Overview of the best FTP client solutions for Mac in July 2020

Table of contents

• What does FTP abbreviation stand for?
• Brief history of FTP for Mac users
• How to connect to a remote server without using FTP client for Mac
• Navigation and file transfer with FTP and FTPS
• Why using third-party FTP client Mac solutions
• What criteria to consider when choosing a good FTP client for Mac
• Is FTP secure and reliable?
• List of the best FTP client Mac software
  • ◦ Commander One
  • ◦ Cyberduck
  • ◦ FireFTP
  • ◦ CrossFTP
  • ◦ FileZilla
  • ◦ ForkLift
  • ◦ Transmit
  • ◦ Viper FTP
  • ◦ Flow
  • ◦ CloudMounter
  • ◦ Classic FTP
• FTP for Mac: Frequently Asked Questions

File Transfer Protocol (FTP) and Secure File Transfer Protocol (SFTP) are the two most widely used protocols for transferring files between a local device and a remote server. They are often used by web developers to make changes to their servers, and that is why so many FTP client Mac solutions are available. However, the Mac itself also has a fairly powerful built-in tool that allows users to use FTP and SFTP to communicate with remote servers. You don’t need to download any additional software or Mac FTP applications to connect to FTP sites from Mac, instead, you can connect to remote servers directly from your desktop using an excellent and little-known feature of your computer. If you have never used Mac tools for FTP before, you will find them incredibly simple and pretty familiar, as the connection and server browsing utilities are a lot like navigating a regular Mac desktop. However, let’s start from the very beginning.

What does FTP abbreviation stand for?

FTP stands for File Transfer Protocol and while using FTP Mac clients can connect to the server and download files of various formats. To do this, the user needs to know the FTP server address, as well as the data for authorization (login and password). Although, the FTP server can provide anonymous access, i.e. provide access to everyone who connects to the server.

The protocol is built on a client-server architecture and uses different network connections to transfer commands and data between the client and the server. You can use the SSH protocol for secure transmission, hiding (encrypting) your username and password, as well as encrypting the contents.

Brief history of FTP for Mac users

The FTP protocol appeared in 1971, even before the appearance of such protocols as HTTP and even TCP / IP. Initially, it was used for messaging, with a specific header, between the server and the client. Since that time, it has changed almost beyond recognition - a lot of new commands have been introduced, a separate connection has been allocated to transmit information.

The first client applications using FTP ports were interactive command-line devices that implement syntax and standard commands. Graphical user interfaces have since been developed for the many operating systems that are in use today. Nowadays, its use is actively distributed for the transfer of various software, as well as gaining access to remote resources.

How to connect to a remote server without using FTP client for Mac

As we already know, it is not necessary to install any special FTP for Mac utility on the Mac computer to be able to connect to the remote server. The Mac has a built-in client that is very easy to use.

1. To open it, click the Go menu section in the Finder panel. At the bottom of the drop-down menu, you will see the line “Connect to the server”.
2. After that, you can enter the connection address via ftp: // or the IP address at which you want to connect to the server. In order not to constantly enter this address, click the plus sign “+” to the right of the input line and the server name will be added to the favorites list.
3. Click the "Connect" button below, after which you will need to enter login information.
4. Enter in the Name field your login on the server and the password that the host administrator gave you.
5. If the FTP server supports anonymous users, then you can check the item “As a guest” - then you will not have to enter any data.
6. In order not to type the username and password each time, you can check the box “Remember this password in the keychain”.
7. Click “Connect”, and then you will be taken to the server file system.

If you want to connect to a secure FTPS server, all you need to do is add the domain prefix to ftps: // instead of ftp: //. This depends on whether the remote server supports SSL and whether FTPS connections are accepted, which is what most servers do. Also, keep in mind that FTPS and SFTP are two different protocols; FTPS is FTP with a secure SSL level, while SFTP uses SSH. FTPS connections are supported directly in the built-in FTP OS X function, while SFTP via SSH is not available through the same “Connect to the server” menu. However, OS X also includes its own SFTP client Mac users can access from the Terminal by typing “sftp username @ host” at the command line.

