Comparison of FTP client software

Last updated

The following tables compare general and technical information for a number of File Transfer Protocol (FTP) clients. Unless otherwise specified in footnotes, comparisons are based on the stable versions without any add-ons, extensions, or external programs.

Contents

Free and open-source software

ClientDeveloperInitial releaseLatest release License Copy files over 2 GB limit [1] Interface
VersionDate
cURL Daniel Stenberg19988.11.0 [2]   OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg 2024-11-06 curl Yes CLI
Cyberduck David V. Kocher20019.0.3 [3]   OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg 2024-09-18 GPL-3.0-or-later Yes GUI and CLI
Far Manager Eugene Roshal / FAR Group19963.0.6226  OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg 2023-12-14 BSD-3-Clause Yes TUI
FileZilla Community2001 (January)3.68.1 [4]   OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg 2024-11-04 GPL-2.0-or-later Yes GUI
FireFTP Mime Čuvalo2004 (September)2.0.32 [5]   OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg 2019-02-01 MPL-1.1, Charityware Yes (since version 2.0.5) Waterfox, Firefox pre-version 57 addon
Fugu University of Michigan Research Systems Unix Group20031.2.0 [6]   OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg 2005-05-02Fugu [7]  ? GUI
gFTP Brian Masney19982.0.19 [8]   OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg 2008-11-30 GPL-2.0-or-later Yes GTK+
lftp Alexander V. Lukyanov1996 (August)4.9.3 [9]   OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg 2024-11-08 GPL-3.0-or-later Yes CLI
Macfusion Michael Gorbach ?2.0.4 [10]   OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg 2010-12-03 Apache-2.0  ? GUI
NcFTP NcFTP Software Inc.1991 ClArtistic Yes CLI
net2ftp David C. Gartner2003 (January)1.3 [11]   OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg 2019-07-15 GPL-2.0-or-later  ? Web application
Rclone Nick Craig-Wood2014 (July)1.68.2 [12]   OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg 2024-11-15 MIT Yes CLI
tnftp Luke Mewburn199920230507 [13]   OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg 2023-05-07 BSD-4-Clause Yes CLI
WinSCP Martin Přikryl20006.3.5 [14]   OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg 2024-09-10 GPL-3.0-only Yes GUI and CLI

Proprietary freeware

ClientDeveloperInitial releaseLatest release License Copy files over 2 GB [1] Interface
VersionDate
CrossFTP CrossFTP Software20061.99.22020-05-23 Proprietary Yes GUI
LeechFTP Jan Debis19981.3 (Discontinued) Proprietary NoGUI
FTP Voyager Rhino Software, Inc1997 (January)16.1.0.02013-08-20 Proprietary Yes GUI

Freeware and commercial editions

ClientDeveloperInitial releaseLatest release License Copy files over 2 GB [1]
VersionDate
Core FTP CoreFTP.com20032.2 (build 1751)2012-06-27 Freeware Yes
Fetch Fetch Softworks 19895.7.72017-12-02 Proprietary Yes
Secure FTP Glub Tech19992.6.22013-07-27 Apache Yes
Sysax FTP Automation Codeorigin, LLC20055.312012-04-12 Proprietary Yes

Trials of commercial

ClientDeveloperInitial releaseLatest release License Copy files over 2 GB [1]
VersionDate
AbsoluteTelnet Celestial Software19969.492012-07-02 Proprietary Yes
Beyond Compare Scooter Software19965.0.42024-11-25 Proprietary Yes
Commander One Eltima Software20153.7.3831 [15]   OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg 2023-08-25 Proprietary Yes
CrossFTP Pro CrossFTP Software20061.98.72020-05-23 Proprietary Yes
CuteFTP Alex Kunadze/Globalscape 1994macOS: 3.1.3
Windows: 9.3.0
2014-05-02
2018-07-11
Proprietary Yes
Directory Opus GPSoftware199012.282022-06-03 Proprietary Yes
FlashFXP OpenSight Software, LLC19995.4.0.39702017-04-01 Proprietary Yes
SmartFTP SmartSoft Ltd199810.0.3185.02023-11-15 Proprietary Yes
Total Commander Christian Ghisler1993Android:3.50 [16]   OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
Windows:11.03 [17]   OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
2024-03-27
2024-02-21
Proprietary Yes
WebDrive South River Technologies, Inc.199820172017-06-16 Proprietary Yes
WS_FTP Ipswitch, Inc.199612.72018-11-27 Proprietary Yes
Yummy FTP Yummy Software20041.9.02018-05-10 Proprietary, Setapp  ?

