That’s why Secure FTP, or SFTP, was developed. But if you have any sensitive documents or your industry has privacy regulations, using an unsecured connection could be a PR headache at best and regulatory negligence charges at worst. That might be fine if you’re just hosting whitepapers for download or transferring non-private information. (This latter use has become less popular with the rise of cloud computing.) For smaller data transfers, going machine-to-machine is still fine.Ī note on security: FTP was developed before cybersecurity was the concern that it is today, so data is sent unencrypted. That’s typically relevant when you’re building or maintaining a website but could also matter when transferring large files that can’t be stored on RAM. It’s the FTP client software that initiates the request of the server. What to Keep in Mind When Choosing FTP Client Softwareįile Transfer Protocol is necessary when you’re communicating with a server. CloudMounter – Paid FTP Client Tool for Mac, Windows, Linux.CuteFTP – Paid FTP Client Tool for Windows.

FireFTP – Paid FTP Client Tool for Windows.

Cyberduck – Free FTP Client Tool for Mac.

Transmit – Free FTP Client Tool for Mac.

FileZilla – Free FTP Client Tool for Windows.

WinSCP – Free FTP Client Tool for Windows.

SolarWinds Serv-U Managed File Transfer Server.

Here you can jump ahead to FTP Client Software reviews: Don’t have time to read through top FTP programs? My top pick is the SolarWinds ® Serv-U ® Managed File Transfer Server solution if you need reliable, business-level capabilities. We’re here to help you sort through the clutter with the following list. The popularity and long history of this protocol means there are lots of players in the game-FTP clients for Windows, FTP clients for macOS, FTP clients for mobile, free FTP clients and paid FTP clients-and the right one for you depends on the client’s features and your needs.

Whether you’re building a site or sharing files, FTP provides ease and capacity unavailable in simple computer-to-computer transfers.

My point here is this: every IT professional and practitioner needs a good FTP client (and possibly server) in their corner.

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