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I love Hightail for what it does, and I look forward to looking at the features I haven't even used yet!

Overall Satisfaction with OpenText Hightail

I use Hightail mainly for its large file transfer capabilities. I started using it way back when it was called YouSendIt. Today there are numerous options for this type of service, however my familiarity with Hightail and its feature set allows me to be very quick and efficient with its use. Large files transfers are important in my businesses and I love the capabilities that Hightail offers. I never really liked using ftp servers and the like. It just always seemed like a cumbersome option and I found that often something would go wrong. Hightail (or YouSendIt, back when I first started using it) was the first option that I found that made sending large files and attachments simple and intuitive.
  • The desktop application that Hightail offers makes sending files super simple. There's no need to log into an account via browser. The app sits right in your dock (on a Mac) and you can be sending out files to your clients in a matter of seconds.
  • The option to compress large files into zip folders further makes downloading the files on the receiving end much quicker as well. I don't have to worry that an incredibly large file or multiple files will take a long time to download for my client.
  • Numerous security options are offered for the files that you send. You can password protect the download so that only those who have the password can download it. You can also set an expiration date on the download. Also, Hightail offers identity verification so you can make sure that only your intended recipient can download your files and that the link cannot be forwarded and downloaded by others.
  • One area I always found a little confusing was using the Hightail website to download the latest version of their software. It's a pet peeve thing, but I like when everything is perfectly clear. For some reason, finding the link to update the desktop app is always annoying. There's no intuitive "update the desktop app HERE" link. It's a small logo somewhere on a pop-up that you have to find. Not something that hurts the software side, but still annoying to me.
  • There are many other features that Hightail offers that I don't even use. Cloud file storage & sharing is one of them. I currently use Dropbox. When Hightail rolled out their cloud file storage feature, I was excited, as it came along with my current plan that I was already paying for. But I found it to not be such a smooth interface. Again, I like when things just work and this didn't seem to "just work" for me. It was too many steps. Admittedly, that was a while ago and I should probably go back and look at it again. Maybe it's safe to assume that the bugs have been worked out and it's a lot smoother. In fact, I'm going to add that to my to-do list!
  • I wish Hightail would do more customer engagement. I know there are other collaborative features that Hightail offers and I'm not even sure what they are. I don't always have time to go and fish around to see what other things I can do. If Hightail put themselves in front of me a little more I might make more and better use of their systems.
  • Being able to quickly and competently send clients files and content for review is incredibly important. It's one thing to have documents that can be worked on collaboratively in real time. But audio and video files usually need review. Hightail is great for that and has made working with clients a breeze.
  • Efficiency and fast-paced movement are important. Hightail offers very quick interaction with its software. I really like that about the platform and it speeds up my day and workflow.
  • It's hard to put an exact ROI on its use but I would say that, in all the time I've been using Hightail, it's helped add to my bottom line by being able to complete projects faster and provide good service to clients. Would I say that repeat business is a result of using Hightail? Not necessarily, but it's definitely added to my ability to work efficiently and securely with clients. So it's part of the overall picture.
I've used WeTransfer on the receiving end, and only once to send large files (because the client specifically asked that I send his files with WeTransfer). I can't really comment on how it stacks up against Hightail. On the receiving end, it works. I get an email from them with a download button that takes me to a page (with excellent image content) and I start the download from there. Simple and it works. Using their free option to send files was easy. It was browser-based, which is fine. Whether or not there are desktop and mobile apps I have no idea, although I would imagine there are. I use Hightail because it was the best option when I started using it and it continues to work well for me.
Hightail is my go-to source when I need to send large files that would never fit as regular attachments. That being said, sometimes there are files that would perfectly fit as attachments but I want the security that Hightail provides when sending sensitive or private material. It's very comforting knowing that the content I'm sending is only being received and viewed by the intended parties. It's also comforting for my clients when it's THEIR content that I'm sending for review.