Comparison of FTP client software
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The following tables compare general and technical information for a number of File Transfer Protocol (FTP) clients. Unless otherwise specified in footnotes, comparisons are based on the stable versions without any add-ons, extensions, or external programs.
Free and open-source software
| Client | Developer | Initial release | Latest release | License | Copy files over 2 GB limit[1] | Interface | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Version | Date | ||||||
| cURL | Daniel Stenberg | 1998 | Lua error in Module:Wd at line 2189: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). | Lua error in Module:Wd at line 2189: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). | curl | Yes | CLI |
| Cyberduck | David V. Kocher | 2001 | Lua error in Module:Wd at line 2189: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). | Lua error in Module:Wd at line 2189: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). | GPL-3.0-or-later | Yes | GUI and CLI |
| Far Manager | Eugene Roshal / FAR Group | 1996 | Lua error in Module:Wd at line 2189: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). | Lua error in Module:Wd at line 2189: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). | BSD-3-Clause | Yes | TUI |
| FileZilla | Community | 2001 (January) | Lua error in Module:Wd at line 2189: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). | Lua error in Module:Wd at line 2189: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). | GPL-2.0-or-later | Yes | GUI |
| FireFTP | Mime Čuvalo | 2004 (September) | Lua error in Module:Wd at line 2189: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). | Lua error in Module:Wd at line 2189: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). | MPL-1.1, Charityware | Yes (since version 2.0.5) | Waterfox, Firefox pre-version 57 addon |
| Fugu | University of Michigan Research Systems Unix Group | 2003 | Lua error in Module:Wd at line 2189: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). | Lua error in Module:Wd at line 2189: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). | Fugu[2] | ? | GUI |
| gFTP | Brian Masney | 1998 | Lua error in Module:Wd at line 2189: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). | Lua error in Module:Wd at line 2189: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). | GPL-2.0-or-later | Yes | GTK+ |
| lftp | Alexander V. Lukyanov | 1996 (August) | Lua error in Module:Wd at line 2189: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). | Lua error in Module:Wd at line 2189: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). | GPL-3.0-or-later | Yes | CLI |
| Macfusion | Michael Gorbach | ? | Lua error in Module:Wd at line 2189: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). | Lua error in Module:Wd at line 2189: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). | Apache-2.0 | ? | GUI |
| NcFTP | NcFTP Software Inc. | 1991 | Lua error in Module:Wd at line 2189: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). | Lua error in Module:Wd at line 2189: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). | ClArtistic | Yes | CLI |
| net2ftp | David C. Gartner | 2003 (January) | Lua error in Module:Wd at line 2189: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). | Lua error in Module:Wd at line 2189: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). | GPL-2.0-or-later | ? | Web application |
| Rclone | Nick Craig-Wood | 2015 (July) | Lua error in Module:Wd at line 2189: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). | Lua error in Module:Wd at line 2189: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). | MIT | Yes | CLI |
| tnftp | Luke Mewburn | 1999 | Lua error in Module:Wd at line 2189: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). | Lua error in Module:Wd at line 2189: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). | BSD-4-Clause | Yes | CLI |
| WinSCP | Martin Přikryl | 2000 | Lua error in Module:Wd at line 2189: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). | Lua error in Module:Wd at line 2189: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). | GPL-3.0-only | Yes | GUI and CLI |
Proprietary freeware
| Client | Developer | Initial release | Latest release | License | Copy files over 2 GB[1] | Interface | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Version | Date | ||||||
| CrossFTP | CrossFTP Software | 2006 | 1.99.2 | 2020-05-23 | Proprietary | Yes | GUI |
| LeechFTP | Jan Debis | 1998 | 1.3 (Discontinued) | Proprietary | No | GUI | |
| FTP Voyager | Rhino Software, Inc | 1997 (January) | 16.1.0.0 | 2013-08-20 | Proprietary | Yes | GUI |
Freeware and commercial editions
| Client | Developer | Initial release | Latest release | License | Copy files over 2 GB[1] | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Version | Date | |||||
| Core FTP | CoreFTP.com | 2003 | 2.2 (build 1751) | 2012-06-27 | Freeware | Yes |
| Fetch | Fetch Softworks | 1989 | 5.7.7 | 2017-12-02 | Proprietary | Yes |
| Secure FTP | Glub Tech | 1999 | 2.6.2 | 2013-07-27 | Apache | Yes |
| Sysax FTP Automation | Codeorigin, LLC | 2005 | 5.31 | 2012-04-12 | Proprietary | Yes |
Trials of commercial
| Client | Developer | Initial release | Latest release | License | Copy files over 2 GB[1] | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Version | Date | |||||
| AbsoluteTelnet | Celestial Software | 1996 | 9.49 | 2012-07-02 | Proprietary | Yes |
| Beyond Compare | Scooter Software | 1996 | 5.2.0 | 2026-02-23 | Proprietary | Yes |
| Commander One | Eltima Software | 2015 | Lua error in Module:Wd at line 2189: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). | Lua error in Module:Wd at line 2189: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). | Proprietary | Yes |
| CrossFTP Pro | CrossFTP Software | 2006 | 1.98.7 | 2020-05-23 | Proprietary | Yes |
| CuteFTP | Alex Kunadze/Globalscape | 1994 | macOS: 3.1.3 Windows: 9.3.0 |
2014-05-02 2018-07-11 |
Proprietary | Yes |
| Directory Opus | GPSoftware | 1990 | 12.28 | 2022-06-03 | Proprietary | Yes |