Commercial

ClientDeveloperInitial releaseLatest release License Copy files over 2 GB [1]
VersionDate
ALFTP ESTsoft 20005.312012-02-01 Proprietary  ?
ExpanDrive (formerly SFTPDrive)ExpanDrive, Inc2005Linux:
macOS:
Windows:


Proprietary Yes
ForkLift BinaryNights, LLC20074.0.7 [18]   OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg 2024-01-30 Proprietary Yes
FTP Explorer FTPx Corp.October, 19961.0.1.532012-01 Proprietary  ?
FTP Files Anders Borum ApS20242024.472024-10-07 Proprietary Yes
Interarchy Nolobe Software Pty Ltd1993 (as Anarchie)10.0.62014-08-18 Proprietary Yes
Steed French Fry, SAS20121.2.1.11692017-06-27 Proprietary Yes
Transmit Panic, Inc. 19985.6.42020-04-20 Proprietary Yes
WISE-FTP AceBIT19987.0 (Build 7.0.4)2012-03-16 Proprietary  ?
edtFTPj Bruce P. Blackshaw20002.5.0 [19]   OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg 2016-07-06 Proprietary Yes
edtFTPnet Bruce P. Blackshaw20032.2.12011-08-26 Proprietary Yes

Operating system support

The operating systems the clients can run on:

Client Windows macOS Linux BSD Unix AmigaOS ChromeOS
AbsoluteTelnet YesNoNoNoNoNoNo
ALFTP YesNoNoNoNoNoNo
Beyond Compare YesYesYesNoNoNoNo
Classic FTP YesYesNoNoNoNoNo
Codeanywhere (webbased)YesYesYesYesYesYesYes
Commander One NoYesNoNoNoNoNo
Core FTP YesNoNoNoNoNoNo
CrossFTP YesYesYesYesYesYesNo
cURL (CL)YesYesYesYesYesYesNo
CuteFTP YesYesNoNoNoNoNo
Cyberduck YesYesNoNoNoNoNo
Directory Opus YesNoNoNoNoYesNo
ExpanDrive YesYesYesNoNoNoNo
Far Manager YesNoNoNoNoNoNo
Fetch NoYesNoNoNoNoNo
FileZilla YesYesYesYesYesNoNo
FireFTP YesYesYesYesYesNoNo
FlashFXP YesNoNoNoNoNoNo
Fling FTP YesNoNoNoNoNoNo
ForkLift NoYesNoNoNoNoNo
FTP Client NoYesNoNoNoNoNo
FTP Explorer YesNoNoNoNoNoNo
FTP FilesNoYesNoNoNoNoNo
FTP Voyager YesNoNoNoNoNoNo
Fugu NoYesNoNoNoNoNo
gFTP NoYesYesYesYesNoNo
Interarchy NoYesNoNoNoNoNo
LeechFTP YesNoNoNoNoNoNo
lftp (CL)Yes (cygwin)YesYesYesYesNoNo
Macfusion NoYesNoNoNoNoNo
Mosaic YesYesNoNoYesYesNo
NcFTP (CL)YesYesYesYesYesYesNo
net2ftp (web-based)YesYesYesYesYesYesNo
PSFTP (PuTTY) (CL)YesNoYesYesYesNoNo
Rclone YesYesYesYesYesNoNo
Secure FTP YesYesYesYesYesYesNo
SmartFTP YesNoNoNoNoNoNo
Steed YesNoNoNoNoNoNo
Sysax FTP Automation YesNoNoNoNoNoNo
Total Commander YesNoNoNoNoNoNo
tnftp (CL)Yes (cygwin)YesYesYesYesNoYes
Transmit NoYesNoNoNoNoNo
WebDrive YesYesNoNoNoNoNo
WinSCP YesNoNoNoNoNoNo
WISE-FTP YesNoNoNoNoNoNo
WS_FTP YesNoNoNoNoNoNo
Yummy FTP NoYesNoNoNoNoNo
Client Windows Mac OS X Linux BSD Unix AmigaOS ChromeOS

(CL) Command-Line interface only – no GUI (Graphical user interface)

Protocol support

Information about what internet protocols the clients support. External links lead to information about support in future versions of the clients or extensions that provide such functionality.

