Comparison of FTP client software
The following tables compare general and technical information for a number of FTP clients. Please see the individual products' articles for further information. This article is not all-inclusive or necessarily up-to-date. Unless otherwise specified in footnotes, comparisons are based on the stable versions without any add-ons, extensions or external programs.
General information
Basic general information about the clients: creator/company, license/price etc.
| Creator | First public release date | Latest stable version | Cost (USD) | Software license | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Captain FTP | Xnet | 2001 | 4.2 | $25, $40 (Upgrade Protected) | Proprietary |
| CoreFTP | Core FTP | 2003 | 1.3 | Free (LE lite version), $25 (Pro Version) | Proprietary |
| CuteFTP | Alex Kunadze | 1994 | 7.0.2 | $39.99 (Home), $59.99 (Pro) | Proprietary |
| Cyberduck | David V. Kocher | ? | 2.5 | Free | GPL |
| Fetch | Fetch Softworks | ? | 5.0.2atr | $25, Free for education | Proprietary |
| FileZilla | Tim Kosse, et al. | January, 2001 | 2.2.15 | Free | GPL |
| gFTP | Brian Masney | 1998 | 2.0.18 | Free | GPL |
| lftp | Alexander V. Lukyanov | ? | 3.1.0 | Free | GPL |
| NcFTP | ? | 1991 | 3.1.8 | Free | Clarified Artistic License |
| SFTPPlus | Pro:Atria Ltd | 2005 | 1.1 | Commercial, flexible edu etc. | Proprietary |
| SmartFTP | SmartFTP GmbH | ? | 1.5.988.18 | $36.95, Free for edu and home use | Proprietary |
| WS_FTP | ? | ? | 9 | $59.95 (Home), $84.95 (Pro) | Proprietary |
| Creator | First public release date | Latest stable version | Cost (USD) | Software license |
Operating system support
The operating systems the clients can run on.
| Windows | Mac OS X | Linux | BSD | Unix | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Captain FTP | No | Yes | No | No | No |
| CoreFTP | Yes | No | No | No | No |
| CuteFTP | Yes | Yes | No | No | No |
| Cyberduck | No | Yes | No | No | No |
| Fetch | No | Yes | No | No | No |
| FileZilla | Yes | No | No | No | No |
| gFTP | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| lftp | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| NcFTP | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| SFTPPlus | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes |
| SmartFTP | Yes | No | No | No | No |
| WS_FTP | Yes | No | No | No | No |
| Windows | Mac OS X | Linux | BSD | Unix |
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.
| FTP | Secure FTP | SSH file transfer protocol | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Captain FTP | Yes | Yes | No |
| CoreFTP | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| CuteFTP | Yes | Yes | Yes (Pro only) |
| Cyberduck | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Fetch | Yes | Yes | No |
| FileZilla | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| gFTP | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| lftp | Yes | No | No |
| NcFTP | Yes | No | No |
| SFTPPlus | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| SmartFTP | Yes | Yes | No |
| WS_FTP | Yes | Yes (Pro only) | No |
| FTP | Secure FTP | SSH file transfer protocol |