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 file transfer protocols. Please see the individual products' articles for further information. This article is not all-inclusive or necessarily up-to-date. Unless otherwise specified in footnotes, comparisons are based on the stable versions without any add-ons, extensions or external programs.
General information
Basic general information about the clients: creator/company, license/price etc.
| Creator | First public release date | Latest stable version | Cost (USD) | Software license | Copy files over 2GiB[1] | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AbleFtp | HiTek Software | ? | 8.00 | free trial , $69.95 | Proprietary | |
| AbsoluteTelnet SFTP | Celestial Software | 1996 | 6.01 | free trial , $49.95 | Proprietary | |
| AceFTP | Visicom Media | 1997 | 3.80.3 | free trial , $29.95 | Proprietary | |
| ALFTP | ESTsoft | 2000 | 4.1 | Freeware | Proprietary | |
| AmiTradeCenter | AmigaZeux | 1999 | 1.4 | Freeware | Proprietary | |
| AnyClient | JSCAPE | 2007 | 1.6 | Freeware | Proprietary | |
| BitKinex FTP | Barad-Dur, LLC. | 2003 | 2.9 | $34 | Proprietary | |
| BulletProof FTP aka BPFTP | BulletProof Software LLC | 1997 | 2.61.0.54 | free trial , $34.95 | Proprietary | |
| Captain FTP | Xnet | 2001 | 4.5 | $25, $40 (Upgrade Protected) | Proprietary | |
| Classic FTP | NCH Software | 2007 | 1.13 | Free | Proprietary | yes |
| CoffeeCup Direct FTP | CoffeeCup Software | 1998 | 6.5 | Free Trial - $34 to purchase | Proprietary | yes |
| CoreFTP | CoreFTP.com | 2003 | 2.1 | Free (LE), $24.95 (Standard), $34.95 (Pro) | Proprietary | |
| CrossFTP | CrossFTP.com | 2006 | 1.41 | Free (Standard), $24.95 (Pro) | Proprietary | Yes |
| cURL | Daniel Stenberg | 1998 | 7.19.0 | Free | MIT | |
| CurlFtpFS | Robson Braga Araujo | 2006 | 0.9.1 | Free | GPL | |
| CuteFTP | Alex Kunadze | 1994 | 8.3.2 | Free Trial Offers, $39.99 (Home), $59.99 (Windows Pro), $39.99 (Mac Pro), $14.99 (Lite) | Proprietary | Yes |
| Cyberduck | David V. Kocher | 2001 | 2.7.3 | Free | GPL | |
| Directory Opus | GPSoftware | 1990 | 9.0 | AUD$85 | Proprietary | |
| eFtp Client | Ecode Software | 2001 | 3.0 | $29 (Home), $39.99 (Pro) | Proprietary | |
| Exceed | Hummingbird Ltd. | 2001 | 2008 | $545.00 | Proprietary | |
| F-IT | Jupiter ITS | 2008 | 0.1 | Free | MIT | |
| FAR Manager | Eugene Roshal / FAR Group | 1996 | 1.70 | $25, Free for ex-USSR | Proprietary | |
| Fetch | Fetch Softworks | 1989 | 5.3 | $25, Free for education | Proprietary | |
| FileZilla | Tim Kosse, et al. | January, 2001 | 3.1.3.1 | Free | GPL | Yes |
| FireFTP | Mime Čuvalo | September, 2004 | 1.0.2 | Free, Charityware | MPL | |
| FlashFXP | iniCom Networks | June 24, 1998 | 3.6.0.1240 | $25.00 | Proprietary | |
| Fling FTP | NCH Software | 2007 | 1.0.7 | Free | Proprietary | yes |
| FTP Commander | Internetsoft Corporation | 1997 | 8.80 | $49.95 | Proprietary | |
| FtpCube | Michael Gilfix | 2001 | 0.5.1 | Free | Artistic | |
| FTPEditor | FTPEditor.com | 1999 | 3.3 | $29 (Standard), $49 (Pro) | Proprietary | |
| FTP Explorer | FTPx Corp. | October, 1996 | 1.0.1.53 | $35.99 | Proprietary | |
| FTPRush | TianHong.NC China | June, 2004 | 1.0.0622 | $29.95 | Proprietary | |
| FTP Voyager | Rhino Software, Inc. | February, 1997 | 15.0.0.2 | $39.95 (Standard), $49.95 (Secure) | Proprietary | |
| Fugu | University of Michigan Research Systems Unix Group | 2003 | 1.2.0 | Free | BSD | |
| gFTP | Brian Masney | 1998 | 2.0.18 | Free | GPL | |
| Global Downloader | Actysoft Inc | 2005 | 1.4.0.1 | $24,95 | Proprietary | |
| Glub Tech Secure FTP | Glub Tech, Inc. | 1999 | 2.5.16 | $25.00 commercial, Free noncommercial | Proprietary | |
| Interarchy | Stairways Software Pty Ltd | 1993 (as Anarchie) | 9.0 | $59.00 | Proprietary | |
| Kasablanca | Magnus Kulke | 2002 | 0.4.0.2 | Free | GPL | |
| KFTPGrabber | Jernej Kos | 2003 | 0.8.1 | Free | GPL | |
| LeechFTP | Jan Debis | 1998 | 1.3 (Discontinued) | Free | Proprietary | |
| lftp | Alexander V. Lukyanov | August, 1996 | 3.5.11 | Free | GPL | |
| MacFusion | MacFusion Project | 2007 | 1.2 Beta 3 | Free | Apache License 2.0 | |
| Mosaic | NCSA | 1993 | 3.0 | Free | ? | |
| MOVEit Freely | Standard Networks, Inc. | 2002 | 5.0 | Free | Proprietary | |
| NcFTP | NcFTP Software Inc. | 1991 | 3.1.9 | Free | Clarified Artistic License | |
| net2ftp | David C. Gartner | January, 2003 | 0.96 | Free | GPL | |
| Null FTP Client | VisionWorks Solutions | October, 2008 | 1.0 | Free (Standard), $59.95 (Pro) | Proprietary | yes |
| pbFtpClient | Level5Software | 2007 | 5.30 | free | Proprietary | |
| Red Bird SFX - Secure File Transfer | Kandmtech, LLC | 2004 | ? | $49.95 | Proprietary | |