Client FTP FTP over SSH SFTP FTPS (FTP over SSL) FXP (Site2site transfer) DAV / HTTP(S) Compression Mode Z / Remote CompressionAPI / Commandline availableResume DownloadPassive modeParallel Transfer [20] Segmented Downloads [20]
AbsoluteTelnet NoNoYesNoNoNoYesYes ? ? ? ? ?
ALFTP YesNoNoYesNoNoNo ? ? ? ? ? ?
Beyond Compare YesNoYes (Pro only)Yes (Pro only)NoYes (Pro only)YesYesYesYesYes ? ?
Classic FTP YesNoNoYesNoNoNo ? ? ?Yes ? ?
Codeanywhere YesYesYesYesYesYesYesYesYesYesYes ? ?
Commander One YesNoYesYesNoNoNoNoNoNoYes ? ?
Core FTP YesYesYesYesYesYesYesNoYes ? ? ?Yes [21]
CrossFTP YesYes (Pro only)Yes (Pro only)Yes (Pro only)Yes (Pro only)Yes (Pro only)Yes ?YesYesYes ? ?
cURL YesYesYesYesNoYesYesNoYes (Only)YesYes ? ?
CuteFTP YesYesYesYesYesYes (HTTP(S))YesNo ?YesYes ?Yes
Cyberduck YesNoYesYesNoYesNoYes (SFTP only)YesYesYes ? ?
Directory Opus YesYesYesYesYesYesNoNoNoYesYes ? ?
ExpanDrive (Mac)YesYesYesYesNoNoYesNoYes ? ? ? ?
ExpanDrive (Windows)YesNoYesYesNoNo ?No ? ? ? ? ?
Far Manager YesYesYesYes ?YesNo ? ?YesYes ? ?
Fetch YesNoYesYesYesNoYesNoNoYesYes ? ?
FileZilla YesYesYesYesNoNoNoNoYes (basic)YesYes ?No
FireFTP YesNoYesYesYesNoYesNoNoYesYes ? ?
FlashFXP YesYesYesYesYesNoYesNoYesYesYes ? ?
Fling FTP YesNoNoYesNoNoNoYesYes ? ? ? ?
ForkLift YesNoYesYesYesYesYesNoNoYesYes ? ?
FTP Client YesNoYesYesYesNoNoNoNoYes ? ? ?
FTP Explorer YesNoNoNo ? ?No ? ? ? ? ? ?
FTP Voyager YesYesYesYesYesNoYesYesYesYesYes ? ?
Fugu NoNoYesNoNoNoNo ? ? ? ? ? ?
gFTP YesYesYesYes (control connection only)Yes ?No ?Yes ? ? ? ?
Interarchy YesYesYesYesYesYesNo ? ?YesYes ? ?
LeechFTP YesNoNoNoNoNoNo ? ? ? ? ? ?
lftp YesYesYesYesYesYes (Partial)NoNoYesYes ? ?Yes
Macfusion Yes ?YesNo ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Macfusion Yes ?YesNo ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
NcFTP YesNoNo ? ? ?No ?Yes ?Yes ? ?
PSFTP (PuTTY)NoNoYesNoNoNoNoNoYesYes ? ? ?
Rclone YesNoYesYesNoYesYesYesYesNoYesYesYes
Secure FTP YesNoNoYesNoNoYesYesYes ? ? ? ?
SmartFTP YesYesYesYesYesYesYesYesYesYesYes ?Yes
Steed YesNoYesYesNoNoNoNoNo ?Yes ? ?
Sysax FTP Automation YesNoYesYesNoNoYesNoYes (script and command line) ? ? ? ?
Total Commander YesYesYes (plugin)YesYesYes (plugin)Yes ?YesYesYes ? ?
Transmit YesYesYesYesYesYesNo ?Yes (AppleScript)YesYes ? ?
WebDrive YesYesYesYesYesYesYesYes (SFTP)YesYesYes ? ?
Windows 7 (ftp.exe)YesNoNoNoNoNoNoNoNo ?No ? ?
WinSCP YesYesYesYesNoYesYes (SFTP only)Yes (SCP command)YesYesYesYesNo
WISE-FTP YesNoYesYesYesNoYesYes ? ? ? ? ?
WS_FTP YesYes (Pro only)Yes (Pro only)YesYes (Pro only)YesYes (Pro only)NoYes (Pro only)Yes (Pro only)Yes ? ?
Yummy FTP YesNoYesYesYesYesYesYesYes (AppleScript)YesYes ? ?
Client FTP FTP over SSH SFTP FTPS (FTP over SSL) FXP (Site2site transfer) DAV / HTTP(S) Compression Mode Z / Remote CompressionAPI / Commandline availableResume DownloadPassive modeParallel TransferSegmented Downloads

