Comparison of FTP client software Computer Informatics 464 pasar.pts-ptn.net

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.

Basic general information about the clients: creator/company, license etc.

1 Free
2 Freeware
3 Freeware and Payware Editions
4 Trials of Payware
5 Payware
6 Operating system support
7 Protocol support
8 Notes
9 See also

Free

Client	Creator	First public release date	Latest stable version	Software license	Copy files over 2 GB limit^[1]	Interface
cURL	Daniel Stenberg	1998	7.29.0 (February 6, 2013; 48 days ago (2013-02-06)) [±]	MIT	Yes	CLI
Cyberduck	David V. Kocher	2001	4.2.1 December 12, 2011; 15 months ago (2011-12-12)	GPL	Yes	GUI
edtFTPj	Bruce P. Blackshaw	2000	2.3.0 August 26, 2011; 18 months ago (2011-08-26)	LGPL	Yes	Java JAR file
edtFTPnet	Bruce P. Blackshaw	2003	2.2.1 August 26, 2011; 18 months ago (2011-08-26)	LGPL	Yes	Windows DLL
FileZilla	Community	2001 (January)	3.6.0.2 (November 29, 2012; 3 months ago (2012-11-29)) [±]	GPL	Yes	GUI
FireFTP	Mime Čuvalo	2004 (September)	2.0.13 [±]	MPL, Charityware	Yes (since version 2.0.5)	Firefox addon
Fugu	University of Michigan Research Systems Unix Group	2003	1.2.0 May 2, 2005; 7 years ago (2005-05-02)	BSD	?	GUI
gFTP	Brian Masney	1998	2.0.19 November 30, 2008; 4 years ago (2008-11-30)	GPL	Yes	GTK+
lftp	Alexander V. Lukyanov	1996 (August)	4.4.5 (March 14, 2013; 12 days ago (2013-03-14)) [±]	GPL	Yes	CLI
Macfusion	Michael Gorbach	0 ?	2.0.4	BSD	?	GUI
NcFTP	NcFTP Software Inc.	1991	3.2.5 January 17, 2011; 2 years ago (2011-01-17)	Clarified Artistic License	Yes	CLI
net2ftp	David C. Gartner	2003 (January)	0.98 June 1, 2009; 3 years ago (2009-06-01)	GPL	?	Web interface
Swish	Alexander Lamaison	2007	0.7.0 July 30, 2012; 7 months ago (2012-07-30)	GPL	Yes	Windows Explorer shell extension
WinSCP	Martin Přikryl	2000	5.1.4 (February 18, 2013; 36 days ago (2013-02-18)) [±]	GPL	Yes	GUI
Yafc	Sebastian Ramacher	1999	1.2.4 (January 12, 2013; 2 months ago (2013-01-12)) [±]	GPL	Yes	CLI

Freeware

Client	Creator	First public release date	Latest stable version	Software license	Copy files over 2 GB^[1]	Interface
AnyClient	JSCAPE	2008	4.1 January 14, 2012; 14 months ago (2012-01-14)	Proprietary	Yes	Web Interface and GUI
BitKinex	Barad-Dur, LLC.	2003	3.2.2	Proprietary	Yes	GUI + command line
Classic FTP	NCH Software	2007	1.13	Proprietary	Yes	GUI
Fling FTP (free version contains adware)	NCH Software	2007	1.0.7	Proprietary	Yes	Windows Explorer shell extension
FTP Rush	Wing FTP Software	2011	2.1.5	Freeware	Yes	GUI
LeechFTP	Jan Debis	1998	1.3 (Discontinued)	Proprietary	No	?
Mosaic	NCSA	1993	3.0 (Discontinued)	Proprietary	?	?
pbFtpClient	Level5Software	2007	6.1	Proprietary	?	Windows GUI
UploadFTP Free	Brightek Software	2011	2.0	Proprietary	Yes	GUI

