Comparison of FTP server software packages

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Contents

Graphical

NameLicensePlatformDetails
Cerberus FTP Server Proprietary Windows only FTP, FTPS, SFTP, SCP, HTTPS web client, IPv6, SOAP-based web services API, Windows Active Directory / LDAP authentication, HTTP / HTTPS remote administration, public key and client certificate authentication
CompleteFTP trialware Windows only FTP, FTPS, SFTP, SCP, HTTP, HTTPS, Windows Active Directory authentication, SQL authentication, SAML Single Sign-On authentication, groups, virtual file-system, process/e-mail events, data at rest encryption, protocol conversion for back-end servers, SSH tunnelling, file-sharing (via client app), web-app hosting via server-side Javascript, remote administration, public key and client certificate authentication, Plugin API (.NET/Javascript), fail-over, load-balancing, dockable dashboard
CrushFTP Server trialware macOS, Windows (all), Linux (all), *BSD, Solaris, IBM. FTP, FTPS, SFTP, SCP, HTTP, HTTPS, WebDAV(SSL), AS2, AS3, Plugin API, Active Directory / LDAP authentication, RADIUS authentication, SQL authentication, SAML SSO Authentication, CrushBalance load balancer, Web UI administration, Groups, Layered Inheritance, Events / Alerts, Protocol Conversion (incoming FTP/FTPS/SFTP/HTTP(s) protocols converted to a back end FTP(ES)/SFTP/HTTP(s)/S3/WebDAV server.), SSH Tunneling, HTTP(S) Tunneling, CrushTask, client certificate authentication, ad-hoc file sharing, keywords search, PGP in stream encryption / decryption, bandwidth acceleration (CrushTunnel), file revisions and synchronization, DMZ front end server mode can also cluster with load balance (supports proxy protocol v1 and v2), DDOS protection, High Availability Virtual IP, data replication and session replication, Job scheduling and monitoring, user config via API, scriptable command line file transfer client. Supports cloud storage via S3, Azure, [Citrix] file storage, Hadoop and Google Drive for file data.
FileZilla Server free software Windows, macOS, Linux FTP, FTPS, supports autoban, speedlimits, IP Filter, Groups, Shared folders, compression
Microsoft Internet Information Services Proprietary Windows only FTP, FTPS, WebDAV and WebDAV over SSL

(FTPS is supported in IIS 7 and later)

Sysax Multi Server proprietary, Free Personal EditionWindows (All Editions)Secure FTP Server that also supports Secure Shell Access and Web browser based secure file transfer. Protocols supported include FTP, FTPS, SFTP, HTTP, HTTPS, Telnet, and Secure Shell. Features include web UI administration, server event triggers and scripting, and authentication using Windows, ODBC, or Active Directory. Certified for Windows Vista.
War FTP Daemon free software Windows 9X/2000/XP/2003One of the original FTP servers made for the windows platform and still available.

Console/terminal-based

Name FOSS PlatformDetails
CrushFTP Server No, proprietary macOS, Windows, Linux, *BSD, Solaris, etc. FTP, FTPS, SFTP, SCP, HTTP, HTTPS, WebDAV and WebDAV over SSL, AS2, AS3, Plugin API, Windows Active Directory / LDAP authentication, SQL authentication, GUI remote administration, Events / Alerts, X.509 user auth for HTTPS/FTPS/FTPES, MD5 hash calculations on all file transfers, Protocol Conversion (incoming FTP/FTPS/SFTP/HTTP/HTTPS protocols converted to a back end FTP/SFTP server.), SSH Tunneling, HTTP(S) Tunneling, CrushTask, Headless (Web browser management, or you can edit XML files directly, or issue terminal commands to add users, manage groups, inheritance, permissions, query server statistics, etc.) Supports cloud storage via S3, Azure, Citrix file storage, Hadoop and Google Drive for file data. Support for CrushBalance load balancer, or others via proxy protocol v1 and v2.
glFTPd No, proprietary Linux, BSD, macOSVirtual users and groups, private paths, bandwidth throttling, upload/download ratio support, on the fly CRC calculating of files being uploaded, script support on almost all commands and operations, online user management, built-in statistics viewable using site commands, FTPS and ACL support. Supports FXP.
ProFTPD Yes, GPL Unix-like (Linux, BSD, macOS, and more [1] ), Windows with Cygwin Feature rich and popular FTP daemon for Unix-like platforms. Many third party Graphical User Interfaces (GUIs) available. SFTP can be supported via add-on module. [2]
Pure-FTPd Yes, BSD License Linux, BSD, macOS, and moreSupports FXP.
vsftpd Yes, GPLv2Linux, BSD, and more FTP, FTPS, FTPES. Supports X.509 client cert auth. deny / enable lists for user access. Logging data can be compatible with wu-ftpd format. vsftpd is default FTP daemon in Ubuntu, CentOS, Fedora, Slackware (along with ProFTPD), NimbleX and RHEL. Others like Debian require an additional installation. GPLv2 license with exception for linking with OpenSSL.
WU-FTPD No, proprietary Linux, BSD, Solaris, macOS and moreMain website seems offline, but continues development in the newer CC series

