So, for all of my fellow Mac users, here are 5 of the best free FTP clients in 2020! What is an FTP Client, FTP, SFTP and FTPS? Before we get into some of the best free FTP clients on the market, it’s important we define what an FTP client is and the difference between FTP, SFTP and FTPS. Transmit is the most popular FTP client for Mac, particularly among web developers. It comes with an extremely powerful set of features like folder syncing, disk feature, and higher speeds. Transmit beautifully integrates into your native Mac environment which makes it super easy for Mac users to learn quickly. Download FileZilla Client for Mac OS X The latest stable version of FileZilla Client is 3.51.0 Please select the file appropriate for your platform below.
If you are on Mac and looking for an FTP client, you will get overwhelmed by the different options.
In this article I would like to share with you 75 FTP clients that you can use to transfer files online. The initial list supports multiple formats including Windows, Mac, Linux and Unix. Later, I have listed FTP clients that are exclusive to Mac, Windows and Linux. I hope you find it useful:) Note: Applications are listed in no particular order. Commander One is a reliable FTP/SFTP client for Mac OS Besides being a perfect dual-panel file manager, Commander One also flawlessly combines FTP client for Mac as well as cloud computing manager features and provides you with the built-in Mac Terminal emulator making it super easy for you to manage all the system processes.
It is where you must analyze the opportunities and make sure that you settle down with the best FTP client available.
Then you can get a rich experience and complete all your file transfers using the Mac without facing any struggles.
Here is the list of best FTP clients for Mac.
10 Best FTP Clients for Mac
1 Dropzone 4 for Mac
Dropzone 4 is pretty much a productivity app available for the people who use it on Mac.
If you prefer to get your work done on Mac faster, this would be the ideal option available to consider.
It will help you make your life easy while moving forward with different day-to-day work, such as launching applications, copying files, and uploading to other services.
You may use Dropzone 4 as an FTP client for Mac.
2 CloudMounter FTP Clients for Mac
CloudMounter is one of the apps that you can think about having in your Mac without keeping a doubt in mind.
It is the ideal option available for you to have when you are managing cloud storage.
That’s because you can easily mount CloudMounter to your Mac and then execute the remotely stored files on the cloud.
You can get a secure data encryption with the help of the CloudMounter app as well.
3 Captain FTP for Mac
Captain FTP is a corporate FTP client available for Mac. This app plans to deliver a straightforward experience to anyone who wishes to get hold of a one.
That’s because it can detect the files automatically and sync them.
Hence, you will get most of your work done in automated mode and keep the peace of mind using the FTP client.
This FTP client supports FTP, SSL FTP, and SFTP transfers.
4 Acquisition 2 FTP Clients for Mac
Acquisition 2 FTP client has been quite popular because of the User interface provided with this app.
You don’t need to have any technical expertise to use this interface and get work done out of the FTP client.
It could deliver a simple and trouble-free experience. Even though you cannot download the app from its official website, you can look at the third-party websites that offer the setup and download it.
5 Transmit 5 for Mac
Transmit 5 is an app that is specifically optimized to ensure convenient file transfer on Mac.
You will be able to download and upload files on numerous servers with ease while using it.
There is a powerful and user-friendly interface. This interface will be able to support you with getting most of your work done.
Ftp Client For Mac Catalina
6 Cyberduck FTP Clients for Mac
Cyberduck is one of the best FTP clients for Mac based on the Libre server, which offers a cloud storage browser for your laptop.
While you are using the app on your Mac, you will take better control over files stored on numerous platforms with ease.
It is a program to deliver a convenient experience for you. Hence, beginners to FTP clients can use this and get most of the work out of it.
7 Forklift 3 FTP for Mac
If you are looking to get an advanced FTP Client for Mac, you may look at ForkLift 3.
You can think about using the tool to proceed with FTP, SFTP, Backblaze B2, Amazon S2, AFP, Google Drive, and NFS remote volume file management with ease.
In other words, it can deliver a quick and trouble-free experience to you with managing your files across different networks without facing any trouble.
