Tool profile
ShareFile: cost, fit and limits
ShareFile is a secure file-sharing and client-portal platform that lets accounting, legal and financial firms exchange documents with outside clients, with e-signature, workflow and AI document tools on higher tiers. Progress Software Corporation is named in its addenda.
What to know first
ShareFile sells per-user plans: Advanced, Premium and Enterprise, each with a three-user minimum, plus a Virtual Data Room plan with a five-licence minimum. Client users are unlimited on every plan. Advanced has a basic portal, Premium an enhanced one with e-signature, requests and AI Workflows. The pricing page shows two unlabeled prices per plan, and trial length is not stated.
ShareFile at a glance
| Maker | ShareFile, Not stated on the pages read |
|---|---|
| Free plan | Free trial only |
| Entry price | $69.30 per user per month, billed annually (Virtual Data Room) |
| API access | No |
| Category | Best AI Client Portal Software in 2026, rank 11 of 11 |
| Website | sharefile.com |
Who ShareFile is best for
Accounting firms collecting tax documents
Premium adds client requests, forms and tasks, so staff can ask for a document list and track what has come in.
Compliance-bound advisers
Premium lists HIPAA and SEC and FINRA eligibility, and the trust page shows SOC 2 Type II and ISO 27001 documents.
Firms already on Microsoft 365
Co-editing and Outlook and Google Workspace plug-ins keep clients in familiar tools while files stay in ShareFile. Clients stay in tools they already know.
ShareFile plans and pricing
| Plan | Price | What it includes |
|---|---|---|
| Advanced | $18.15 or $16.50 per user per month | Three-user minimum, 3 TB starting storage plus 1 TB per licence, unlimited client users, MFA, SSO and a basic client portal. |
| Premium | $28.59 or $26.00 per user per month | Advanced plus e-signature, client requests, tasks, forms, workflow automation, enhanced portal, projects, client hub and watermarking. |
| Enterprise | $42.00 or $35.00 per user per month | Premium plus SCIM provisioning, SIEM integration, native data loss prevention, user behavior threat detection and a security center. |
| Virtual Data Room | $77.00 or $69.30 per user per month | Five-licence minimum, 1 GB per licence, dynamic watermarking, Folder Q&A, click trails and visibility analytics. |
Checked October 2026.
What ShareFile does
- AI Workflows
- Premium and above include file renaming, document validation, an AI document assistant, request list generation and secure share recommendations, subject to usage limits and pricing that may change.
- AI document automation
- Premium lists AI-powered document automation and generation, which helps a firm assemble standard client paperwork faster. The page does not say how the documents are drafted, so test output on a real engagement letter first.
- Client requests and forms
- Premium lets staff send a request list and collect forms, so a missing document becomes a trackable item. Staff can see what has arrived and what is still missing, which replaces a hand-kept checklist in a spreadsheet.
- E-signature
- Premium includes e-signature, so a signed engagement letter can sit in the same client folder. That keeps the engagement letter beside the client's other documents, with no separate signing service to reconcile.
- Security controls
- Enterprise adds SCIM, SIEM integration, native data loss prevention and threat detection for firms with a security team. Those controls matter mostly to larger firms with compliance staff, and they are priced at $42 or $35 per user.
How ShareFile handles your data
The trust page shows a SOC 2 Type II audit report, an ISO 27001 certificate from Progress Software, an ISO 27001:2022 document and a HIPAA certificate, plus a GDPR badge with no document listed. Its subprocessor table names AWS in the United States, Canada, Germany and Ireland, Cyclr in the United States and UK, and Novu in the United States and EU. Retention periods and AI training were not stated, and the privacy policy was not opened.
Where ShareFile falls short in practice
- Minimum seats. Three paid users are required on Advanced, Premium and Enterprise, so a solo adviser pays for seats they do not need. A solo adviser therefore pays at least three seats, which pushes the effective entry price above the headline per-user figure.
- Billing is sticky. Downgrading from annual or multi-year billing to monthly is not supported, and the billing cycle is fixed for the term. A firm that signs a long term cannot later move to a month-to-month arrangement, so start with a term you can live with.
- Unlabeled prices. Each plan shows two prices without saying which is monthly or annual, so confirm the figure at checkout. The difference is probably monthly versus annual billing, but the page does not say so, and checkout is where to confirm it.
Works with
Alternatives to ShareFile
ShareFile: common questions
Which ShareFile plan has the client portal?
Advanced includes a basic client portal, and Premium includes an enhanced one with client hub, requests and projects. Both allow unlimited client users. If you only need a secure place for clients to download files, Advanced may be enough. Choose by whether clients need requests and projects.
Does ShareFile publish its security certifications?
Yes. The trust page lists a SOC 2 Type II audit report, an ISO 27001 certificate and ISO 27001:2022 document from Progress Software, and a HIPAA certificate. It also shows a GDPR badge but lists no GDPR document, so ask for one if your clients require it.
What do ShareFile's AI Workflows do?
The pricing page lists file renaming, document validation, an AI document assistant, request list generation and secure share recommendations in Premium, Enterprise and the data room. It adds that usage limits and pricing may change, so ask what those limits are before relying on AI at scale.
How many users do I need to buy?
Advanced, Premium and Enterprise require at least three users, and the Virtual Data Room requires at least five licences. Client users are unlimited, so only your staff seats count toward the minimum. A solo adviser still pays for three seats.
Where does ShareFile store data?
The subprocessor table lists AWS in the United States, Canada, Germany and Ireland, Cyclr in the United States and UK, and Novu in the United States and EU. The page does not say how a customer picks a region, so ask sales which region holds your files.