Comparison of file sharing applications
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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 | ed2k, magnet | Free/US$3.29 per month | Microsoft Windows | Closed source | C++ | Yes |
Free version contains third-party advertising in versions previous to Version 6; version 6 iMesh clone does not connect to Gnutella and restricts downloads to media formats under certain conditions.
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++ | Yes | Some versions are ad free. |
BitTornado | BitTorrent | No | No | Free | Microsoft Windows, Unix-like, Mac OS X | Open Source | Python | No | |
BitTorrent 5 | BitTorrent | No | No | Free | Microsoft Windows, Unix-like, Mac OS X | BitTorrent Open Source License | Python | No | Also known as "Mainline" |
BitTorrent 6 | BitTorrent | No | No | Free | Microsoft Windows | Closed source | C++ | No | re-brand of µTorrent |
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 |
ExoSee | ? | No | No | Free | Microsoft Windows | Closed source | ? | No | ExoSee does not appear to have a business model. |
Free Download Manager | BitTorrent | No | metalink | Free | Microsoft Windows | GPL | C++ | No | |
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 | For sharing specific folders with private network of contacts; 256-bit Blowfish encryption; no size limits on downloads/uploads. Entire folders can be exchanged. |
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 | Yes | Sued June 2007 for copyright infringement. Connection problems with Zone Alarm on Windows Vista. |
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. Support for Gnutella and G2 networks was removed in release 2.9.0 |
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 | Donation | Microsoft Windows, Linux, Mac OS X | GPL | C++ | No | |
Nodezilla | Private | Yes | No | Free | Microsoft Windows, Unix-like | GPL | Java | No | |
Opera | BitTorrent | No | No | Free | Microsoft Windows, Unix-like, Mac OS X | Closed source | C++ | No | |
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 | supported | ed2k, magnet | Free | Microsoft Windows | GPL | C++ | No | Utilizes a powerful library to share files over the network. Free, maintained by a group of volunteers. |
Soulseek | Soulseek | No | No | Free/Donations for privileges | 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 | 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 | C++ | 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 | |
Name | Network | Anonymity | link system compatibility | Price | Platform | License | Programming language | Spyware/Adware | Extra Information |