on the Basic plan.



Be aware, if you enable customer account download links and checkout download links, this will enable the Fileflare app. Please only enable these once you are ready to deliver files.

6. Disable your old digital downloads app & enable Fileflare

The final step is to switch over the apps by disabling the old app, and enabling Fileflare.

Go to the Fileflare "Settings" page
Go to "Additional settings"
Disable the setting "Disable all order download emails sent from Fileflare". This will enable the download email delivery.
Now, you can enable the customer account downloads and the checkout page downloads if you want these enabled.
Go to "Checkout settings"
Enable the option "Display download links on checkout page" if you want this
Go to your current digital downloads app and disable it. With Shopify's app, you may need to remove the file from the product to disable it.

Updated on: 29/05/2024