While you are using ForkLift 3, you will also have the freedom to connect with multiple servers at a given time and manage them effectively.
8 CrossFTP for Mac
CrossFTP is an FTP client that you can use when you have online cloud storage solutions in Amazon Glacier, Amazon S2, Web Dav, SFTP, and FTP.
You will also be able to get content on Google Storage, Microsoft Azure, and OpenStack Swift while using it.
This tool offers compatibility for Linux, Mac, and Windows-based computers.
9 RBrowser for Mac
RBrowser stands for Remote Browser. This FTP client will be able to help you with getting your work done as a remote browser.
You can receive local to local folder synchronization with this tool’s help and local to remote folder synchronization.
If you have accounts on remote Linux and UNIX systems, you can get the support needed by managing them with ease while using RBrowser.
You can easily manage all the web pages and reflect changes while using RBrowser as well.
10 Fetch FTP client for Mac
Fetch is another user-friendly FTP client for Mac. The main feature that you can discover in this FTP client is that it has a user-friendly interface.
You can get the support of the interface and proceed with file transfers without facing any significant issues.
This tool is quite popular among pre-press companies, web hosting companies, internet service providers, and many other professional entities.
Go through these ten options and pick the best FTP clients for Mac, which you will use and get your work done without facing any troubles.
- By
An FTP client gives you a graphical way to interact with files on your server, which comes in really handy when you’re managing a WordPress website (or other types of websites, too!).
Looking for the best FTP client to manage files on your server? In this post, we’ve collected five great FTP clients for all operating systems, including Windows, Mac and Linux.
Note: While we’re calling these the ‘best FTP clients’, all of these programs do, of course, support the much more secure SFTP connection method. You should always connect over SFTP instead of FTP whenever possible.
Best Free FTP Clients
For most users, a free FTP client will totally get the job done, so don’t feel as though you need to crack open your wallet just to get a solid FTP program.
In terms of interface design, the free clients don’t always have the most beautiful experience, but, functionality wise, a free client should be able to do everything you need it to (and then some).
WinSCP (Windows)
(click to enlarge)
WinSCP is one of the most popular free FTP programs for Windows users.
It offers two different interfaces — an orthodox file manager ‘Commander Interface’, where you’ll see local files on the left and remote files on the right. Or, an ‘Explorer Interface’, where you’ll only see your remote files. For reference, the screenshot above depicts the ‘Commander Interface’.
Of the free FTP clients, I’d say WinSCP has one of the best-looking interfaces — and the ability to choose between the two different interface approaches is quite convenient.
To connect, you can use FTP, FTPS, SCP, SFTP, WebDAV or S3 protocols. And if you want to store connection details, WinSCP encrypts your passwords and lets you set a master password to unlock stored connections.
Other helpful features include:
- Integrated code editor to help you to make changes
- Workspace saving (e.g. save multiple sites you’re connected to for easy reuse later)
- File queue
- File resume
FileZilla (Windows, Mac, Linux)
Along with WinSCP, FileZilla is one of the most popular options when it comes to free FTP clients, and it’s also cross-platform with support for Windows, Mac and Linux.
However, unlike WinSCP, there’s some controversy with FileZilla. Some people don’t like that its SourceForge installer comes with bundled offers (e.g. it tries to get you to install other programs). I personally use FileZilla (installed from the project’s site — not SourceForge) and have never had an issue with malware. However, you should be aware of what some people say, as this is a popular criticism.
With that out of the way, let’s get into the details…
First off, FileZilla’s interface definitely looks a little dated, especially when compared with WinSCP:
(click to enlarge)
But it has a good list of features, including:
- File transfer resume
- Tabbed interface
- Master password to store connection details (FileZilla used to be bad about securely storing passwords, but it now lets you encrypt stored passwords behind your master password)
- Remote file searching
Beyond the free version, there’s also a $19.99 Pro version that adds support for other protocols, including Amazon S3, Google Cloud/Drive, Microsoft Azure and so on.
