Comparison of file sharing applications

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search

File sharing is a method of distributing electronically stored information such as computer programs and digital media. Below is a list of file sharing applications, most of them make use of peer-to-peer file sharing technologies.

Table [edit]

Name Network[1] Anonymous P2P Link system compatibility Price Platform License Programming language Spyware-adware free Latest release version Extra information
Acquisition Gnutella, BitTorrent No magnet Nagware or US$17.99 OS X GPL Objective-C, Java Yes 2.2 (v223) (November 19, 2010; 2 years ago (2010-11-19)) [±] Alternative to LimeWire for Mac users; uses Cocoa GUI
aMule eDonkey, Kad No eD2k Free Linux, OS X, Windows GPL C++ Yes 2.3.1 (November 11, 2011; 18 months ago (2011-11-11)[2]) [±]
ANts P2P ANts Yes ed2k Free Linux, OS X, Windows GPL Java Yes 2010 Proxies other users' IP addresses making it hard to determine who is downloading
Ares Galaxy Ares, BitTorrent No arlnk Free Windows GPL Object Pascal (Delphi) Yes 2.2.4 (February 10, 2013; 3 months ago (2013-02-10)

[3]) [±]
BearShare
(pre v6.0)		 Gnutella No ed2k, magnet Free or US$3.29 monthly Windows Proprietary C++ No 10.0.0.131462 (January 29, 2013; 4 months ago (2013-01-29)) [±]
Since version 6: clone of the commercial iMesh software; does not connect to Gnutella and restricts downloads to media formats
BitComet BitTorrent, eDonkey, Kad[4] No ed2k,[4] magnet Free Windows Proprietary C++ Yes 1.36 (May 2, 2013; 31 days ago (2013-05-02)) [±][5] Exploits SuperSeeding and thus is often banned by trackers and peers. Compatible with e2DK links through an eMule plugin which gives access to eDonkey and Kad networks and cross-network sharing abilities with BitTorrent network.
BitTornado BitTorrent No No Free Linux, OS X, Windows Open source Python Yes 2006
BitTorrent BitTorrent No No Free Windows, Mac OS X Proprietary C++ Yes Windows:

7.8 (Build 29626) (May 1, 2013; 32 days ago (2013-05-01)) [±][6]

Mac OS X:
7.3.5 Build 27628 (July 25, 2012; 10 months ago (2012-07-25)) [±][6]

