Comparison of FTP client software

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. Unless otherwise specified in footnotes, comparisons are based on the stable versions without any add-ons, extensions or external programs.

Free and Open Source

Client Creator First public release date Latest stable version Software license Copy files over 2 GB limit[1] Interface
cURL Daniel Stenberg 1998 7.41.0 (February 25, 2015[2]) [±] MIT Yes CLI
Cyberduck David V. Kocher 2001 4.6.1 December 18, 2014 GPL Yes GUI
FileZilla Community 2001 (January) 3.10.3 (March 29, 2015 [3]) [±] GPL Yes GUI
FireFTP Mime Čuvalo 2004 (September) 2.0.22 (January 14, 2015) [±] MPL 1.1, Charityware Yes (since version 2.0.5) Firefox 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) 4.6.0 (October 13, 2014 [4]) [±] GPL Yes CLI
Macfusion Michael Gorbach ? 2.0.4 BSD ? GUI
NcFTP NcFTP Software Inc. 1991 3.2.5 January 17, 2011 Clarified Artistic License Yes CLI
net2ftp David C. Gartner 2003 (January) 0.98 June 1, 2009 GPL ? Web application
Swish Alexander Lamaison 2007 0.7.0 July 30, 2012 GPL Yes Windows Explorer shell extension
tnftp Luke Mewburn 1999 20130505 May 5, 2013 BSD ? CLI
WinSCP Martin Přikryl 2000 5.7.2 (April 14, 2015[5]) [±] GPL Yes GUI and CLI
Yafc Sebastian Ramacher 1999 1.2.5 (June 15, 2013) [±] GPL Yes CLI

Proprietary Freeware

Client Creator First public release date Latest stable version Software license Copy files over 2 GB[1] Interface
Ali's FTP Interface S. Ali Tokmen 2003 2013.01.20.01 (January 20, 2013) No license mentioned, but source is available ? Web application
AnyClient JSCAPE 2008 4.1 January 14, 2012 Proprietary Yes Web Interface and GUI
BitKinex Barad-Dur, LLC. 2003 3.2.2 July 11, 2010 Proprietary Yes GUI + command line
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
FTP! syncplify.me 2014 (January) 1.0.6.26 January 14, 2014 Proprietary Yes GUI
FTP Rush Wing FTP Software 2011 2.1.8 Freeware Yes GUI
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
UploadFTP Free Brightek Software 2011 2.0 Proprietary Yes GUI
FTP Voyager Rhino Software, Inc January, 1997 16.1.0.0 (August 20, 2013; 8 months ago) Proprietary Yes GUI

Freeware and commercial 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 Freeware Yes
CrossFTP CrossFTP.com 2006 1.51 Proprietary Yes
FAR Manager Eugene Roshal / FAR Group 1996 3.0 build 4242 (17 January 2015) [±]

2.0 build 1807 (3 February 2011) [±]
1.75 build 2634 (3 February 2011) [±]

 Proprietary Yes
Fetch Fetch Softworks 1989 5.7.3 October 30, 2013 Proprietary Yes
FTP Script! syncplify.me 2013 2.0.2.22 December 9, 2013 Proprietary Yes
rwBackup Stack-Its 2014 1.0 April 16, 2014 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 2004? 4 Build 0111 January 6, 2014 Proprietary Yes

Trials of commercial

Client Creator First public release date Latest stable version Software license Copy files over 2 GB[1]
3D-FTP SiteDesigner Technologies, Inc. 1999 9.01 July 6, 2010 Proprietary Yes
AbsoluteTelnet Celestial Software 1996 9.49 July 2, 2012 Proprietary Yes
AutoFTP PrimaSoft PC 1998 4.9 Proprietary ?
BatchFTP ENSware LLC. 2000 9.0.0.1 February 12, 2009 Proprietary Yes
Beyond Compare Scooter Software ? 3.3.5 (build 15075) July 18, 2012 Proprietary Yes
Beyond FTP Automated Programming Technologies 1997 3.3.01 (build 009) July 11, 2014 Proprietary Yes
BulletProof FTP aka BPFTP BulletProof Software LLC 1997 2.63 Proprietary Yes
ClassicFTP NCH Software. 2007 2.52 December 29, 2014 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 4.3.0 February 20, 2013 Proprietary Yes
FTP Client Vicomsoft 1997 5.0.1 Proprietary Yes
Global Downloader Actysoft Inc 2005 1.8.1.1 November 20, 2011 Proprietary Yes
LeapFTP LeapWare 1996 3.1.0 October 31, 2010 Proprietary Yes
GoAnywhere Director Linoma Software 2002 4.5.1 Proprietary Yes
Robo-FTP Serengeti Systems Incorporated 2001 3.8.3 July 30, 2012 Proprietary Yes
rwBackup Stack-Its 2014 1.0 April 16, 2014 Proprietary Yes
SmartFTP SmartSoft Ltd 1998 4.1.1260 August 6, 2012 Proprietary Yes
Total Commander Christian Ghisler 1993 8.51a April 30, 2014 Proprietary Yes
UploadFTP Brightek Software 2011 2.0.1 August 14, 2011 Proprietary Yes
WebDrive South River Technologies, Inc. 1998 11.0 February 1, 2013 Proprietary Yes
WS_FTP Ipswitch, Inc. 1996 12.4 Proprietary Yes
Yummy FTP Yummy Software 2004 1.9.0 May 10, 2011 Proprietary ?

Commercial

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 ?
BitKinex FTP Barad-Dur, LLC. 2003 3.2.3 November 7, 2010 Proprietary ?
Captain FTP Xnet 2001 6.5 Proprietary ?
ExpanDrive (Mac) ExpanDrive, Inc 2008 4.3.1 (February 25, 2015) [±] Proprietary Yes
ExpanDrive (Windows) (formerly SftpDrive) ExpanDrive, Inc 2005 4.3.1 (February 25, 2015) [±] 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 Proprietary Yes
FTP Explorer FTPx Corp. October, 1996 1.0.1.53 Proprietary ?
GoAnywhere Director Linoma Software 2002 4.5.1 Proprietary Yes
Interarchy Nolobe Software Pty Ltd 1993 (as Anarchie) 10.0.2 August 18, 2010 Proprietary Yes
rwBackup Stack-Its 2014 1.0 April 16, 2014 Proprietary Yes
SecureFX VanDyke Software 1998 7.0 July 3, 2012 Proprietary Yes
Steed French Fry, SAS 2012 1.1.1.1014 March 17, 2015 Proprietary Yes
Transmit Panic, Inc. 1998 4.4.8 September 19, 2014 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

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
Beyond FTP 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! 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 Script! 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
rwBackup No Yes 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 ? ? ? ?
Ali's FTP Interface Yes No No No Yes No No No No No Yes
AnyClient Yes No Yes Yes No Yes Yes No No Yes Yes
Beyond FTP Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes 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 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 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 (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! Yes No Yes Yes No No Yes Yes 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 Script! Yes No Yes Yes No No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
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 ? Yes ? ?
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 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
rwBackup Yes No Yes No No No Yes ? No 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 Yes
UploadFTP Yes No Yes Yes Yes (Pro Only) 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 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) ?
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

  1. ↑ 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
  2. ↑ "cURL - Changes". 2015-02-25. Retrieved 2015-02-26.
  3. ↑ "FileZilla - The free FTP solution". Retrieved 2015-05-01.
  4. ↑ "lftp news". Retrieved 2014-10-13.
  5. ↑ "Recent Version History :: WinSCP". Retrieved 2015-04-14.

See also