# Alternatives to Cyberduck Friendly client for FTP through S3. Cyberduck ranks #1 of 11 in FTP clients, with an Alt Score of 95. It is licensed under GPL-3.0, donationware from Free and available on Windows and macOS. 9 of 9 checklist rows are verified against a public source. Source: https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/cyberduck/ Category: FTP clients ## Where Cyberduck stands out - **Open source** — 5 of 11 apps with a verified answer have this ## Overview - **Who it's for**: Anyone who needs to move files between their computer and remote servers or cloud storage — developers, sysadmins, and everyday users managing website files, backups, or synced storage. - **What you get**: A graphical file browser for macOS and Windows that connects to FTP, SFTP, WebDAV, and SMB servers as well as cloud providers like Amazon S3, Google Cloud Storage, Azure, Backblaze B2, Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive, and others. It supports drag-and-drop transfers with resume, direct server-to-server copying, folder synchronization, and bookmarked connections. Cryptomator integration adds client-side encryption of filenames and contents, and credentials are stored in the system Keychain. It is free, open-source (GPL), and a command-line variant (Cyberduck CLI) is also available for Linux, macOS, and Windows. - **How it works**: You add a bookmark for a server or cloud account (with credentials stored securely), then browse, upload, download, edit, or sync files through a two-pane or outline-style file browser, much like a native Finder/Explorer window pointed at a remote location. ## Profile - **License**: GPL-3.0 (verified 2026-07-08) - **Pricing model**: Donationware (verified 2026-07-08) - **Starts at**: Free (verified 2026-07-08) - **Platforms**: Windows, macOS - **Status**: active (verified 2026-07-08) ## Ranked alternatives | # | App | Alt Score | Licence | Platforms | |---|-----|-----------|---------|-----------| | 1 | [AeroFTP](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/aeroftp.md) | 90 | GPL-3.0 | Windows, macOS, Linux | | 2 | [CrossFTP](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/crossftp.md) | 90 | Proprietary | Windows, macOS, Linux | | 3 | [lftp](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/lftp.md) | 85 | GPL-3.0 | Linux | | 4 | [SmartFTP](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/smartftp.md) | 85 | Proprietary | Windows | | 5 | [WinSCP](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/winscp.md) | 85 | GPL-3.0 | Windows | | 6 | [Xftp](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/xftp.md) | 80 | Proprietary | Windows | | 7 | [FileZilla](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/filezilla.md) | 75 | GPL-2.0-or-later | Windows, macOS, Linux | | 8 | [Core FTP](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/coreftp.md) | 65 | Proprietary | Windows | | 9 | [Transmit](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/transmit.md) | 65 | Proprietary | macOS | | 10 | [Commander One](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/commander-one.md) | 50 | Proprietary | macOS | Alt Score = Verified coverage (90%) + Visibility (10%). See https://altcatalog.com/how-alt-score-works/ ## Feature comparison Legend: Yes / No / Partial / ? (not verified). | FTP clients checklist | Cyberduck | AeroFTP | CrossFTP | lftp | SmartFTP | WinSCP | |---|---|---|---|---|---|---| | Pricing model | Donationware | Free | Freemium | Free | One-time | Free | | Starts at | Free | Free | $24.99 | Free | $79.99/user/yr | Free | | License | GPL-3.0 | GPL-3.0 | Proprietary | GPL-3.0 | Proprietary | GPL-3.0 | | Platforms | Windows, macOS | Windows, macOS, Linux | Windows, macOS, Linux | Linux | Windows | Windows | | Protocols (FTP, SFTP, WebDAV, S3) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partial | Yes | Yes | | Sync / mirror mode | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | | Editing remote files | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | | Key-based auth | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | | Speed limits & scheduling | Partial | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partial | Partial | | Open source | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | | One-time purchase option | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | ? | | Directory comparison | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | | CLI | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ## Sources Sources for Cyberduck. Each alternative is sourced on its own page. - **License**: GPL-3.0 — (verified 2026-07-08) - Quote: “license: GPL-3.0” - **Pricing model**: Donationware — (verified 2026-07-08) - Quote: “As a contributor (minimum amount 10 USD) you receive a registration key that registers the installed application to your name and disables the donation prompt.” - **Starts at**: Free — (verified 2026-07-08) - Quote: “Cyberduck is free software, but it still costs money to write, support, and distribute it.” - **Platforms**: Windows, macOS — (verified 2026-07-08) - Quote: “Cyberduck is a libre FTP, SFTP, WebDAV, Amazon S3, Backblaze B2, Microsoft Azure & OneDrive and OpenStack Swift file transfer client for Mac and Windows.” - **Status**: active — (verified 2026-07-08) - Quote: “pushed_at: 2026-07-08T16:23:07Z” - **Protocols (FTP, SFTP, WebDAV, S3)**: Yes — (verified 2026-07-08) - Quote: “FTP, SFTP, WebDAV, OpenStack Swift, Google Storage, Amazon S3, and many more protocols” - **Sync / mirror mode**: Yes — (verified 2026-07-08) - Quote: “Files are transferred in both directions and created if missing or replaced with the newer file on either system depending on the timestamp.” - **Editing remote files**: Yes — (verified 2026-07-08) - Quote: “You can edit a file just as a local file in an external editor by clicking the Edit toolbar button or by choosing File → Edit With.” - **Key-based auth**: Yes — (verified 2026-07-08) - Quote: “OpenSSH private keys of type `rsa`, `dsa`, `ecdsa` and `ed25519` (in OpenSSL `PEM` format) are supported.” - **Speed limits & scheduling**: Partial — (verified 2026-07-08) - Note: Bandwidth limiting supported; no scheduling documented. - Quote: “Limit the maximum bandwidth that is allowed for transfers.” - **Open source**: Yes — (verified 2026-07-08) - Quote: “license: GPL-3.0” - **One-time purchase option**: Yes — (verified 2026-07-08) - Note: One-time donation key; also one-time purchase on Mac/Windows app stores. - Quote: “As a contributor (minimum amount 10 USD) you receive a registration key” - **Directory comparison**: Yes — (verified 2026-07-08) - Quote: “The process relies on modification date and checksum of the files when available.” - **CLI**: Yes — (verified 2026-07-08) - Note: Companion 'duck' CLI from the Cyberduck project. - Quote: “Cyberduck with a command-line interface (CLI) is available for Mac, Windows & Linux. It is installed as duck.” --- Ranked by verified data, never by who paid. https://altcatalog.com/trust/