DevelopmentWindowsFTP

What are the best FTP clients for Windows?

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WinSCP vs FileZilla vs Cyberduck

 vs Total Commander vs GoodSync vs WebDrive vs Gs Richcopy 360 Enterprise vs sFTP Client vs SmartFTP vs SPFileZilla vs cuteftp vs Directnet drive vs AnyClient

Specs

Platforms

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Supported transfer protocols

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Supported cloud services

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Platforms

linux

Supported transfer protocols

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Supported cloud services

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Platforms

Windows, Mac

Supported transfer protocols

FTP, SFTP, WebDav

Supported cloud services

Nextcloud, Owncloud, Amazon

Platforms

Android

Supported transfer protocols

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Platforms

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Platforms

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Platforms

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Platforms

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Supported cloud services

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Platforms

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Pros + Cons

Pro
 Supports FTP and SFTP

In new versions also supports WebDav.
Comment

Pro
 Free and open-source

It has very good compatibility with the other tools of this segment (e.g. PuTTY).
Comment

Pro
 Supports WebDAV

Comment

Con
 Keyboard shortcuts not editable

Comment

Pro
 Not bundled with Potentially Unwanted Programs (PUP)

Does not attempt to install unwanted software on installation.
Comment

Pro
 Supports PPK Keys

You can use the SSH server public/private key files from putty to log in.
Comment

Pro
 Supports Amazon S3

You can use in the last versions S3 so you're good if you use Amazon AWS.
Comment

Pro
 Portable

No Installation required.
Comment

Pro
 Integrated basic text editor

It has a integrated basic function text editor to create/edit/update files directly from client.
Comment

Con
 Slow

In my opinion, it's slower than Filezilla.
Comment

Pro
 Can protect stored passwords by strong AES cipher

Comment

Pro
 Can be automated with batch scripts

Put a line in bat file ""D:\Program Files\WinSCP\winscp.com" /console /script="D:\ftp\scripts\transfer.txt". All the info can be found on their site.
Comment

Con
 No x64 version

Comment

Con
 Does not support UNC

Does not support UNC. This makes working with the "Library"-function in Win 7, 8, 10 not possible when working over a network.
Comment

Con
 Weird keyboard selection handling

If you are accustomed to several commanders, the selection method in WinSCP behaves unexpected - most often selects too much.
Comment

Con
 Terrible UI

Comment

Pro
 Secure FTP support (FTPS/SFTP)

Supports FTP, FTPS (SSL) and SFTP (SSH).
Comment

Pro
 Free and open source

FileZilla is free open-source software distributed under the terms of the GNU General Public License free of charge. Basically this means that everyone, including corporate entities, can use FileZilla, including but not limited to private, educational and commercial use.
Comment

Pro
 Offers Server Mode

Can be used as an FTP server also, allowing easy file sharing.
Comment

Con
 Readable password

Doesn't encrypt saved passwords.
Comment

Pro
 Cross-platform

In addition to Windows, FileZilla client is available for Unix, OSX and Linux.
Comment

Pro
 Suppots FTP and FTPS

FileZilla Server is a server that supports FTP and FTP over SSL/TLS which provides secure encrypted connections to the server.
Comment

Pro
 Kind of de-facto standard

If you're troubleshooting things, everybody will first try if it works with File-Zilla.
Comment

Pro
 Multi Platform (Linux, Windows, macOS)

Program is available on all your platforms.
Comment

Con
 Installs junk software on your computer

The installer will install adware by default.
Comment

Con
 May install adware

Main download link includes SourceForge Download Manager, which which bundles opt-out adware.
Comment

Pro
 Cross-platform and open-source

Cyberduck is available for both Windows and OSX and the source code of the application is licensed under GPL and can be found here.
Comment

Pro
 Easy and intuitive user interface

Comment

Pro
 Integrates with any third-party text editor

Comment

Pro
 Includes a bookmark manager

Comment

Pro
 Supports many additional protocols and APIs

In addition to FTP, FTPS, and SFTP, Cyberduck also supports transfers with WebDAV, S3, Backblaze B2, Azure, OpenStack Swift, and Google Drive APIs.
Comment

