Cryptshare

Cryptshare is a secure transfer product for files and e-mails of any size, sold by Pointsharp. It works in the browser and integrates directly into Outlook, Outlook on the web and Notes, so staff send large or confidential attachments from the mail client they already use.

Pointsharp states that every Cryptshare transfer is encrypted with AES-256 and travels over a TLS-encrypted connection to and from the Cryptshare Server. External contacts need no licence, no account and no software to send or receive. An administrator sets size limits and the minimum, maximum and standard retention periods.

The Pointsharp imprint names Pointsharp AB at Uddvagen 7 in Nacka, Sweden. Pointsharp says it was founded in Sweden in 2006, has its head office in Stockholm and offices in Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands, and that it acquired the German company Cryptshare.

Main Capital Partners, headquartered in The Hague, invested in Pointsharp in 2020. Cryptshare can be self-hosted on your own servers, run in a private cloud at a provider you choose, or used as a hosted service, and it ships as a virtual appliance for VMware and Hyper-V. Pointsharp lists the BITMi labels Software Made in Germany and Software Made in Europe.

Cryptshare is licensed per mailbox, not per server, and the price depends on the number of users, the Outlook or Notes integrations and API access, so a quote is needed. The hosted Cryptshare.express edition starts at EUR 5 per user per month.

A trial runs on a hosted demo server after registration. Cryptshare suits IT departments that want the transfer server inside their own network, with policy rules per sender and recipient and no accounts to manage for outside contacts. People looking for a quick public upload page should choose TransferXL or TransferNow instead.

What Cryptshare does well

• Cryptshare can be self-hosted, including as a virtual appliance for VMware and Hyper-V
• Pointsharp states that every Cryptshare transfer is encrypted with AES-256
• Cryptshare integrates into Outlook, Outlook on the web and Notes
• External Cryptshare recipients need no licence, account or software
• Cryptshare.express has a published starting price of EUR 5 per user per month

Where Cryptshare falls short

• Cryptshare licence prices beyond the Cryptshare.express starting price are on request
• Cryptshare has no free plan, only a trial on a hosted demo server
• The hosting location of the hosted Cryptshare service is not stated on the pages read
• The Pointsharp certifications page names labels and no ISO 27001 certificate

Standout feature. Cryptshare is the only product in this comparison that can be installed on your own servers, which places the storage location and retention rules entirely under your own administrators.