Freeware and Payware Editions

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; 8 months ago (2012-06-27)	Freeware	?
CrossFTP	CrossFTP.com	2006	1.51	Proprietary	Yes
FAR Manager	Eugene Roshal / FAR Group	1996	3.0 build 3000 (December 8, 2012; 3 months ago (2012-12-08)) [±] 2.0 build 1807 (February 3, 2011; 2 years ago (2011-02-03)) [±] 1.75 build 2634 (February 3, 2011; 2 years ago (2011-02-03)) [±]	Proprietary	Yes
Fetch	Fetch Softworks	1989	5.7.2 July 26, 2012; 7 months ago (2012-07-26)	Proprietary	Yes
Secure FTP	Glub Tech	1999	2.6.1 December 23, 2010; 2 years ago (2010-12-23)	Proprietary	Yes
Sysax FTP Automation	Codeorigin, LLC	2005	5.31 April 12, 2012; 11 months ago (2012-04-12)	Proprietary	Yes

Trials of Payware

Client	Creator	First public release date	Latest stable version	Software license	Copy files over 2 GB^[1]
BatchFTP	ENSware LLC.	2000	9.0.0.1 February 12, 2009; 4 years ago (2009-02-12)	Proprietary	Yes
Beyond Compare	Scooter Software	?	3.3.5 (build 15075) July 18, 2012; 8 months ago (2012-07-18)	Proprietary	Yes
3D-FTP	SiteDesigner Technologies, Inc.	1999	9.01 July 6, 2010; 2 years ago (2010-07-06)	Proprietary	Yes
AbsoluteTelnet	Celestial Software	1996	9.49 July 2, 2012; 8 months ago (2012-07-02)	Proprietary	Yes
AutoFTP	PrimaSoft PC	1998	4.9	Proprietary	?
BulletProof FTP aka BPFTP	BulletProof Software LLC	1997	2.63	Proprietary	Yes
CuteFTP	Alex Kunadze	1994	8.3.4 (Windows) June 2, 2010; 2 years ago (2010-06-02) / 3.1.2 (Mac) November 23, 2011; 15 months ago (2011-11-23)	Proprietary	Yes
FlashFXP	OpenSight Software, LLC	1999	4.2.5 (build 1813) August 3, 2012; 7 months ago (2012-08-03)	Proprietary	Yes
FTP Client	Vicomsoft	1997	4.6.3	Proprietary	Yes
FTP Voyager	Rhino Software, Inc	January, 1997	15.2.0.19 November 29, 2011; 15 months ago (2011-11-29)	Proprietary	Yes
Global Downloader	Actysoft Inc	2005	1.8.1.1 November 20, 2011; 15 months ago (2011-11-20)	Proprietary	Yes
LeapFTP	LeapWare	1996	3.1.0 October 31, 2010; 2 years ago (2010-10-31)	Proprietary	Yes
GoAnywhere Director	Linoma Software	2002	3.5.1	Proprietary	Yes
Robo-FTP	Serengeti Systems Incorporated	2001	3.8.3 July 30, 2012; 7 months ago (2012-07-30)	Proprietary	Yes
SmartFTP	SmartSoft Ltd	1998	4.1.1260 August 6, 2012; 7 months ago (2012-08-06)	Proprietary	Yes
Total Commander	Christian Ghisler	1993	8.01 August 3, 2012; 7 months ago (2012-08-03)	Proprietary	Yes
UploadFTP	Brightek Software	2011	2.0.1 August 14, 2011; 19 months ago (2011-08-14)	Proprietary	Yes
WebDrive	South River Technologies, Inc.	1998	10.2 July 1, 2012; 8 months ago (2012-07-01)	Proprietary	Yes
WS_FTP	Ipswitch, Inc.	1996	12.4	Proprietary	Yes
Yummy FTP	Yummy Software	2004	1.9.0 May 10, 2011; 22 months ago (2011-05-10)	Proprietary	?