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Konqueror</span> Web browser and file manager

Konqueror is a free and open-source web browser and file manager that provides web access and file-viewer functionality for file systems. It forms a core part of the KDE Software Compilation. Developed by volunteers, Konqueror can run on most Unix-like operating systems. The KDE community licenses and distributes Konqueror under GNU GPL-2.0-or-later.

The File Transfer Protocol (FTP) is a standard communication protocol used for the transfer of computer files from a server to a client on a computer network. FTP is built on a client–server model architecture using separate control and data connections between the client and the server. FTP users may authenticate themselves with a plain-text sign-in protocol, normally in the form of a username and password, but can connect anonymously if the server is configured to allow it. For secure transmission that protects the username and password, and encrypts the content, FTP is often secured with SSL/TLS (FTPS) or replaced with SSH File Transfer Protocol (SFTP).

WebDAV is a set of extensions to the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), which allows user agents to collaboratively author contents directly in an HTTP web server by providing facilities for concurrency control and namespace operations, thus allowing Web to be viewed as a writeable, collaborative medium and not just a read-only medium. WebDAV is defined in RFC 4918 by a working group of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF).

In computing, the SSH File Transfer Protocol is a network protocol that provides file access, file transfer, and file management over any reliable data stream. It was designed by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) as an extension of the Secure Shell protocol (SSH) version 2.0 to provide secure file transfer capabilities, and is seen as a replacement of File Transfer Protocol (FTP) due to superior security. The IETF Internet Draft states that, even though this protocol is described in the context of the SSH-2 protocol, it could be used in a number of different applications, such as secure file transfer over Transport Layer Security (TLS) and transfer of management information in VPN applications.

cURL is a computer software project providing a library (libcurl) and command-line tool (curl) for transferring data using various network protocols. The name stands for "Client for URL".

Secure copy protocol (SCP) is a means of securely transferring computer files between a local host and a remote host or between two remote hosts. It is based on the Secure Shell (SSH) protocol. "SCP" commonly refers to both the Secure Copy Protocol and the program itself.

File eXchange Protocol is a method of data transfer which uses FTP to transfer data from one remote server to another (inter-server) without routing this data through the client's connection. Conventional FTP involves a single server and a single client; all data transmission is done between these two. In the FXP session, a client maintains a standard FTP connection to two servers, and can direct either server to connect to the other to initiate a data transfer. The advantage of using FXP over FTP is evident when a high-bandwidth server demands resources from another high-bandwidth server, but only a low-bandwidth client, such as a network administrator working away from location, has the authority to access the resources on both servers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cyberduck</span> Software

Cyberduck is an open-source client for FTP and SFTP, WebDAV, and cloud storage, available for macOS and Windows licensed under the GPL. Cyberduck is written in Java and C# using the Cocoa user interface framework on macOS and Windows Forms on Windows. It supports FTP/TLS, using AUTH TLS as well as directory synchronization. The user interacts with the user interface (GUI), including file transfer by drag and drop and notifications via Growl. It is also able to open some files in external text editors.

sftp is a command-line interface client program to transfer files using the SSH File Transfer Protocol (SFTP), which runs inside the encrypted Secure Shell connection.

lftp Free software command-line client for several file transfer protocols

lftp is a command-line program client for several file transfer protocols. lftp is designed for Unix and Unix-like operating systems. It was developed by Alexander Lukyanov, and is distributed under the GNU General Public License.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">FileZilla</span> Free software, cross-platform file transfer protocol application

FileZilla is a free and open-source, cross-platform FTP application, consisting of FileZilla Client and FileZilla Server. Clients are available for Windows, Linux, and macOS. Both server and client support FTP and FTPS, while the client can in addition connect to SFTP servers. FileZilla's source code is hosted on SourceForge.

gFTP Czech ultralight aircraft

gFTP is a free and open-source multithreaded File Transfer Protocol client program. It is most used on Unix-like systems such as Linux, macOS, and Sony PlayStation 3. It includes both a graphical user interface (GUI), which utilizes the GTK+ graphical toolkit, and a command-line interface. gFTP is released under the terms of the GPL and has been translated into 45 languages.

