$4
/ 100 GiB overage
Versus their $8. LAN caching is included on every plan - no TeamCache box to buy to keep it there.
Comparison
Swarmfile vs. LucidLink
LucidLink invented cloud-streamed creative storage. They do many things well, and we respect them. Here's where we differ - both ways. Last reviewed August 2026.
The three lines that change the math
SSO
included on Pro
SCIM and LDAP too. They reserve all three for Enterprise. At 25+ seats this is the deal.
LAN
on every plan
Every workstation seeds. No TeamCache box per site to buy, install, and maintain.
Where they’re stronger today: SOC 2 Type II, TPN Gold Shield, a mobile app, and a decade of major-studio logos. We don’t hide it - see the full side-by-side below.
Cheaper, and you include more.
Swarmfile ProLucidLink Business
Price / seat / month$25$32
Included storage / seat500 GiB400 GB
Storage overage$4 / 100 GiB$8 / 100 GB
SSO / SCIM / LDAPIncludedEnterprise only
LAN cachingEvery planTeamCache box (Enterprise add-on)
Lower price, more storage, cheaper overage - and the identity and LAN-caching features they reserve for Enterprise are included on Pro.
Architecture & performance
Capability
Swarmfile
LucidLink
Native drive mount (macOS / Windows / Linux)
✓
✓
Browse-without-download for huge files
✓
✓
LAN performance for co-located teams
✓P2P mesh on every plan - every workstation seeds to its peers automatically. No box to install.
◐TeamCache: install and manage a dedicated on-prem cache node. Enterprise add-on.
Multi-site / global teams
✓
✓A TeamCache per site (Enterprise).
Cloud backend
Zero-egress object storage + optional self-hosted seed (Pro+).
AWS S3; bring-your-own S3 on Enterprise.
File-type-aware chunking (Revit headers, IFC streams, etc.)
✓
-Generic.
We treat your office as part of the swarm. They treat it as a cache appliance you pay extra for.
Collaboration & locking
Capability
Swarmfile
LucidLink
Cooperative file locks
✓
✓
Byte-range locks (Revit / SolidWorks worksharing)
◐On the roadmap - hub-enforced byte-range locking is built and tested; the in-Revit add-in itself hasn't started.
✓Supports multi-user Revit central models via native Windows file locking - Windows-only, no macOS/Linux equivalent.
Versioning + point-in-time rollback
✓1-3650-day retention per user.
✓30-day snapshots (Business); unlimited (Enterprise).
Disconnect-and-resync (Pack & Go)
✓Pin a folder, take a checkout lock (7-day default, no heartbeat), work offline. Saves queue locally; uploads resume on reconnect; explicit conflict resolution (keep-mine / keep-theirs / keep-both) if the world moved.
-Prefetch into local cache only. No checkout semantics, no offline-write workflow, no conflict-copy reconcile.
Per-workspace branching + merge
✓Each mount works a branch independently (Perforce-streams model), then merges changed files back - whole-file, with conflict detection - into main or any parent branch.
-No branch/workspace-isolation primitive.
Identity & access
Capability
Swarmfile
LucidLink
SAML / OIDC SSO
✓Included on Pro.
◐Enterprise only.
SCIM 2.0 provisioning
✓Included on Pro.
◐Enterprise only.
On-prem LDAP / AD sync agent
✓
-
Folder & file-level ACLs
✓Allow / deny / inherit, with recursive resolution.
◐Group-based.
Windows DACL projection
✓
-
We don't make you upgrade to Enterprise just to get SSO. That alone changes the math at 25+ seats.
Security & compliance
Capability
Swarmfile
LucidLink
AES-256-GCM encryption (at rest + in flight)
✓
✓
End-to-end / customer-held keys
◐Managed-key by default (central rotation, project-scoped revocation, SCIM-driven decryption); opt-in end-to-end tier where per-project keys - down to per-folder sub-keys - never reach our servers in plaintext. Share links can be E2E too, multi-device key transfer is supported, and an always-on key-granter keeps offline members from getting locked out. Content-only (names/sizes stay server-visible); server-side previews off on E2E projects.
✓Customer holds the keys.
Block-level BLAKE3 integrity verification
✓
◐Block-level architecture (256 KiB); integrity/verification method not publicly specified.
Erasure coding (Reed-Solomon 10+4)
✓
-
Ransomware detection (inline CID-overwrite quarantine)
✓
◐Snapshot recovery only.
SOC 2 Type II
-Type I not yet started.
✓
TPN Gold Shield (M&E)
-Planned.
✓
MPAA TPN, GDPR
◐GDPR-ready; not formally audited.