 µTorrent rebrand
broolz Direct Connect No No Free or US$59.95 Windows, OS X, Linux Proprietary Java Yes 2011 Internal p2p protocols that allow only secondary users authorised by primary user to share
Cabos Gnutella No magnet Free OS X, Windows GPL Java, REALbasic Yes 0.8.2 (February 9, 2010; 3 years ago (2010-02-09)) [±]
DC++ Direct Connect No magnet Free Windows GPL C++ Yes 0.799 May 5, 2012; 12 months ago (2012-05-05) Many modifications exist, for example LinuxDC++
Deluge BitTorrent Unknown magnet Free Linux, OS X, Windows GPL Python Yes 1.3.6 (February 25, 2013; 3 months ago (2013-02-25)) [±]
eDonkey2000 eDonkey, Overnet No ed2k Free or US$19.95 Linux, OS X, Windows Proprietary C++ Yes 2005 Discontinued
eMule eDonkey, Kad No ed2k Free Windows GPL C++ Yes 0.50a (April 7, 2010; 3 years ago (2010-04-07)[7]) [±] Supports protocol obfuscation
ExoSee  ? No No Free Windows Proprietary  ? Yes 2007 ExoSee appears to have no business model
Filetopia Filetopia No (except when using a bouncer) No Free Windows Proprietary Delphi No 2002
Free Download Manager BitTorrent No metalink Free Windows GPL C++ Yes 3.9.2 (Build 1287) (January 11, 2013; 4 months ago (2013-01-11)) [±][8]
Freenet's FProxy Freenet Yes No Free Linux, OS X, Windows GPL Java Yes 0.7.5 (Build 1443) (April 1, 2013; 2 months ago (2013-04-01)[9]) [±]
Frost Freenet Yes No Free Linux, OS X, Windows GPL Java Yes 2011
FrostWire Gnutella, BitTorrent No magnet Free Linux, OS X, Windows GPL Java Yes 5.5.3 (February 9, 2013; 3 months ago (2013-02-09)) [±] Fork of LimeWire, with no copyrighted-material blocker planned
giFT OpenFT and, with plugins, Ares, Gnutella, FastTrack No No Free Linux, OS X, Windows GPL C Yes 0.11.8.1 (2004-11-27) [±]
Gnucleus Gnutella, Gnutella2 No No Free Windows GPL C++ Yes 2.2.0.0 (2005-06-17) [±]
GNUnet GNUnet Yes No Free Linux, OS X, Windows GPL C Yes 0.9.5 (December 21, 2012; 5 months ago (2012-12-21)[10]) [±]
gtk-gnutella Gnutella No magnet Free Linux, Windows GPL C Yes 0.98.4 (November 11, 2012; 6 months ago (2012-11-11)) [±]
iMesh
(pre v6.0)		 FastTrack, Gnutella, Gnutella2 No No Free Windows Proprietary C++ Yes 2008
I2Phex I2P (protocol Gnutella) Yes magnet Free Linux, OS X, Windows GPL Java Yes 2011 need I2P to run
I2PSnark I2P (protocol BitTorrent) Yes magnet Free Linux, OS X, Windows GPL Java Yes 2010 Integrated into I2P distribution
iMule I2P (protocol Kad network) Yes ed2k Free Linux, OS X, Windows GPL C++ Yes 2.3.2.2 (January 15, 2013 (2013-01-15)) [±] internal I2P is old and buggy, use separate I2P installation
Kazaa FastTrack No No Free Windows Proprietary C++ adware & spyware 2006 Illegal in Australia.
Kazaa Lite FastTrack No No Free Windows Proprietary  ? Yes 2007 Adware-disabled version of Kazaa (fake versions in circulation)
KCeasy Ares, Gnutella, FastTrack, OpenFT No No Free Windows GPL C++, Object Pascal (Delphi) Yes 2008 Uses integrated giFT file sharing daemon as back-end
KTorrent BitTorrent No magnet Free Linux, OS X, Windows GPL C++ Yes 4.3.1 (January 17, 2013; 4 months ago (2013-01-17)[11]) [±] Part of the KDE desktop, can be installed separately
LimeWire Gnutella, BitTorrent No magnet Free or US$18.88 Linux, OS X, Windows GPL Java No 2010 Shutdown permanently due to injunction from MGM v. Grokster in which Limewire was ordered to disable all functionality of the software.[12]
Manolito MP2P No MP2P Free or US$19.95 Windows Proprietary  ? No 2008
MLDonkey BitTorrent, eDonkey, FastTrack, (Gnutella, Gnutella2), Kad No ed2k, magnet, sig2dat Free Linux, OS X, Windows GPL OCaml Yes 3.1.3 (August 5, 2012; 9 months ago (2012-08-05)[13]) [±] P2P application, telnet / web-interface / GUI interface, complete and complex remote usage. Sancho GUI makes automatic SSH tunnels.
MonoTorrent (client library) BitTorrent No magnet Free Linux, OS X, Windows MIT/X11 C# Yes 0.90 (May 22, 2010; 3 years ago (2010-05-22)) [±] Requires either Mono or .NET Framework to be installed
Morpheus NEOnet, Gnutella, Gnutella2, BitTorrent No No Free or US$19.95 Windows Proprietary  ? Yes 5.55.1 (November 15, 2007; 5 years ago (2007-11-15)) [±]
Calypso MUTE Yes No Donation Linux, Windows GPL C++, Qt Yes 2010 Prior name: Kommute
MUTE MUTE Yes No Donation Linux, OS X, Windows GPL C++ Yes 2007
Nodezilla Private Yes No Free Linux, Windows partly GPL Java Yes 2008 Most is proprietary, GUI is GPL
Opera BitTorrent No No Free Linux, OS X, Windows Proprietary C++ Yes 12.15 (April 4, 2013; 59 days ago (2013-04-04)) [±]
Piolet[14] MP2P No MP2P Free or US$19.95 Windows Proprietary  ? No 2008
qBittorrent BitTorrent No magnet Free Linux, Solaris, OS X, Windows GPL C++ Yes 3.0.9 (March 16, 2013; 2 months ago (2013-03-16)) [±][15]
Retroshare Retroshare Yes Own format Free Windows, Linux, Mac OS GPL C++ Yes 2013 Uses PGP for friend authentication. Decentralized F2F network type.
RShare RShare Yes No Free Windows GPL C# Yes 2007 eMule-like usability
Robert I2P (protocol BitTorrent) Yes magnet Free Linux, OS X, Windows GPL Python Yes 2012 needs I2P to run
Share Share Yes No Free Windows Proprietary Object Pascal (Delphi) Yes 2006 Anonymous developer; tries to be Winny successor
Shareaza eDonkey, BitTorrent, Gnutella, Gnutella2 No ed2k, magnet, Piolet/MP2P, gnutella Free Windows GPL C++ Yes 2.6.0.0 (June 3, 2012; 11 months ago (2012-06-03)[16]) [±] Uses a powerful files library; maintained by volunteer group
Sharing Max Sharing Max No Yes Free Windows Proprietary Visual Basic No 2010
SoMud SoMud No magnet uri, meta link Free Windows, OS X Proprietary C++ Yes 2010 Search and download P2P and web video networks such as YouTube and Yahoovideo etc.
StealthNet RShare Yes No Free Linux, OS X, Windows GPL C# Yes 2011 Evolution of the RShare client with many functions.
Soulseek Soulseek No No Free, donations for privileges Windows Proprietary  ? Yes SoulseekQt build 8/5/2012 (August 5, 2012; 9 months ago (2012-08-05)) [±] Folder downloads, browse users with folder trees, no multi-source downloads
SymTorrent BitTorrent No No Free Symbian S60 GPL C++ Yes 2008 Runs on mobile phones with Symbian operating system
Thaw Freenet Yes No Free Linux, OS X, Windows GPL Java Yes 2008
Transmission BitTorrent No magnet Free BeOS, Linux, OS X MIT C, Objective-C Yes 2.77 (18 February 2013; 3 months ago (2013-02-18)) [±][17] Lightweight, cross-platform
TrustyFiles eDonkey, Overnet, Gnutella, Gnutella2, FastTrack, BitTorrent No ed2k Free or US$29 Windows Proprietary  ? adware & spyware 2005 ? Has code stolen from Gnucleus, giFT, and avlib[citation needed]; Linux version announced, but never released; takeover similar to the Shareaza.com and Lphant issues is likely to have happened
µTorrent BitTorrent No magnet Free OS X, Windows, Linux Proprietary C++ Yes Microsoft Windows
3.3 (Build 29677) (May 22, 2013; 11 days ago (2013-05-22)) [±][18][19]