Pro
 Available in multiple languages

In addition to English, Cyberduck is available in 25 other languages including Chinese (both traditional and simplified), German and Ukrainian.
Comment

Pro
 Free to download

It's free to download from the developers according to the FAQ, however donation models are not allowed on the Mac store, which is why it costs $23.99 there.
Comment

Con
 "Transfer queue" feature broken since v.6 (May 2017). AVOID UNTIL FIXED

The most important feature of any FTP client is the ability to queue your downloads. If you are downloading, for example, massive 30 GB torrents from a seedbox, you need to process them consecutively, not run multiple file transfers concurrently. Otherwise, they would take too long and run a high risk of failing. Transfer queuing is currently broken on both Mac and PC. Queuing was originally added in v2.8 of Cyberduck, way back in September 2007. Sadly, they subsequently broke this essential feature in v6.0 when they tried to add other, less important, features - in May 2017. This bug has apparently been ignored by the developers in all of the last 24 updates. This loss of functionality was clearly not intentional because the corresponding options, which allow you to select the number of simultaneous transfers, are still there - they just no longer do anything. Even if you only choose one transfer, every single download placed in the queue starts immediately and without waiting for the previous ones to complete. It's less of a "queue" and more of a free-for-all. Use FileZilla if you want the most recent version of your FTP client with working queuing or use Cyberduck v5.4.4 if you are determined to use Cyberduck and don't mind running an older version in order to retain proper transfer queue control! Cyberduck v5.4.4: Windows installer Cyberduck v5.4.4: Mac installer Edit: This is due to be fixed in v7. It's on the roadmap!
Comment

Con
 No portable version

There is no portable version for windows. Needs to be installed.
Comment

Pro
 Saves time

Comment

Pro
 Easy for language translation

Comment

Pro
 Can replace a lot of utility tools

There are a lot of built-in utility tools and plug-ins. There's multi-file renamer, verify file checksum to ensure download content integrity, sync directory tool, etc.
Comment

Pro
 Plugins

Supports plugins for compression, file system, and file types.
Comment

Pro
 Useful multiple advanced options

Show hidden files, show differences between directories, FTP connections, coding and decoding (MIME, UUE).
Comment

Pro
 Very customizable

Total Commander is extremely flexible, with plenty of customizable options such as changing the color scheme, customizing menus, and editing shortcuts.
Comment

Pro
 Works even when Windows is very unstable

Comment

Pro
 Life-time license

Once purchased you can use it as long as you like and never have to pay again.
Comment

Pro
 Layout increases productivity

The dual-pane layout makes normal file operations (like move & copy) easy.
Comment

Pro
 Integrates into Windows explorer

Comment

Pro
 Multi use beyond ftp

Comment

Pro
 Can create simple to complex automation rule sets

Comment

Pro
 Fast and reliable

Comment

Pro
 Modern UI design

Comment

Pro
 Easy to use for Admins and Users

Comment

Pro
 Supports lots of connectors and secure protocols

Comment

Pro
 Updated regularly with an A+ tech support team

Comment

Pro
 Scalability

Comment

Pro
 SSH Terminal

Comment

Pro
 Port forwarding

Comment

Pro
 SSH Key Setting

Can set different SSH Key for each connection, whereas in CuteFTP it's set for the whole application.
Comment

Pro
 Visual compare

SmartFTP is capable of comparing two folders and display visually the differences between them.
Comment

Pro
 Has an integrated editor

SmartFTP has a capable integrated text editor with support for syntax highlighting, folding, auto-complete, brace and indent highlighting, utf-8 characters, etc.
Comment

Pro
 Interface similar to windows explorer

Comment

Pro
 Built-in tty

SmartFTP includes a terminal emulator.
Comment

Con
 Certain functionality is behind a paywall

Comment

Pro
 Portable

No installation required, click and run !
Comment

Pro
 Open Source

There is no limitation to use it
Comment

Con
 Outdated

Last development is 2017
Comment

Pro
 Very easy to use, powerful options, complete feature set

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