Fastbound Review: Best FFL Software?

FastBound is an FFL software that includes things like an electronic bound book and electronic 4473 compliance. 

However, because a couple of other FFL software brands are available, questions naturally ensue about which is the best or most appropriate. Is FastBound the best? Is it the right one for you?

As you’ll see, there is another option that I helped to create, FFL Safe, that more than likely has enough features for your needs, is incredibly easy to use, and is absolutely free – which can save you over $100 a year.

So, with all of that, the big question is – is Fastbound worth the cost? Well, in this FastBound review, break all that out for you to help you make the best decision based on your needs.

Fastbound Compliance Software

Long standing FFL compliance software backed by FFL Guard.

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• Interface B-
• Features A
• Compliance B+
• Price C+

Our Grade

B

Reader’s Grade

B

Based on 3 Reviews

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Full FastBound Review

When it comes to reviewing FFL compliance software, I believe you need to look at four general areas:

• Interface
• Features
• Pricing
• Compliance

Therefore, in this FastBound review, I will break down each component and look at how well it performed in each area and how that compares to others in the industry. 

FastBound Interface and Usability

First off, let’s start with the interface.  Having played with almost every FFL software on the market, I will say that the interface for FastBound is better than most, but not great.  In truth, having worked with software in different industries, I believe most of the FFL software user interfaces (how it looks) and user experiences (how you can naturally use it) could be improved – the only exception is FFL Safes which has the best look and feel. Fastbound? I’d give it a distant second.

My take on Fast Bound’s software layout is that, like many others in the industry, they started with a simple few features and, over time, have added more and more. However, it feels as though the initial design didn’t account for all the new features, and so many new capabilities were stacked one on top of another, causing the cluttered feel.  So, while FastBound does it better than most, it has a lot of room for improvement and isn’t as good as FFL Safe’s. 

FastBound’s Features

As is the case with just about every legitimate FFL software on the market, FastBound has all the necessary features like a sound electronic bound book, barcode scanning, the FFL check system,  and the necessary background check.

So, instead of focusing on those, let me discuss some of the things or capabilities that I find are different or worth noting.  First is that they are backed by a legal group called FFL Guard.  This means that if the software has a problem that causes you issues with your FFL, they will defend you and help.  This does NOT mean that they will back you if you make a mistake. So, don’t think this is some blanket cover for all your FFL operations. It’s just them saying that if their software makes a whoops, they’ll defend it.

Another area to discuss is the e4473 form filing. Yes, they do have the feature, but anyone who’s used it, and then tried FFL Safe’s 4473 form system will immediate note how difficult and archaic Fastbound’s is. Yes, it works….but the learning curve on this is just a bit much.

Another thing that is unique to them is how much they integrate with other POS services and services like 4473 Cloud.  You can use them as your compliance software for POS options like Trident1 and others. I like 4473 Cloud since it allows you to store all of your electronic 4473, making life easier. 

How Much Does FastBound Cost?

With regards to pricing, it’s not free. Unlike FFL Safe (which is completely free), Fastbound charges you for the number of items per year you transfer. So, if you’re a home-based FFL who only does 5-10 guns a year, you’re paying $108 a year. If you’re a gun store, you could be paying upwards of $1000 a year.

So, for pricing, I can’t give this an A when you can clearly see that there is a fully free option that can do most of what you need.

However, comparing it to other paid options (which I’m not too sure how long the paid option will last considering FFL Safe pretty much does all of what the others do but fully free), Fastbound paid system is one of the better ones.

But comparing pricing gets a bit tricky. It’s like comparing apples to oranges.  This is because many start with a low price based on the number of transfers and ramp up, and others just price it higher but make it unlimited transactions.

In the case of Fastbound, they offer all features at one of the lowest prices, but that price increases as you have more transactions. 

So, if you’re a home-based FFL owner you definitely shouldn’t choose Fastbound since there is no need to pay and thus should choose FFL Safe. However, if you are a large gun store and need things like barcode scanning, and diversified sales reports, then you might need to use a paid system, and Fastbounds is one of the cheaper ones.  

How Compliant is Fastbound?

When it comes to a program’s compliance, let’s face it, if it wasn’t compliant, then the ATF would have likely already shut it down. However, there are certain ways that FFL software can perform an action and thus be ‘compliant,’ but really isn’t an effective way.

For example, backups. It is required that an FFL have a backup, every 24 hours on a local computer, of their bound book if their software is cloud-based like Fastbound.

The way Fastbound gets around this is by using a 3rd party software (Dropbox) to do the automatic backups. To set this up, first you need to make a Dropbox account and, depending on your file sizes, you might need to pick and pay for a Dropbox plan. Then, you’ll go back to Fastbound and set it up to send the backup file to Dropbox. Once the files are going to Dropbox, you’ll need to setup Dropbox to automatically sync to a file folder on a local computer so that the files sent to Dropbox by Fastbound are also in the synced folder.

This is just one of the things that was kept in mind when FFLSafe was made. Automatic backups are a breeze – FFLSafe automatically backs up your bound book to your computer every day for you. All you need to do is set up the free downloader tool and you’re done – you’ll even see alerts right on the screen if there’s ever an issue. There’s no third party software needed.

But if you have problems with this setup, you can contact their support who I’ve heard are pretty fast and they can guide you.

So, with compliance in mind, I think Fastbound takes #2 until they build their own automatic backup system for users.

Fastbound FFL Pros and Cons

Final FastBound Review Recommendation:

As you can see, FastBound is currently listed as #2 best FFL compliance software on our list even though I might be biased, as you can see there are legitimate quantifiable reasons.  It is still costly, and the ease of use isn’t as good as FFL Safe. However, that being said, it is better priced than the other paid versions out there, and is probably the better options for large gun store owners (until FFL Safe adds all the upcoming features that large stores would like).

Because of this, I give FastBound a grade of B.