OS X for Intel
1.8.4 (Build 29561) (April 3, 2013; 60 days ago (2013-04-03)) [±][20][21][22]
OS X for PPC
1.6.5 (Build 27624) (July 25, 2012; 10 months ago (2012-07-25)) [±][20][23][24]

 Specifically designed to be very small; entire program runs from a 315KB compressed executable which can be either installed or run as a stand-alone.
Vuze
(formerly Azureus)		 BitTorrent No (except when using I2P) magnet Free Linux, OS X, Windows GPL Java No 5.0.0.0 (May 8, 2013; 25 days ago (2013-05-08)) [±][25]
Warez P2P iP2P DHT No No Free or US$19.99 Windows Proprietary  ? Yes 2007 Developer claims Warez v3.0 beta is malware-free
WinMX WinMX Peer Network (independent, now user-operated), OpenNAP, chatrooms supported No No Free Windows Proprietary C++ Yes 2004 Official development has ceased due to RIAA coercion. Versions 3.53, 3.54 beta 4 and older are available from 3rd parties.
Winny Winny Yes No Free Windows Proprietary C++ Yes 2003
Wuala Wuala No No Free Linux, OS X, Windows Proprietary Java Yes 2009
YobiDrive FLOWS YobiDrive No No Free Linux, OS X, Windows Proprietary Java Yes 2013
Datawire P2P Private Networking (chat supported) Yes No Free Windows, Linux, OS X Proprietary Java Yes 2011
Name Network Anonymity Link system compatibility Price Platform License Programming language Spyware or adware free Last release year Extra information
  • Note that several applications had adware or spyware tied in in the past and may have it again in the future. The same goes for clones of open source apps, e.g. eMule. This list attempts to display the current status only.