| FlashFXP | OpenSight Software, LLC | 1999 | 5.4.0.3970 | 2017-04-01 | Proprietary | Yes |
| SmartFTP | SmartSoft Ltd | 1998 | 10.0.3185.0 | 2023-11-15 | Proprietary | Yes |
| Total Commander | Christian Ghisler | 1993 | Android: Lua error in Module:Wd at line 2189: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). Windows: Lua error in Module:Wd at line 2189: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). |
Lua error in Module:Wd at line 2189: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). Lua error in Module:Wd at line 2189: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). |
Proprietary | Yes |
| WebDrive | South River Technologies, Inc. | 1998 | 2017 | 2017-06-16 | Proprietary | Yes |
| WS_FTP | Ipswitch, Inc. | 1996 | 12.7 | 2018-11-27 | Proprietary | Yes |
| Yummy FTP | Yummy Software | 2004 | 1.9.0 | 2018-05-10 | Proprietary, Setapp | ? |
Commercial
| Client | Developer | Initial release | Latest release | License | Copy files over 2 GB[1] | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Version | Date | |||||
| ALFTP | ESTsoft | 2000 | 5.31 | 2012-02-01 | Proprietary | ? |
| ExpanDrive (formerly SFTPDrive) | ExpanDrive, Inc | 2005 | Linux: Lua error in Module:Wd at line 2189: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). macOS: Lua error in Module:Wd at line 2189: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). Windows: Lua error in Module:Wd at line 2189: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). |
Lua error in Module:Wd at line 2189: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). Lua error in Module:Wd at line 2189: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). Lua error in Module:Wd at line 2189: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). |
Proprietary | Yes |
| ForkLift | BinaryNights, LLC | 2007 | Lua error in Module:Wd at line 2189: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). | Lua error in Module:Wd at line 2189: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). | Proprietary | Yes |
| FTP Explorer | FTPx Corp. | October, 1996 | 1.0.1.53 | 2012-01 | Proprietary | ? |
| FTP Files | Anders Borum ApS | 2024 | 2024.47 | 2024-10-07 | Proprietary | Yes |
| Interarchy | Nolobe Software Pty Ltd | 1993 (as Anarchie) | 10.0.6 | 2014-08-18 | Proprietary | Yes |
| Steed | French Fry, SAS | 2012 | 1.2.1.1169 | 2017-06-27 | Proprietary | Yes |
| Transmit | Panic, Inc. | 1998 | 5.6.4 | 2020-04-20 | Proprietary | Yes |
| WISE-FTP | AceBIT | 1998 | 7.0 (Build 7.0.4) | 2012-03-16 | Proprietary | ? |
| edtFTPj | Bruce P. Blackshaw | 2000 | Lua error in Module:Wd at line 2189: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). | Lua error in Module:Wd at line 2189: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). | Proprietary | Yes |
| edtFTPnet | Bruce P. Blackshaw | 2003 | 2.2.1 | 2011-08-26 | Proprietary | Yes |
Operating system support
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 | Yes |
| Commander One | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | No |
| Core FTP | 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 | Yes | 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 |
| FTP Client | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | No |
| FTP Explorer | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| FTP Files | No | Yes | 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 |
| 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 |
| PSFTP (PuTTY) (CL) | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Rclone | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | 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 |
| tnftp (CL) | Yes (cygwin) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| 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 |
| Yummy FTP | No | Yes | 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 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 | Mode Z / Remote Compression | API / Commandline available | Resume Download | Passive mode | Parallel Transfer[3] | Segmented Downloads[3] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | ? | ? |
| Core FTP | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | ? | ? | ? | Yes[4] |
| 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 | ? | 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 | ? | No |
| 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 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 | ? | ? | Yes |
| Macfusion | Yes | ? | Yes | No | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| Macfusion | Yes | ? | Yes | No | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| NcFTP | Yes | No | No | ? | ? | ? | No | ? | Yes | ? | Yes | ? | ? |
| PSFTP (PuTTY) | No | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | ? |
| Rclone | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Secure FTP | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? |
| SmartFTP | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes |
| Steed | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | ? | Yes | ? | ? |
| 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 | Yes | 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 | Yes | No |
| 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 | ? | ? |
| 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 | Mode Z / Remote Compression | API / Commandline available | Resume Download | Passive mode | Parallel Transfer | Segmented Downloads |
See also
- File Transfer Protocol (FTP)
- Comparison of FTP server software packages
- Comparison of SSH clients – many of these, although not listed here, also have an SFTP capability
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 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
- ↑ "Fugu license". Archived from the original on 2019-02-19.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Multi-threaded and Segmented FTP · Whatbox". whatbox.ca. Retrieved 2020-07-15.
- ↑ "Core FTP - SFTP client features". coreftp.com. Retrieved 2020-07-15.
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