| Robo-FTP - Secure Automated File Transfer | Serengeti Systems Incorporated | January 30, 2001 | 3.5.0 | Free Trial, $149.99 | Proprietary | |
| SecureFX | VanDyke Software Inc. | 2007 | 4.5 | $59.95 | Proprietary | |
| SftpDrive | Magnetk LLC | 2005 | 1.7.7 | $39 | Proprietary | |
| SFTPPlus | Pro:Atria Ltd | 2005 | 2.0 | Commercial, flexible edu etc. | Proprietary | |
| SmartFTP | SmartSoft Ltd | 1998 | 3.0.1023.4 | $36.95 / $49.95 | Proprietary | |
| Sysax FTP Automation | Codeorigin, LLC | 2000 | 4.0 | Free personal, $97 commercial | Proprietary | |
| Transmit | Panic, Inc. | 1998 | 3.6.6 | $29.95 | Proprietary | |
| Tunnelier | BitVise | 2000 | 4.26 | Free personal, $44.95 commercial | Proprietary | |
| WebDrive | South River Technologies | 1998 | 7.31 | $54.95, free trial | Shareware | |
| WinSCP | Martin Prikryl | 2000 | 4.1.6 | Free | GPL | yes |
| WISE-FTP | AceBIT | 1998 | 5.5.9 | 49.00 | Proprietary | |
| WS FTP | Ipswitch, Inc. | 1996 | 2007.00 | $39.95 (Home), $54.95 (Pro) | Proprietary | |
| Creator | First public release date | Latest stable version | Cost (USD) | Software license |
Operating system support
The operating systems the clients can run on.
| Client | Windows | Mac OS X | Linux | BSD | Unix | AmigaOS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AbsoluteTelnet SFTP | Yes | No | No | No | No | No |
| AceFTP | Yes | No | No | No | No | No |
| ALFTP | Yes | No | No | No | No | No |
| AmiTradeCenter | No | No | No | No | No | Yes |
| AnyClient | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| BitKinex | Yes | No | No | No | No | No |
| BulletProof FTP | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No |
| Captain FTP | No | Yes | No | No | No | No |
| Classic FTP | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No |
| CoffeeCup Direct FTP | Yes | No | No | No | No | No |
| CoreFTP | Yes | No | No | No | No | No |
| CrossFTP | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| cURL (CL) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| CurlFtpFS | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| CuteFTP | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No |
| Cyberduck | No | Yes | No | No | No | No |
| Directory Opus | Yes | No | No | No | No | Yes |
| eFtp Client | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Exceed | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| FAR Manager | Yes | No | No | No | No | No |
| Fetch | No | Yes | No | No | No | No |
| FileZilla | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| FireFTP | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| FlashFXP | Yes | No | No | No | No | No |
| Fling FTP | Yes | No | No | No | No | No |
| FtpCube | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| FTPEditor | Yes | No | No | No | No | No |
| FTP Explorer | Yes | No | No | No | No | No |
| FTPRush | Yes | No | No | No | No | No |
| FTP Voyager | Yes | No | No | No | No | No |
| Fugu | No | Yes | No | No | No | No |
| gFTP | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Global Downloader | Yes | No | No | No | No | No |
| Glub Tech Secure FTP | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Interarchy | No | Yes | No | No | No | No |
| Kasablanca | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| KFTPGrabber | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| LeechFTP | Yes | No | No | No | No | No |
| lftp (CL) | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| MacFusion | No | Yes | No | No | No | No |
| Mosaic | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| MOVEit Freely | Yes | No | No | No | No | No |
| NcFTP (CL) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| net2ftp | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Null FTP Client | Yes | No | No | No | No | No |
| pbFtpClient | Yes | No | No | No | No | Yes |
| Red Bird SFX - Secure File Transfer | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Robo-FTP | Yes | No | No | No | No | No |
| SftpDrive | Yes | No | No | No | No | No |
| SFTPPlus | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | No |
| SmartFTP | Yes | No | No | No | No | No |
| Sysax FTP Automation | Yes | No | No | No | No | No |
| Transmit | No | Yes | No | No | No | No |
| Tunnelier | Yes | No | No | No | No | No |
| WebDrive | Yes | No | No | No | No | No |
| WinSCP | Yes | No | No | No | No | No |
| WISE-FTP | Yes | No | No | No | No | No |
| WS FTP | Yes | No | No | No | No | No |
| Client | Windows | Mac OS X | Linux | BSD | Unix | AmigaOS |
(CL) Command-Line interface only - no GUI
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.