Summary board

Graphical UI based FTP Servers

Cerberus Complete CrushFTP Server FileZilla IIS Multi Server
License type proprietary proprietary proprietary FLOSS/GPL2 proprietary proprietary
OSLinuxNoNoYesYesNoNo
macOSNoNoYesYesNoNo
UnixNoNoYesNoNoNo
WindowsYesYesYesYesYesYes
User Interface CLI  ?YesYes ?Yes, via PowerShell [3]  ?
GUI integratedYesYesYesYesYes ?
GUI(s) separatelyYesYes ? ? ? ?
Web-based GUI YesYesYesNoNo ?
Services FTP YesYesYesYesYesYes
SFTP YesYesYesNoNoYes
FTPS YesYesYesYesYesYes
SCP YesYesYesNoNoYes
WebDAV NoNoYesNoYesNo
HTTP/HTTPS YesYesYesNoYesYes
AS2 NoNoYesNoNoNo
Authentication LDAP YesYesYesNoNoNo
Active Directory YesYesYesNoYesYes
LocalYesYesYesYesYesYes
DatabaseNoYesYesNoNoYes
High Availability Failover Cluster
(active/passive)
YesYesYesNoYesNo
Load Balancing
(active/active)
YesYesYesNoYes ?
Automation Event-handling YesYesYesNoNo ?
Scripting NoYesYesNoNo ?
Cerberus Complete CrushFTP Server FileZilla IIS Multi Server

Terminal/Console based FTP Servers

CrushFTP ProFTPD Pure-FTPd vsftpd
License type proprietary FLOSS/GPL BSD FLOSS/GPL2
OSLinuxYesYesYesYes
macOSYesYesYesYes
UnixYesYesYesYes
WindowsYesNoNoNo
User Interface CLI YesYesYesYes
GUI integratedYesNoNoNo
GUI(s) separatelyYesYesNoNo
Web-based GUI YesNoNoNo
Services FTP YesYesYesYes
SFTP YesYesNoNo
FTPS YesYesYesYes
SCP YesNoNoNo
WebDAV YesNoNoNo
HTTP/HTTPS YesNoNoNo
AS2 YesNoNoNo
Authentication LDAP YesYesYes ?
Active Directory YesNoNoNo
LocalYesYesYesYes
DatabaseYesYesYesNo
High Availability Failover Cluster
(active/passive)
YesNoNoNo
Load Balancing
(active/active)
YesNoNoNo
Automation Event-handling YesYes ? ?
Scripting YesYesNoNo
CrushFTP ProFTPD Pure-FTPd vsftpd

See also

Notes

  1. "The ProFTPD Project: Features & Platforms". Proftpd.org. Retrieved 2018-04-22.
  2. "ProFTPD module mod_sftp". Proftpd.org. Retrieved 2018-04-22.
  3. Microsoft TechNet (9 November 2009). "Web Server (IIS) Administration Cmdlets in Windows PowerShell". Microsoft.