Comparison of FTP client software
The following tables compare general and technical information for a number of FTP clients and related clients that use other no 1[definition needed] file transfer protocols. 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 softwareEdit
| Client | Creator | First public release date | Latest stable version | Software license | Copy files over 2 GB limit[1] | Interface |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| cURL | Daniel Stenberg | 1998 | 7.63.0 (12 December 2018[2]) [±] | MIT | Yes | CLI |
| Cyberduck | David V. Kocher | 2001 | 6.0.4 June 2, 2017 | GPL | Yes | GUI and CLI |
| FAR Manager | Eugene Roshal / FAR Group | 1996 | 3.0 build 5000 (7 August 2017) [±] | BSD | Yes | TUI |
| FileZilla | Community | 2001 (January) | 3.39.0 (30 November 2018) [±][3] | GPL | Yes | GUI |
| FireFTP | Mime Čuvalo | 2004 (September) | 2.0.31 (January 20, 2017) [±] | MPL 1.1, Charityware | Yes (since version 2.0.5) | Firefox pre-version 57 addon |
| Fugu | University of Michigan Research Systems Unix Group | 2003 | 1.2.0 May 2, 2005 | BSD | ? | GUI |
| gFTP | Brian Masney | 1998 | 2.0.19 November 30, 2008 | GPL | Yes | GTK+ |
| lftp | Alexander V. Lukyanov | 1996 (August) | 4.8.4 (August 1, 2018[4]) [±] | GPL | Yes | CLI |
| Macfusion | Michael Gorbach | ? | 2.0.4 | BSD | ? | GUI |
| NcFTP | NcFTP Software Inc. | 1991 | 3.2.6 November 27, 2016 | Clarified Artistic License | Yes | CLI |
| net2ftp | David C. Gartner | 2003 (January) | 0.98 March 1, 2013 | GPL | ? | Web application |
| tnftp | Luke Mewburn | 1999 | 20151004 October 4, 2015 | BSD | ? | CLI |
| WinSCP | Martin Přikryl | 2000 | 5.13.6 (December 12, 2018[5]) [±] | GPL | Yes | GUI and CLI |
| Yafc | Sebastian Ramacher | 1999 | v1.3.7 (January 1, 2016) [±] | GPL | Yes | CLI |
Proprietary freewareEdit
| Client | Creator | First public release date | Latest stable version | Software license | Copy files over 2 GB[1] | Interface |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CrossFTP | CrossFTP Software | 2006 | 1.98.7 | Proprietary | Yes | GUI |
| Classic FTP | NCH Software | 2007 | 2.52 | Proprietary | Yes | GUI |
| Fling FTP (free version contains adware) | NCH Software | 2007 | 1.0.7 | Proprietary | Yes | Windows Explorer shell extension |
| LeechFTP | Jan Debis | 1998 | 1.3 (Discontinued) | Proprietary | No | GUI |
| mimiFTP | Cosimo Saccone | 2017 | 1.0 (Discontinued) | Proprietary | ? | GUI |
| pbFtpClient | Level5Software | 2007 | 6.1 | Proprietary | ? | Windows GUI |
| RaiDrive [6] | OpenBoxLab | 2017 | 1.3.5 | Proprietary | Yes | VFS |
| FTP Voyager | Rhino Software, Inc | 1997 (January) | 16.1.0.0 (August 20, 2013) | Proprietary | Yes | GUI |
| sFTP Client | sFTP Client Ltd | 2013 | 3.1.6 (August 18, 2018) | Proprietary | Yes | GUI |
Freeware and commercial editionsEdit
| Client | Creator | First public release date | Latest stable version | Software license | Copy files over 2 GB[1] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CoreFTP | CoreFTP.com | 2003 | 2.2 (build 1751) June 27, 2012 | Freeware | Yes |
| Fetch | Fetch Softworks | 1989 | 5.7.7 December 2, 2017 | Proprietary | Yes |
| Monsta FTP | Monsta Limited | 2013 | 2.8 August 6, 2018 | Proprietary | Yes |
| Secure FTP | Glub Tech | 1999 | 2.6.2 July 27, 2013 | Apache | Yes |
| Sysax FTP Automation | Codeorigin, LLC | 2005 | 5.31 April 12, 2012 | Proprietary | Yes |
| Xftp | Netsarang Computer, Inc. | 2004 | 6.0 Build 0103 December 11, 2018 | Proprietary | Yes |
