Comparison of file sharing applications

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Name Network Anonymity link system compatibility Price Platform License Programming language Spyware/Adware Extra Information
Acquisition Gnutella, BitTorrent No magnet Nagware/US$17.99 Mac OS X GPL ObjC, Java No Alternative to LimeWire for Mac users. Uses Cocoa GUI
aMule eDonkey, Kad Network No ed2k Free Microsoft Windows, Unix-like, Mac OS X GPL C++ No
ANts P2P ANts Yes ed2k Free Microsoft Windows, Unix-like, Mac OS X GPL Java No Proxies other users' IP addresses making it hard to determine who is downloading
Ares Galaxy Ares, BitTorrent No Free Microsoft Windows GPL Delphi No
Azureus BitTorrent No (except when using I2P) magnet Free Microsoft Windows, Unix-like, Mac OS X GPL Java No
BearShare Gnutella No Free/US$3.29 per month Microsoft Windows Closed source C++ No
Free version contains third-party advertising in versions previous to Version 6; version 6 does not connect to Gnutella and restricts downloads to certain formats under certain conditions. Lite contains no third-party advertising, but has a reduced feature set.
5.1 Beta has full feature set, no third-party advertising, and no file restrictions.
BitComet BitTorrent No No Free Microsoft Windows Closed source C++ No
BitTornado BitTorrent No No Free Microsoft Windows, Unix-like, Mac OS X Open Source Python No
BitTorrent client BitTorrent No No Free Microsoft Windows, Unix-like, Mac OS X GPL Python No Also known as "Mainline"
Cabos Gnutella No magnet Free Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X GPL Java, REALbasic No
DC++ Direct Connect No magnet Free Microsoft Windows GPL C++ No Many modifications exist, for example LinuxDC++
eDonkey2000 eDonkey, Overnet No ed2k Free/US$19.95 Microsoft Windows, Unix-like, Mac OS X Closed source C++ Yes Discontinued
eMule eDonkey, Kad Network No ed2k Free Microsoft Windows GPL C++ No Supports protocol obfuscation
Freenet Freenet Yes No Free Microsoft Windows, Unix-like, Mac OS X GPL Java No
FrostWire Gnutella, BitTorrent No magnet Free Microsoft Windows Unix-like, Mac OS X GPL Java No Fork of LimeWire, with no copyrighted-material blocker planned
giFT OpenFT and, with plugins, Ares, Gnutella and FastTrack No No Free Microsoft Windows, Unix-like, Mac OS X GPL C No

GigaTribe

Private Yes No Free Microsoft Windows Closed source C++ No Can share specific folders with private network of family or friends; 128-bit Blowfish encryption

Gnucleus

Gnutella, Gnutella2 No No Free Microsoft Windows GPL C++ No
GNUnet GNUnet Yes No Free Microsoft Windows, Unix-like, Mac OS X GPL C No
Gtk-gnutella Gnutella No magnet Free Unix-like GPL C No
iMesh FastTrack, Gnutella, Gnutella2 No No Free Microsoft Windows Closed source C++ Yes
Kazaa FastTrack No No Free Microsoft Windows Closed source C++ Yes Illegal in Australia, adware/spyware
Kazaa Lite FastTrack No No Free Microsoft Windows Closed source - No Adware-disabled version of Kazaa (fake versions in circulation)
KCeasy Ares, Gnutella, FastTrack and OpenFT No No Free Microsoft Windows GPL C++, Delphi No Easy to use. Uses integrated giFT file sharing daemon as back-end
LimeWire Gnutella No magnet Free/US$18.88 Microsoft Windows, Unix-like, Mac OS X GPL Java No
MLDonkey BitTorrent, eDonkey, FastTrack, Gnutella, Gnutella2, Kad Network No ed2k Free Microsoft Windows, Unix-like, Mac OS X GPL OCaml No Core p2p application, telnet/webinterface/GUI interface, complete and complex remote usage.Sancho gui makes automatic SSH tunnels.
MonoTorrent (Client Library) BitTorrent No No Free Microsoft Windows, Unix-like, Mac OS X MIT/X11 C# No Requires either Mono Framework or Microsoft .NET Framework to be installed
Morpheus NEOnet, Gnutella, Gnutella2, BitTorrent No Free/US$19.95 Microsoft Windows Closed source  ? No
MUTE MUTE Yes No Free/donation Microsoft Windows, Linux GPL  ? No
Nodezilla Private Yes No Free Microsoft Windows, Unix-like GPL Java No
Phex Gnutella No magnet Free Microsoft Windows, Unix-like, Mac OS X GPL Java No
PySoulSeek Soulseek No No Free Microsoft Windows, Unix-like, Mac OS X GPL Python No Just like Soulseek
Qbittorrent BitTorrent No No Free Unix-like, Solaris GPL C++ No
RShare RShare Yes No Free Microsoft Windows GPL C# No eMule-like usability
Share Share Yes No Free Microsoft Windows Closed source Delphi No Anonymous developer. Attempts to be Winny's successor
Shareaza eDonkey, BitTorrent, Gnutella, Gnutella2 No ed2k, magnet Free Microsoft Windows GPL C++ No
Soulseek Soulseek No No Free Microsoft Windows Closed source  ? No Whole album downloads, browse users with folder trees, no multi-source downloads
Transmission BitTorrent No No Free Mac OS X, Unix-like, BeOS MIT C, ObjC No Lightweight and crossplatform
TrustyFiles eDonkey, Overnet, Gnutella, Gnutella2, FastTrack, BitTorrent No ed2k Free/US$29 Microsoft Windows Closed source  ? Yes Has stolen code from Gnucleus, giFT, and avlib; Linux version announced, but never released
µTorrent BitTorrent No No Free Microsoft Windows Closed source C++ No Specifically designed to be very small; entire program runs from a 170KB compressed executable
Verosee Private No No Free Microsoft Windows, Linux Proprietary Java No
Warez P2P iP2P DHT No No Free/US$19.99 Microsoft Windows Closed source  ? No Developer claims Warez v3.0 beta to be malware-free
WinMX WinMX Peer Network [independent, now user-operated], OpenNAP, chatrooms supported No No Free Microsoft Windows Closed source  ? No 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 Microsoft Windows Closed source C++ No

[edit] See also

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