Informally vs Email: What are the differences?

Most email providers place a limit on attachment size, which makes it very difficult to send large sets of data on email. As we'll explain in the next pain point, this can elongate the process and turn what should be a straightforward task into something far more time consuming.

The only upload limitations that exist on Informally are in relation to your subscription level. However, even on the basic plan, the upload limit is far greater than is offered on email, so it is highly unlikely that you will not be able to upload an individual data set in one go. That means you can leave the data to upload in the background and return to it once everything has been completed.

When preparing your data to be sent over email, the file will first need to be compressed into a ZIP file to make it more manageable. If the file is still too large it will need to be split – but in a way that doesn't interfere with the data or make it difficult to reattach once it has been received.

Because the upload limits offered by Informally are far greater than email, it means you can simply plug in your data and let it upload without any hassle. That removes the need to compress and split datasets, making it much more easier to prepare.

When transferring data from one platform to another, security will always be a major concern, especially if it is particularly sensitive information. By default, most email providers do not offer strong encryption of information being sent, which can make it vulnerable if it is targeted. Emails can be intercepted or spoofed, so organisations are often wary of using it as a delivery channel.

With Informally your data is encrypted at rest and in transit, ensuring it remains protected when stored and when being downloaded. This gives it the protection it needs to be safe from unauthorised attempts to access it. Our publishing pipeline also allows you to anonymise and strip away any sensitive data you do not want to reveal, so you are always in control of what your audience sees.

Planning, preparing and sending datasets to multiple customers takes a lot of manual work — writing messages, attaching the right files, checking versions, and maintaining send lists. Repeat that every time the data updates and it quickly becomes an error‑prone, time sink.

With Informally, customers access the latest version directly in your website. You publish once, control access, and everyone sees the current source of truth — no attachments, no mailing lists, no resends. It removes a lot of the manual work, saving you valuable time and resources, increasing the time you have to focus on other tasks.