Payware

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; 13 months ago (2012-02-01)	Proprietary	?
BitKinex FTP	Barad-Dur, LLC.	2003	3.2.3 November 7, 2010; 2 years ago (2010-11-07)	Proprietary	?
Captain FTP	Xnet	2001	6.0	Proprietary	?
Directory Opus	GPSoftware	1990	10.1.0.0.4570 July 6, 2012; 8 months ago (2012-07-06)	Proprietary	Yes
ExpanDrive (Mac)	ExpanDrive, Inc	2008	2.4 (January 31, 2013; 54 days ago (2013-01-31)) [±]	Proprietary	Yes
ExpanDrive (Windows) (formerly SftpDrive)	ExpanDrive, Inc	2005	2.4 (January 31, 2013; 54 days ago (2013-01-31)) [±]	Proprietary	Yes
Flow	Five Details	2008	1.6.5	Proprietary	Yes
FTP Client	Hankinsoft Development, Inc	2011	1.10	Proprietary	Yes
FTP Commander	Internetsoft Corporation	1997	9.21 November 8, 2010; 2 years ago (2010-11-08)	Proprietary	Yes
FTP Explorer	FTPx Corp.	October, 1996	1.0.1.53	Proprietary	?
GoAnywhere Director	Linoma Software	2002	3.6.2	Proprietary	Yes
Interarchy	Nolobe Software Pty Ltd	1993 (as Anarchie)	10.0.2 August 18, 2010; 2 years ago (2010-08-18)	Proprietary	Yes
SecureFX	VanDyke Software	1998	7.0 July 3, 2012; 8 months ago (2012-07-03)	Proprietary	Yes
Steed	French Fry, SAS	2012	1.0.2.903 January 15, 2013; 2 months ago (2013-01-15)	Proprietary	Yes
Transmit	Panic, Inc.	1998	4.3.2 February 14, 2013; 40 days ago (2013-02-14)	Proprietary	Yes
WISE-FTP	AceBIT	1998	7.0 (Build 7.0.4) March 16, 2012; 12 months ago (2012-03-16)	Proprietary	?

Operating system support

The operating systems the clients can run on.

Client	Windows	Mac OS X	Linux	BSD	Unix	AmigaOS
3D-FTP	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
AbsoluteTelnet	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
ALFTP	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
BitKinex	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
Captain FTP	No	Yes	No	No	No	No
Classic FTP	Yes	Yes	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	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
FRENDS Cobalt	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
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
FTP Rush	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
gFTP	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
GoAnywhere Director	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
SFTPPlus	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes	No
Secure FTP	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
SmartFTP	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
Steed	Yes	No	No	No	No	No
Swish	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
AnyClient	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	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

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
3D-FTP	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	No	Yes	?
AbsoluteTelnet	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	?	?	?
ALFTP	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	?	?	?	?
AnyClient	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes
BitKinex	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	Yes	Yes	?
Captain FTP	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	?	No	No	?	?	?	?
Classic FTP	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	?	?	?	?
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
CurlFtpFS	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	?	?	?
CuteFTP	Yes	No	Yes (Pro only)	Yes	Yes (Pro only)	Yes (HTTP(S) – Pro only)	Yes (Pro only)	No	?	?	?
Cyberduck	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes (SFTP only)	No	Yes	Yes
Directory Opus	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	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 (with WinSCP plugin)	Yes (with Far Navigator plugin)	?	No	No	?	?	?	?
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	?	?
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	?	?	?	?
FTP Rush	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes (windows rushmirc.dll)	Yes	Yes
gFTP	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes (control connection only)	Yes	?	No	?	?	?	?
GoAnywhere Director	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	?
Interarchy	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	?	?	Yes	?
LeechFTP	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	?	?	?	?
lftp	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes (Partial)	No	No	Yes	Yes	?
Macfusion	Yes	?	Yes	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
Mosaic	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	?	?	?	?
NcFTP	Yes	No	No	?	?	?	No	?	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
SFTPPlus	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	?	Yes	No	?	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	?	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	?
UploadFTP	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	?
WebDrive	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	?	?
Windows 7 (ftp.exe)	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	?	No
WinSCP	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	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)	?	?
Yummy FTP	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	?	?
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

Notes

^ ^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

Comparison of FTP client software

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