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How to switch from SendOwl to FileFreight: a step-by-step migration guide

Moving a digital-download store off SendOwl is a one-afternoon job: there is no automatic importer, but for most catalogs the whole migration takes about one to two hours. Follow the steps below in order, keep SendOwl live until the end, and you will not miss a sale.

Rather not do it yourself? For the first 20 sellers we’ll do the whole move for you — free, within 48 hours. Claim a free white-glove migration.

1. Inventory your products and files

Export a simple list of every product you sell on SendOwl: name, price, and which file is the current version. Download final copies of every file to your own machine so you are not hunting through folders mid-migration. Sellers with a dozen products usually finish this step in under 20 minutes.

2. Audit what's already in your customers' hands

Download links and license codes you already issued from SendOwl will not migrate: old links keep pointing at SendOwl, and old codes validate against SendOwl's system. If you use license codes, export whatever list SendOwl lets you keep for support purposes, and decide whether legacy buyers need new keys. The rule of thumb: past buyers keep working through SendOwl until you decide to grandfather or re-issue them.

3. Recreate each product manually

There is no one-click importer, so each product takes a few minutes: name, price, file upload (up to 500 MB per file), download limits, and link expiry. If the product uses license keys, turn them on — a key is then issued automatically with every new paid order, and your software can validate keys with a single call to POST /api/licenses/validate (see the license keys docs).

4. Connect Stripe and grab your buy links

Payments run on your Stripe account — the same one you already use with SendOwl works. Once connected, every product gets a public buy link at /buy/…. This is the heart of the migration: the rest is just swapping URLs. Details in the Stripe setup guide.

5. Repoint your sales channels

Replace your old SendOwl checkout links everywhere they appear: your website's buy buttons, Shopify product pages or blog posts, social bios, newsletter templates, and any landing pages. Do it one product at a time and tick each one off your inventory from step 1. Nothing on SendOwl changes when you do this — you are only changing where new buyers go.

6. Run a test purchase end to end

Buy your own cheapest product with a real payment: check that checkout works, the buyer email arrives, the download link downloads the right file, and a license key is issued if the product has one enabled. Then refund yourself from Stripe and confirm access is revoked — that refund behavior is built in and runs automatically.

7. Cancel SendOwl after delivery is confirmed

Leave SendOwl live until at least one real order has flowed through the new setup and you have seen the delivery email land. If you have repeat or legacy buyers, keep it live a little longer so old download links don't break without warning. Then cancel. Nothing is deleted from your account just because you signed up here — cancellation is a separate step you control.

The honest caveats

• No one-click importer. Every product is re-uploaded by hand. Budget about one to two hours for a typical catalog.
• No merchant-of-record or VAT handling. Buyer payments go straight into your own Stripe account, so sales-tax responsibility stays with you — unlike Gumroad or Lemon Squeezy, which handle it for you.
• Not a Shopify app. There is no Shopify integration; buy links are standalone and work from any site, including Shopify pages.
• Licenses validate via one API call. POST /api/licenses/validate confirms a key and the order it belongs to; revoked and refunded keys stop validating automatically.
• 500 MB file cap. Each uploaded file can be up to 500 MB. Video-heavy products may belong on a streaming host with the download as a companion.

How the pricing compares

SendOwl Launch, Grow, and Scale run $39, $87, and $159 a month with 0% transaction fees and annual revenue caps. FileFreight Pro is $19 a month with no per-sale fees and no revenue caps; the free plan is $0 a month with a 5% per-sale fee. The full numbers are in the FileFreight vs SendOwl comparison, and the quickstart covers the ten-minute setup.

Frequently asked questions

Will my old SendOwl download links keep working after I switch?

Links already issued from SendOwl keep pointing at SendOwl, so keep your SendOwl account live until you are done transitioning. New buyers only get the new links once you repoint your sales channels.

Is there an automatic importer from SendOwl to FileFreight?

No. Migration is manual: recreate each product (name, price, file, download limits), which takes a few minutes per product and about one to two hours for a typical catalog. Nothing is deleted from SendOwl by signing up here.

Do I need a new payment account?

No. On both platforms sales run through your own Stripe account, so you connect the same account to FileFreight and keep your payout history in one place.

Who handles sales tax after the switch?

FileFreight is not a merchant of record, so you remain responsible for your own sales tax. If you want tax handling done for you, that is a legitimate reason to stay on a merchant-of-record platform instead.

Can I run both platforms at the same time during the move?

Yes, and you should. Repoint products one at a time and leave SendOwl live until you have seen a real order flow through the new setup, so legacy buyers never hit a dead link.

Sources

• SendOwl's own comparison write-up (pricing plans, March 2026)
• Dodo Payments: SendOwl alternatives
• SendOwl help: licenses and codes

Pricing last checked September 2026.