| FTP | FTP over SSH (secure FTP) | SFTP | FTPS (FTP over SSL) | FXP (Site2site transfer) | DAV / HTTP(S) | P2P | Compression | Remote Compression | API / Commandline available | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AbsoluteTelnet SFTP | No | No | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | No | ||
| AceFTP | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | ||
| ALFTP | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | |||
| AmiTradeCenter | Yes | ? | ? | ? | Yes | ? | No | No | ARexx | |
| BitKinex | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | |||
| BulletProof FTP | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | |||
| Captain FTP | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | ||||
| Classic FTP | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | No | No | |||
| CoffeeCup Direct FTP | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | No | No |
| CoreFTP | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | |
| CrossFTP | Yes | Yes (Pro only) | Yes (Pro only) | Yes (Pro only) | Yes (Pro only) | Yes (Pro only) | Yes | No | Yes | |
| cURL | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | Yes (Only) | |
| CurlFtpFS | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | ||
| CuteFTP | Yes | No | Yes (Pro only) | Yes | Yes (Pro only) | Yes (HTTP(S) - Pro only) | No | Yes (Pro only) | No | |
| Cyberduck | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | |||||
| Directory Opus | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | |
| Exceed | Yes | No | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | No | No | |
| FAR Manager | Yes | Yes (with WinSCP plugin) | No | No | ||||||
| Fetch | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | ||||
| FileZilla | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | Yes (basic) | |
| FireFTP | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | No |
| FlashFXP | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | Yes |
| Fling FTP | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | |
| FTP Commander | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No | |
| FtpCube | Yes | No | Yes | |||||||
| FTPEditor | Yes | No | Yes | No | No | |||||
| FTP Explorer | Yes | No | No | No | No | |||||
| FTPRush | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | ||
| FTP Voyager | Yes | Yes (Secure only) | Yes (Secure only) | Yes (Secure only) | No | No | ||||
| Fugu | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | ||||
| gFTP | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes (control connection only) | Yes | No | ||||
| Global Downloader | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes (HTTP(S)) | Yes | No | No | No |
| Glub Tech Secure FTP | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| Interarchy | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | |||
| Kasablanca | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | |||
| KFTPGrabber | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | ||||
| LeechFTP | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | |||
| lftp | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes (Partial) | No | |||
| Mosaic | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | |||
| MOVEit Freely | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | Yes (Only) | |
| NcFTP | Yes | No | No | No | ||||||
| Null FTP Client | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| pbFtpClient | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | No | |
| Red Bird SFX - Secure File Transfer | No | No | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | No | ||
| Robo-FTP Secure Automated File Transfer | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes -HTTP(S) | No | No | Yes | |
| SftpDrive | No | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | |||
| SFTPPlus | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | ||||
| SmartFTP | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | Yes |
| Sysax FTP Automation | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | Yes | |
| Transmit | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No | |||
| WebDrive | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | |
| WinSCP | Yes | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | Yes (SFTP only) | No | Yes |
| WISE-FTP | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | ||
| WS FTP | Yes | Yes | Yes (Pro only) | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | Yes |
| ZipDeploy | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| FTP | FTP over SSH (secure FTP) | SFTP | FTPS (FTP over SSL) | FXP (Site2site transfer) | DAV / HTTP(S) | P2P | Compression | Remote Compression | API / Commandline available |
Notes
- ^ ubuntuforums.org: 2007, 2gb data transfer limitation? Quote: "...The common 2GB 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