Comparison of FTP client software
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The following tables compare general and technical information for a number of FTP clients and related clients that use other 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 software[edit]
| Client | Creator | First public release date | Latest stable version | Software license | Copy files over 2 GB limit[1] | Interface |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| cURL | Daniel Stenberg | 1998 | 7.57.0 (29 November 2017[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) | 3.29.0 (6 November 2017) [±][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) | 4.8.3 (October 9, 2017 [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 | 5.11.3 (December 14, 2017[5]) [±] | GPL | Yes | GUI and CLI |
| Yafc | Sebastian Ramacher | 1999 | v1.3.7 (January 1, 2016) [±] | GPL | Yes | CLI |
Proprietary freeware[edit]
| Client | Creator | First public release date | Latest stable version | Software license | Copy files over 2 GB[1] | Interface |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |
| Mosaic | NCSA | 1993 | 3.0 (Discontinued) | Proprietary | ? | ? |
| pbFtpClient | Level5Software | 2007 | 6.1 | Proprietary | ? | Windows GUI |
| FTP Voyager | Rhino Software, Inc | 1997 (January) | 16.1.0.0 (August 20, 2013) | Proprietary | Yes | GUI |
Freeware and commercial editions[edit]
| 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 |
| 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 | 5 Build 1231 November 17, 2017 | Proprietary | Yes |
Trials of commercial[edit]
| 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 | 4.2.3 August 30, 2017 | Proprietary | Yes |
| Commander One | Eltima Software | 2015 | 1.1 September 29, 2015 | Proprietary | Yes |
| CuteFTP | Alex Kunadze/Globalscape | 1994 | 9.0.5 (Windows) July 22, 2013 / 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 |
| GoAnywhere MFT | Linoma Software | 2002 | 5.4.2 | Proprietary | Yes |
| SmartFTP | SmartSoft Ltd | 1998 | 6.0.2155.0 July 23, 2015 | Proprietary | Yes |
| Total Commander | Christian Ghisler | 1993 | 9.12 November 24, 2017 | Proprietary | Yes |
| UploadFTP | Brightek Software | 2011 | 2.0.1 August 14, 2011 | 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, 2011 | Proprietary | ? |
Commercial[edit]
| 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 | 6.1.5 (October 25, 2017) [±] | Proprietary | Yes | |
| ExpanDrive (Windows) (formerly SftpDrive) | ExpanDrive, Inc | 2005 | 6.1.5 (October 25, 2017) [±] | Proprietary | Yes | |
| ForkLift | BinaryNights, LLC | 2007 | 3.0.3 April 13, 2017 | Proprietary | Yes | |
| FTP Commander | Internetsoft Corporation | 1997 | 9.21 November 8, 2010 | Proprietary | Yes | |
| FTP Explorer | FTPx Corp. | October, 1996 | 1.0.1.53 | Proprietary | ? | |
| GoAnywhere MFT | Linoma Software | 2002 | 5.4.2 | Proprietary | Yes | |
| 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 |
Operating system support[edit]
The operating systems the clients can run on.
| Client | Windows | macOS | Linux | BSD | Unix | AmigaOS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AbsoluteTelnet | Yes | No | No | No | No | No |
| ALFTP | Yes | No | No | No | No | No |
| Beyond Compare | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No |
| Classic FTP | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No |
| Codeanywhere (webbased) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Commander One | No | Yes | No | No | No | No |
| CoreFTP | Yes | No | No | No | No | No |
| cURL (CL) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| CuteFTP | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No |
| Cyberduck | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No |
| Directory Opus | Yes | No | No | No | No | Yes |
| ExpanDrive | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | 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 |
| ForkLift | No | Yes | No | No | No | No |
| Client | Windows | Mac OS X | Linux | BSD | Unix | AmigaOS |
| FTP Client | No | Yes | No | No | No | No |
| FTP Commander | Yes | No | No | No | No | No |
| FTP Explorer | 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 |
| GoAnywhere MFT | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Interarchy | No | Yes | No | No | No | No |
| LeechFTP | Yes | No | No | No | No | No |
| lftp (CL) | Yes (cygwin) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Macfusion | No | Yes | No | No | No | No |
| Mosaic | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| NcFTP (CL) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| net2ftp (webbased) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| pbFtpClient | Yes | No | No | No | No | Yes |
| PSFTP (PuTTY) (CL) | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Robo-FTP | Yes | No | No | No | No | No |
| Secure FTP | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| SmartFTP | Yes | No | No | No | No | No |
| Steed | Yes | No | No | No | No | No |
| Sysax FTP Automation | Yes | No | No | No | No | No |
| Total Commander | Yes | No | No | No | No | No |
| Transmit | No | Yes | No | No | No | No |
| UploadFTP | Yes | No | No | No | No | No |
| WebDrive | Yes | Yes | 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 |
| Xftp | Yes | No | No | No | No | No |
| Yummy FTP | No | Yes | No | No | No | No |
| Client | Windows | Mac OS X | Linux | BSD | Unix | AmigaOS |
(CL) Command-Line interface only – no GUI
Protocol support[edit]
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| 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 | ? | ? |
| 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 | ? | ? |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| Fugu | No | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| gFTP | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes (control connection only) | Yes | ? | No | ? | Yes | ? | ? |
| GoAnywhere MFT | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | 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 | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| Mosaic | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| 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 | ? |
| Robo-FTP | Yes | Yes | 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 |
| UploadFTP | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes (Pro Only) | No | Yes | Yes | No | 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 | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Yummy FTP | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes (AppleScript) | 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 |
References[edit]
- ^ 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
- ^ "Changelog". cURL. Retrieved 29 November 2017.
- ^ "Version history". FileZilla. 6 November 2017. Retrieved 1 December 2017.
- ^ "LFTP - events". 10 October 2017. Retrieved 9 October 2017.
- ^ "Recent Version History :: WinSCP". Retrieved 2017-12-14.
See also[edit]
- 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