✓
Unified activity feed
✓Owner-only cross-source activity feed with CSV export. SIEM export on roadmap.
✓Enterprise.
If your contract requires SOC 2 Type II or TPN Gold Shield today, LucidLink is the answer. If you're not under that gate, we close the encryption gap and add things they don't - erasure coding and inline ransomware detection.
Migration & openness
Capability
Swarmfile
LucidLink
Migration CLI (local / NAS / S3 sources, with verify + resume)
✓
◐move-s3 bucket-relocation CLI + documented Rclone bulk migration; no turnkey first-party migration tool with verify/resume.
Self-hosted seed / cache
✓Pro and above; bring your own NAS.
◐Enterprise TeamCache; BYO S3 on Enterprise.
Open architecture / data portability
✓Object-storage bucket + content-addressed blocks. You can walk away with your data.
◐AWS-managed by default. Portability via BYO S3 on Enterprise.
Reach & track record
Capability
Swarmfile
LucidLink
Major studio customers
◐Onboarding our first studios now.
✓A+E Networks and many more.
Verticals served
✓M&E · Geospatial · AEC (Revit worksharing on the roadmap).
✓M&E (primary), some adjacent.
Mobile app
-
✓
24/7 support
✓Enterprise.
✓Enterprise.
They have logos and a mobile app. We don't yet. If those are deal-breakers, talk to them. If you want to influence the product direction and lock in founding-customer pricing, talk to us.
Pricing
Capability
Swarmfile
LucidLink
Entry tier
$5/seat/mo Starter - 100 GiB/seat, capped at 5 seats. No free option; every paid plan keeps service.
$7/seat/mo Starter - 100 GB/seat, capped at 10 seats / 1 TB.
Team tier price / seat / month
$25 Pro
$32 Business
Included storage per seat
500 GiB
400 GB
Storage overage
$4 / 100 GiB
$8 / 100 GB
Egress (bandwidth) allowance per seat
✓Unlimited - no allowance, no overage, free on every plan.
Not published for Business - no stated allowance or overage rate.
SSO / SCIM / LDAP included at this tier
✓
-Enterprise only.
Trial
7-day trial on every paid plan - Starter and Pro alike. Card on file, nothing charged until day 7.
30 days, no card.
Enterprise
Custom.
Custom.
We beat their storage allowance AND their price - $7/seat less, more GiB per seat, a cheaper overage rate, and unlimited free egress where theirs has no published cap at all. SSO, SCIM, and LDAP are included - they reserve those for Enterprise.
Where Swarmfile is stronger today
- LAN-first on every plan. Every workstation participates in the P2P swarm automatically. No TeamCache box to buy, install, and maintain per site.
- SSO, SCIM, and LDAP on Pro. Their equivalent identity stack lives behind Enterprise pricing. At 25+ seats that gap is the real story.
- 500 GiB/seat included - more than theirs, and we're cheaper. We beat their storage allowance (500 GiB vs 400 GiB/seat), undercut their seat price ($25 vs $32), and undercut their overage rate ($4 vs $8 per 100 GiB) - on top of SSO/SCIM/LDAP and LAN caching, both included on Pro, both an Enterprise-only add-on or a box you buy on theirs.
- Byte-range locks for Revit / SolidWorks. The hub + engine API is built and tested; the in-Revit add-in itself hasn't started. LucidLink supports multi-user Revit central models today via native Windows file locking (Windows-only) - if you need that now on Windows, they're the answer today; ours will work cross-platform once the add-in ships.
- Block-level integrity, erasure coding, inline ransomware detection. Three things they don't currently advertise. Each one is the kind of thing you only notice you didn't have after an incident.
- Opt-in end-to-end encryption with per-folder granularity. Opt-in customer-managed keys down to the folder level, E2E share links, multi-device key transfer, and an always-on key-granter so offline members don't get locked out - all with an org recovery key you hold. LucidLink's customer-held-key model is coarser and always-on; ours is opt-in per project so teams can choose the tradeoff.
- Per-workspace branching with automatic merge. Per-workspace branching lets a look-dev variant or design option diverge on its own mount, then merge back into main with conflict detection - no copying the project, no manual reconciliation. LucidLink has no equivalent workspace-isolation model.
- Multi-vertical from day one. M&E, Geospatial, and AEC. If your firm spans more than one, you don't need a separate tool stack per practice.
- Migration CLI. Move from S3, a NAS, or a local file tree with verify + resume + JSON reporting. No manual upload week.
Decide on your timeline, not ours.
Start free in two minutes, or talk to us first if you'd rather interrogate the architecture before signing anything up.