← Field notes

Live FTP services for sports photographers, compared: PicPortal, Sideline Live, DeadlineFTP and Camera to Anywhere

Four services that receive photos from a camera’s FTP menu during a game, compared by upload security, captions, galleries, destinations and price. Prices checked October 2026.

Published · 9 min read

The short answer

All four receive frames from the camera’s FTP menu during the game. PicPortal and Sideline Live end in a live client gallery with captioning; DeadlineFTP ends at a remote editor’s desk with wire export; Camera to Anywhere ends in storage you choose, such as Google Drive, OneDrive, Box or a NAS. Pick by where the frame has to be when the job is done.2,4,9,12

Live FTP means the camera sends each frame as you shoot.

Professional bodies from Canon, Nikon, Sony and others can upload over Wi-Fi or Ethernet to a server address while the shooter keeps working. A live FTP service is that server, plus whatever it does next: show the frame in a gallery, caption it, hand it to an editor, or copy it into storage.13

The services below differ almost entirely in that second half.

Four services, four different endings.

Every figure comes from the vendor’s own pages on October 22, 2026. Features a vendor does not mention are marked as not published, not as missing.

Live FTP services for sports photographers, October 2026
PicPortalSideline LiveDeadlineFTPCamera to Anywhere
Ends inLive client galleryLive client gallery with salesRemote editor’s web galleryYour cloud storage or NAS
Entry price (USD, before tax)$4.99/month (250 images)$14.99/month or $149/year$12.99/month (2 users)$0 for 20 GB delivered a month; you supply the destination storage
Camera uploadFTPFTP, or SFTP as a fallbackPlain FTP onlyFTP, FTPS or SFTP
CaptionsCode replacements, ESPN rosters, AIAI captions, roster database, code filesQuick Text codes, voice notesNone
Storage and retention10 GB included; retention period not published10 GB included; retention period not publishedDeleted after 24 hoursHeld only until delivered; your destination keeps the archive
VideoNot describedNot describedNot describedYes
Trial7 days14 days7 daysFree tier, no trial needed

Match the service to the person waiting for the frame.

A parent, an editor and an archive want different things from the same frame.

A client watching a gallery

PicPortal or Sideline Live. Sideline adds sales through Stripe, custom domains and analytics; PicPortal starts cheaper and puts AI captions on every plan.4,1

An editor on deadline

DeadlineFTP: crop and caption in the browser, then push to the wire. Plan around the 24-hour deletion.8

A team or agency archive

Camera to Anywhere: the frame lands in the team’s Google Drive, OneDrive, Box or NAS, each copy checked on arrival, with no per-seat charge. Dropbox and Frame.io await provider app approval.12,11

More than one of these

Frames can go to more than one place. A delivery route can run beside a gallery service from the same game.

What a five-shooter team pays.

Sideline for Teams is $30 per user a month with 1 TB pooled storage. PicPortal Team starts at $49.99 a month billed annually, with seats priced on request. DeadlineFTP Small Team covers up to 8 users for $49.99 a month, counting each camera login as a user.5,1,7

Camera to Anywhere does not price by seat or camera. A team pays for gigabytes delivered after the first 20 GB each month: 500 frames of 12 MB sent to two destinations is 12 GB.11

How this comparison was made.

We compared the products for the workflow described above, using the linked first-party pages. We did not test the other products. Camera to Anywhere routes are labelled by evidence: live-proven routes have delivered real files in production, and the others say what remains. Features and pricing change; sources were last reviewed on October 22, 2026. Camera to Anywhere sells a routing service and may complement or compete with these products in parts of this workflow. Report a correction to hello@cameratoanywhere.com.

Camera to Anywhere is an independent interoperability service. Product and company names are the property of their respective owners. References do not imply endorsement, certification, or partnership.

Frequently asked questions

What is live FTP in sports photography?

The camera uploads each frame to a server over Wi-Fi or Ethernet as it is shot, so an editor or client sees it during the game instead of after the cards are pulled.

Which live FTP service supports SFTP?

Of these four, Camera to Anywhere accepts FTP, FTPS and SFTP; Sideline Live offers SFTP as a fallback; PicPortal publishes FTP only; DeadlineFTP asks for plain FTP.12,4,2,10

Which costs least to start?

On October 22, 2026, Camera to Anywhere charged nothing for the first 20 GB delivered each month, but you supply the destination storage. Among the gallery services, PicPortal Basic was $4.99 a month for 250 images, including 10 GB of storage.11,1

Sources

Sources were last reviewed on . Vendor interfaces and documentation can change; follow the linked source and re-test the exact production workflow.

  1. 01
    PicPortalPricing ↗
  2. 02
  3. 03
    Sideline CaptionsPricing ↗
  4. 04
  5. 05
    Sideline CaptionsSideline for Teams ↗
  6. 06
    Sideline CaptionsFAQ ↗
  7. 07
    DeadlineFTPPricing ↗
  8. 08
  9. 09
  10. 10
  11. 11
    Camera to AnywherePricing ↗
  12. 12
    Camera to AnywhereIntegrations ↗
  13. 13