FTPS is an extension to the commonly used File Transfer Protocol (FTP) that adds support for the Transport Layer Security (TLS) and, formerly, the Secure Sockets Layer cryptographic protocols.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">WinSCP</span> File transfer software for Windows

WinSCP is a file manager, SSH File Transfer Protocol (SFTP), File Transfer Protocol (FTP), WebDAV, Amazon S3, and secure copy protocol (SCP) client for Microsoft Windows. The WinSCP project has released its source code on GitHub under an open source license, while the program itself is distributed as proprietary freeware.

SmartFTP is a network file transfer program for Microsoft Windows that supports file transfer via FTP, FTPS, SFTP, WebDAV, Amazon S3, Google Drive, Microsoft OneDrive, Box, Google Cloud Storage and Backblaze B2 protocols. It supports SSL/TLS, IPv6 and FXP, and features a transfer queue, proxy and firewall support, multiple connections, chmod features and drag-and-drop. The software uses the Windows API for its interface. It is available for both IA-32 and x64 editions of Windows.

CrushFTP is a proprietary multi-protocol, multi-platform file transfer server originally developed in 1999. CrushFTP is shareware with a tiered pricing model. It is targeted at home users on up to enterprise users.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ExpanDrive</span> Network filesystem client

ExpanDrive is a network filesystem client for MacOS, Microsoft Windows and Linux that facilitates mapping of local volume to many different types of cloud storage. When a server is mounted with ExpanDrive any program can read, write, and manage remote files as if they were stored locally. This is different from most file transfer clients because it is integrated into all applications on the operating system. It also does not require a file to be downloaded to access portions of the content. ExpanDrive is commercial software, at a cost of $49.95 per license. A 7-day, unrestricted demo is available for evaluation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">FTP Voyager</span>

FTP Voyager is an FTP/FTPS/SFTP client for Microsoft Windows with support for the following features:

Bitvise is a proprietary secure remote access software developed for Windows and available as a client and server. The software is based on the Secure Shell (SSH) protocol, which provides a secure channel over an insecure network in a client-server architecture.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 ubuntuforums.org: 2007, 2GB data transfer limitation? Quote: "...The common 2 GB limit is actually a bug in many FTP clients. If he is using Windows, try the latest FileZilla...", kernel.org: FAQ: I can't download a file with size greater than 2GB, is your website broken?, Comparison of file systems#Limits
  2. Daniel Stenberg. "Curl: [RELEASE] curl 8.11.0" . Retrieved November 6, 2024.
  3. "Release 9.0.3". September 18, 2024. Retrieved October 9, 2024.
  4. "3.68.1 (2024-11-04)". November 4, 2024. Retrieved November 5, 2024.
  5. "Release 2.0.32". February 1, 2019. Retrieved June 19, 2019.
  6. "Research Systems Unix Group: Fugu". May 2, 2005. Archived from the original on February 19, 2019.
  7. "Fugu license". Archived from the original on February 19, 2019.
  8. Brian Masney (November 30, 2008). "gFTP 2.0.19 has been released".
  9. "Release 4.9.3". November 8, 2024. Retrieved November 25, 2024.
  10. "Macfusion2.0.4".
  11. https://www.net2ftp.com/index.php?state=homepage&state2=3.{{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  12. "Release 1.68.2". November 15, 2024. Retrieved November 26, 2024.
  13. "Index of pub/NetBSD/misc/tnftp/".
  14. "6.3.5". September 10, 2024. Retrieved September 10, 2024.
  15. "Commander One from the Electronic Team website :".
  16. "history2.txt" . Retrieved April 7, 2024.
  17. "Total Commander 11.03 is available now!" . Retrieved February 21, 2024.
  18. "ForkLift 4.0.7 is available". January 30, 2024.
  19. "edtFTPj/Free revision history".
  20. 1 2 "Multi-threaded and Segmented FTP · Whatbox". whatbox.ca. Retrieved July 15, 2020.
  21. "Core FTP - SFTP client features". coreftp.com. Retrieved July 15, 2020.