Navigation and file transfer with FTP and FTPS

After connecting to the FTP server, you can view the remote server, like any other local folder on your Mac, because the server is processed in the same way as a regular file system window in Finder. Copying files to a remote server or downloading them to a Mac is easy with simple and familiar drag and drop. Go to the file or folder that you want to copy, then simply drag it as if you were copying or moving any other file, and the items will be transferred from the FTP server to the Mac computer or vice versa.

By default, the window will be displayed as a minimized Finder window, but you can expand the window to your usual Mac OS X Finder style by pulling the View menu down and selecting Show Toolbar. The main advantage of expanding the window is that you get navigation buttons with forward and backward arrows, as well as sorting options for viewing the FTP server by icon, name, date, lists and search functions.

Why using third-party FTP client Mac solutions

FTP features on Mac OS X have been known since the very first days of OS X. Although these features are incredibly useful, they are obviously not as advanced as in any third-party Mac FTP client, but if you are in a difficult situation and you just need quickly to be able to connect to remote FTP to transfer some files back or forward, it is more than enough and what is more it does not require downloading anything extra. Since the Finder FTP function does not support some functions that users may wish to have on their Mac, there are many third-party Mac FTP client applications that can perform this work instead, with full support for FTP, SFTP, FTPS, downloads, uploads, queues, the ability to change permissions, read/write support and so on and so forth. If you need more advanced features here is a list of a few free FTP Mac applications as well as paid ones. But first, let’s try to figure out what does an app should have to be called the best FTP client for Mac?

What criteria to consider when choosing a good FTP client for Mac

All FTP clients are very similar in some ways, but sometimes in one of them, you find a small function that is missing in another one that makes it much more useful and convenient for you. So let’s consider:

• Compatibility with the operating system you are using, especially the version of your OS, as some FTP clients work better with particular OSes and their versions.
• Easy to use interface. Having a good interface is paramount. Everyone, including beginners, should be able to find their way around the software easily and not be confused with it.
• Support for various transmission protocols. Since security is such an important topic and the standard FTP protocol is insecure, any client should allow you to use encrypted methods to connect to the server.
• Support for encryption. Since FTP protocol does not have any means of data protection it is worth paying attention to the clients that have support for data encryption.
• Support for large files transfer. The best FTP client is the one that does not have any limits in size for files uploading or downloading. Besides that, a great plus would be a fast speed for performing these actions.

Besides that, you should pay attention to general characteristics, namely:

• stability;
• the convenience of use;
• design;
• simplicity and speed of installation.

As to functional characteristics, you should pay attention to:

• ability to change/rename files directly on the server;
• ability to quickly limit traffic;
• ability to pause file transfer and resume;
• ability to download many files (parallel download or queuing);
• ability to synchronize folders.

The rest features of the apps are rather individual and are needed by a relatively smaller number of users. We cannot say that nobody needs them, just not everyone needs them.

Is FTP secure and reliable?

The FTP protocol itself is reliable and guarantees the delivery of the necessary files to the user however, if everything is in order with the connection. The problem in FTP security is the following. Initially, the protocol was unprotected, and it was assumed that the data channel was always reliable. That is why, every information that is transmitted in FTP is in an open form: files, passwords, usernames, and any data.

Nowadays, by default, it is assumed that each channel is unreliable and that the data must be additionally encrypted. Unfortunately, the FTP protocol itself does not support this. If someone intercepts your Wi-Fi traffic or connects to your local network, they will be able to intercept all this data and download it to themselves, in parallel with you.

There is still a security issue: by default, the FTP protocol has no protection against password guessing and login attempts, so someone can simply try the available passwords to gain access to the folders. If you saw in movies about hackers how they try out passwords at the entrance there - this is a very likely situation for FTP. From the point of view of modern security, the correct solution is to use one of the encrypted FTP implementations (FTPS, SFTP) or use FTP through VPN.

List of the best FTP clients for Mac