| sFTP Client | sFTP Client Ltd | 2013 | 3.1.6 August 18, 2018 | Proprietary | Yes |
Trials of commercialEdit
| Client | Creator | First public release date | Latest stable version | Software license | Copy files over 2 GB[1] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AbsoluteTelnet | Celestial Software | 1996 | 9.49 July 2, 2012 | Proprietary | Yes |
| Beyond Compare | Scooter Software | 1996 | 4.2.8 October 29, 2018 | Proprietary | Yes |
| Commander One | Eltima Software | 2015 | 1.1 September 29, 2015 | Proprietary | Yes |
| CrossFTP Pro | CrossFTP Software | 2006 | 1.98.7 December 19, 2017 | Proprietary | Yes |
| CuteFTP | Alex Kunadze/Globalscape | 1994 | 9.3.0 (Windows) July 11, 2018 / 3.1.3 (Mac) May 2, 2014 | Proprietary | Yes |
| Directory Opus | GPSoftware | 1990 | 11.10 December 19, 2014 | Proprietary | Yes |
| FlashFXP | OpenSight Software, LLC | 1999 | 5.4.0.3970 April 1, 2017 | Proprietary | Yes |
| FTP Client | Vicomsoft | 1997 | 5.0.1 | Proprietary | Yes |
| SmartFTP | SmartSoft Ltd | 1998 | 6.0.2155.0 July 23, 2015 | Proprietary | Yes |
| Total Commander | Christian Ghisler | 1993 | 9.21a August 21, 2018 | Proprietary | Yes |
| WebDrive | South River Technologies, Inc. | 1998 | 2017 June 16, 2017 | Proprietary | Yes |
| WS_FTP | Ipswitch, Inc. | 1996 | 12.5 | Proprietary | Yes |
| Yummy FTP | Yummy Software | 2004 | 1.9.0 May 10, 2018 | Proprietary, Setapp | ? |
| sFTP Client | sFTP Client Ltd | 2013 | 3.1.6 August 18, 2018 | Proprietary | Yes |
| Desktop.Tech | Micro Formatica | 2018 | 0.5.0 October 31, 2018 | Proprietary | Yes |
CommercialEdit
| Client | Creator | First public release date | Latest stable version | Software license | Copy files over 2 GB[1] | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ALFTP | ESTsoft | 2000 | 5.31 February 1, 2012 | Proprietary | ? | |
| ExpanDrive (Mac) | ExpanDrive, Inc | 2008 | 6.3.0 (November 2, 2018) [±] | Proprietary | Yes | |
| ExpanDrive (Windows) (formerly SFTPDrive) | ExpanDrive, Inc | 2005 | 6.3.0 (November 2, 2018) [±] | Proprietary | Yes | |
| ForkLift | BinaryNights, LLC | 2007 | 3.2.2 April 10, 2018 | Proprietary | Yes | |
| FTP Commander | Internetsoft Corporation | 1997 | 9.21 November 8, 2010 | Proprietary | Yes | |
| FTP Explorer | FTPx Corp. | October, 1996 | 1.0.1.53; January 2012 | Proprietary | ? | |
| Interarchy | Nolobe Software Pty Ltd | 1993 (as Anarchie) | 10.0.6 August 18, 2014 | Proprietary | Yes | |
| Robo-FTP | Serengeti Systems Incorporated | 2001 | 3.10.11 April 14, 2017 | Proprietary | Yes | |
| Steed | French Fry, SAS | 2012 | 1.2.1.1169 June 27, 2017 | Proprietary | Yes | |
| Transmit | Panic, Inc. | 1998 | 5.0.4 October 2, 2017 | Proprietary | Yes | |
| WISE-FTP | AceBIT | 1998 | 7.0 (Build 7.0.4) March 16, 2012 | Proprietary | ? | |
| edtFTPj | Bruce P. Blackshaw | 2000 | 2.3.0 August 26, 2011 | Proprietary | Yes | Java JAR file |
| edtFTPnet | Bruce P. Blackshaw | 2003 | 2.2.1 August 26, 2011 | Proprietary | Yes | Windows DLL |
| Ultimate FTP .NET Lib | ComponentPro | 2006 | 6.8.1 November 2, 2017 | Proprietary | Yes | Windows DLL |
| ScriptFTP | FrozenFrog Software | 2018 | 4.5 February 5, 2018 | Proprietary | Yes | Windows |
| sFTP Client | sFTP Client Ltd | 2013 | 3.1.6 August 18, 2018 | Proprietary | Yes | Windows, macOS, Linux |
| Desktop.Tech | Micro Formatica | 2018 | 0.5.0 October 31, 2018 | Proprietary | Yes |
Operating system supportEdit
The operating systems the clients can run on.