Cyberduck (Windows, Mac)
Cyberduck is a popular free FTP client that works on both Windows and Mac. In addition to supporting FTP and SFTP, Cyberduck also supports a number of other protocols including:
- Amazon S3
- WebDAV
- Google Cloud
- Azure
- Cloud storage services (Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, etc)
In terms of interface, Cyberduck is much more minimal than both WinSCP and Filezilla. By default, it only shows you an explorer view of your server, and it opts to put the file transfer queue into a separate popup:
(click to enlarge)
So, if you like having that dual-pane view with a local file browser as WinSCP and FileZilla offer, you’ll probably want to pick a different FTP program.
To edit files, Cyberduck lets you choose your preferred text editor, which lets you work in a familiar interface. And it also includes other nice features, such as file resume and synchronization.
Best Premium FTP Clients
Coincidentally, both of the premium FTP clients are for Mac only. While you can certainly find premium options for Windows, there’s really not much that differentiates them from WinSCP or the other free options.
In fact, in doing lots of research on social media for this post, I didn’t come across a single person who recommended a premium Windows FTP client (though there were plenty of recommendations for the following two Mac FTP clients).
Transmit (Mac)
When it comes to premium FTP programs for Mac users, Transmit is definitely the most well-known option. It comes from Panic Inc, which is the same team behind other popular tools such as the Coda editor.
The first thing you’ll notice is the interface. It just, well, seems way nicer than pretty much every free FTP program with its clean, simple looks:
(click to enlarge)
In addition to core protocols such as FTP, SFTP, WebDAV and S3, Transmit also includes support for 11 cloud services including Google Drive, Dropbox and more.
The latest version — Transmit 5 — offers big speed improvements, and it also has helpful features such as:
- File sync
- Batch rename files
- Two-factor login to secure connection details (including support for YubiKey)
Ftps Client For Mac Osx
Price: $45
Forklift (Mac)
After Transmit, Forklift is probably the next most popular premium option for Mac users.
Two of the big reasons why people seem to like Forklift are its speed and its dark mode interface.
Beyond that, Forklift supports most popular protocols, including SFTP, FTP, WebDAV, Amazon S3 and others.
The interface uses a nice dual-pane view, and it also includes a feature that lets you preview files right in Forklift. For example, you can view pictures or watch videos without the need to download a file. That probably won’t come in handy every day, but it’s a neat feature:
(click to enlarge)
Other helpful features include:
- File sync
- Choose your preferred editor to edit files
- File search
- Workspaces (e.g. save multiple connection tabs and reopen them later)
- Add tags to help organize files
- Bulk rename files
Price: $29.95
Bonus: File Manager WordPress Plugin
Okay, the File Manager plugin definitely isn’t a full FTP client. But I’m including it as a bonus because if you’re using WordPress it may be able to get you the functionality you need from right inside your WordPress dashboard.
Filezilla For Mac
Essentially, File Manager lets you manage your WordPress site’s server’s files from a new WP File Manager tab in your WordPress dashboard. Without leaving your dashboard, you can:
- Edit
- Delete
- Upload
- Download
- Copy
- Etc
(click to enlarge)
So, if you just want to do some simple file management on your server, this could be one to consider. Just make sure your WordPress admin account is locked down tight, because anyone with admin access will be able to directly edit files on your server.
File Manager has a free version at WordPress.org, as well as a $25 Pro version.
Wrap Up: What’s the Best FTP Client?
While usually there are clear-cut reasons to choose between a free and a premium offering, this decision really just comes down to your preferences, as even the free options should be able to do everything most users need.
Ftp Client For Mac
WinSCP and FileZilla are great free options if you like the dual-pane approach of seeing both your local and remote files in the interface (though again, make sure you get a clean FileZilla installer).
On the other hand, if you prefer only seeing the remote files on your server, Cyberduck has a really clean interface, is free, and works on both Windows and Mac.
If you’re using a Mac, the two premium options — Transmit and Forklift — both offer really nice interfaces, as well as extra nice-to-have features such as two-factor authentication (Transmit) and detailed file preview (Forklift).
Know of any other top FTP clients for Mac and/or Windows? Any preferences?
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