Comparison pages [edit]

File sharing web applications [edit]

A web application, unlike a software, does not need to be installed on the computer.

Name License Programming language Latest release version Extra Information
FileZ GPL PHP 2012 https://github.com/FileZ/FileZ
ZendTo free 2011 http://zend.to/

See also [edit]

Notes [edit]

 This article uses bare URLs for citations. Please consider adding full citations so that the article remains verifiable. Several templates and the Reflinks tool are available to assist in formatting. (Reflinks documentation) (January 2012)
  1. ^
  2. ^ "Download", aMule team (sourceforge.net), 2011-11-12, retrieved 2012-11-05 
  3. ^ "Ares Galaxy at SourceForge.net". AresGalaxy.SourceForge.net. 
  4. ^ a b Compatibility with eDonkey and Kad networks is done via a modded eMule plugin also developed by the Comet team
  5. ^ "BitComet Client Release Notes - A free C++ BitTorrent/HTTP/FTP Download Client". www.bitcomet.com. 2010-08-31. Retrieved 2010-08-31. 
  6. ^ a b BitTorrent download directory list
  7. ^ "The eMule Project at SourceForge.net". eMule.SourceForge.net. 2010-04-07. Retrieved 2010-07-11. 
  8. ^ "Free Download Manager". Files. SourceForge. Retrieved 23 February 2012. 
  9. ^ https://emu.freenetproject.org/pipermail/devl/2013-April/036888.html
  10. ^ Grothoff, Christian (2012-12-21). "GNUnet 0.9.5 released". info-gnunet. http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/info-gnunet/2012-12/msg00000.html. Retrieved 2012-12-26.
  11. ^ KTorrent, ktorrent.org, 2013-01-17, retrieved 2013-01-29 
  12. ^ Judge Wood (26 October 2010). "Limewire Permanent Injunction". Retrieved 17 March 2012. 
  13. ^ "MLDonkey at SourceForge.net". MLDonkey.SourceForge.net. 2011-08-10. Retrieved 2011-08-10. 
  14. ^ http://www.piolet.com/
  15. ^ qBittorrent Win32 Build, SourceForge.net 
  16. ^ "Shareaza at SourceForge.net". SourceForge. Retrieved 2012-06-08. 
  17. ^ Changes – Transmission, trac.transmissionbittorrent.com, 2013-2-18, retrieved 2013-2-18 
  18. ^ "Download - µTorrent - a (very) tiny BitTorrent client". www.utorrent.com. 2012-02-03. 
  19. ^ "cmeisel" (2013-01-31). "µTorrent 3.3 Stable - Forums". Announcements. forum.utorrent.com. 
  20. ^ a b "Download - µTorrent - a (very) tiny BitTorrent client". www.utorrent.com. 2013-04-03. 
  21. ^ "vadimt" (2013-04-03). "µTorrent Mac 1.8.2 stable". Announcements (Mac). forum.utorrent.com. 
  22. ^ "uTorrent for Mac release notes". 
  23. ^ "Vika B" (2010-12-13). "µTorrent Mac 1.6.5 latest stable with PPC support! - Forums". Announcements (Mac). forum.utorrent.com. 
  24. ^ "uTorrent for Mac release notes PPC". 
  25. ^ "Changelog". Vuze Community. Retrieved 2013-05-10. 
Networks and protocols
Centralized
Decentralized
Comparisons of clients
Hyperlinks
Uses
Concepts
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Comparison_of_file_sharing_applications&oldid=553774236"