| Client | Windows | macOS | Linux | BSD | Unix | AmigaOS | ChromeOS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AbsoluteTelnet | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| ALFTP | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| Beyond Compare | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No |
| Classic FTP | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No |
| Codeanywhere (webbased) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Commander One | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | No |
| CoreFTP | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| CrossFTP | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| cURL (CL) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| CuteFTP | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No |
| Cyberduck | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No |
| Directory Opus | Yes | No | No | No | No | Yes | No |
| ExpanDrive | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No |
| FAR Manager | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| Fetch | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | No |
| FileZilla | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| FireFTP | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| FlashFXP | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| Fling FTP | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| ForkLift | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | No |
| Client | Windows | Mac OS X | Linux | BSD | Unix | AmigaOS | ChromeOS |
| FTP Client | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | No |
| FTP Commander | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| FTP Explorer | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| FTP Voyager | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| Fugu | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | No |
| gFTP | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Interarchy | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | No |
| LeechFTP | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| lftp (CL) | Yes (cygwin) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Macfusion | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | No |
| mimiFTP | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| Monsta FTP | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Mosaic | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes | No |
| NcFTP (CL) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| net2ftp (web-based) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| pbFtpClient | Yes | No | No | No | No | Yes | No |
| PSFTP (PuTTY) (CL) | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| RaiDrive | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| Robo-FTP | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| Secure FTP | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| SmartFTP | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| Steed | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| Sysax FTP Automation | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| Total Commander | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| Transmit | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | No |
| WebDrive | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No |
| WinSCP | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| WISE-FTP | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| WS_FTP | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| Xftp | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| Yummy FTP | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | No |
| sFTP Client | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| Desktop.Tech | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| Client | Windows | Mac OS X | Linux | BSD | Unix | AmigaOS | ChromeOS |
(CL) Command-Line interface only – no GUI (Graphical user interface)
Protocol supportEdit
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 | Remote Compression | API / Commandline available | Resume Download | Passive mode | Sync Connections |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AbsoluteTelnet | No | No | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| ALFTP | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | No | No | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| Beyond Compare | Yes | No | Yes (Pro only) | Yes (Pro only) | No | Yes (Pro only) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? |
| Classic FTP | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | No | No | ? | ? | ? | Yes | ? |
| Codeanywhere | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? |
| Commander One | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | ? |
| CoreFTP | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | ? | ? | ? |
| CrossFTP | Yes | Yes (Pro only) | Yes (Pro only) | Yes (Pro only) | Yes (Pro only) | Yes (Pro only) | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? |
| cURL | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | Yes (Only) | Yes | Yes | ? |
| CuteFTP | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes (HTTP(S) | Yes | No | ? | Yes | Yes | ? |
| Cyberduck | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes (SFTP only) | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? |
| Directory Opus | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | ? |
| ExpanDrive (Mac) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | Yes | ? | ? | ? |
| ExpanDrive (Windows) | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | ? | No | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| FAR Manager | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | No | ? | ? | Yes | Yes | ? |
| Fetch | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes | ? |
| FileZilla | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | Yes (basic) | Yes | Yes | ? |
| FireFTP | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes | ? |
| FlashFXP | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? |
| Fling FTP | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | ? |
| ForkLift | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes | ? |
| FTP Client | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | Yes | ? | ? |
| FTP Commander | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| FTP Explorer | Yes | No | No | No | ? | ? | No | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| FTP Voyager | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? |
| Fugu | No | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| gFTP | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes (control connection only) | Yes | ? | No | ? | Yes | ? | ? | ? |
| Interarchy | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | ? | ? | Yes | Yes | ? |
| LeechFTP | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| lftp | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes (Partial) | No | No | Yes | Yes | ? | ? |
| Macfusion | Yes | ? | Yes | No | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| Macfusion | Yes | ? | Yes | No | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| mimiFTP | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | ? |
| Monsta FTP (web-based) | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | ? |
| NcFTP | Yes | No | No | ? | ? | ? | No | ? | Yes | ? | Yes | ? |
| pbFtpClient | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| PSFTP (PuTTY) | No | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | ? | ? |
| RaiDrive | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | Yes | ? |
| Robo-FTP | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? |
| Secure FTP | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | ? |
| SmartFTP | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? |
| Steed | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | ? | Yes | ? |
| Swish | No | No | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | ? | No | ? | ? | ? |
| Sysax FTP Automation | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | Yes (script and command line) | ? | ? | ? |
| Total Commander | Yes | Yes | Yes (plugin) | Yes | Yes | Yes (plugin) | Yes | ? | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? |
| Transmit | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | ? | Yes (AppleScript) | Yes | Yes | ? |
| WebDrive | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes (SFTP) | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? |
| Windows 7 (ftp.exe) | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | ? | No | ? |
| WinSCP | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes (SFTP only) | Yes (SCP command) | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? |
| WISE-FTP | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| WS_FTP | Yes | Yes (Pro only) | Yes (Pro only) | Yes | Yes (Pro only) | Yes | Yes (Pro only) | No | Yes (Pro only) | Yes (Pro only) | Yes | ? |
| Xftp | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? |
| Yummy FTP | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes (AppleScript) | Yes | Yes | ? |
| sFTP Client | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes (SSH Terminal) | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Client | FTP | FTP over SSH | SFTP | FTPS (FTP over SSL) | FXP (Site2site transfer) | DAV / HTTP(S) | Compression | Remote Compression | API / Commandline available | Resume Download | Passive mode |
ReferencesEdit
- ^ a b c d e 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
- ^ "curl - Changes". cURL. Retrieved 12 December 2018.
- ^ "Version history". FileZilla. 30 November 2018. Retrieved 11 December 2018.
- ^ "LFTP - events". Retrieved 13 August 2018.
- ^ "Recent Version History :: WinSCP". Retrieved 2018-12-12.
- ^ RaiDrive Homepage https://www.raidrive.com
See alsoEdit
- File Transfer Protocol (FTP)
- List of FTP server software
- Comparison of SSH clients – note that many of these, although not listed here, also have an SFTP capability