Comparison of FTP server software packages
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (January 2015) |
Graphical
| Name | License | Platform | Details |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cerberus FTP Server | Proprietary | Windows only | FTP, FTPS, SFTP, SCP, HTTPS web client, IPv6, SOAP-based web services API, Windows Active Directory / LDAP authentication, HTTP / HTTPS remote administration, public key and client certificate authentication |
| CompleteFTP | trialware | Windows only | FTP, FTPS, SFTP, SCP, HTTP, HTTPS, Windows Active Directory authentication, SQL authentication, SAML Single Sign-On authentication, groups, virtual file-system, process/e-mail events, data at rest encryption, protocol conversion for back-end servers, SSH tunnelling, file-sharing (via client app), web-app hosting via server-side Javascript, remote administration, public key and client certificate authentication, Plugin API (.NET/Javascript), fail-over, load-balancing, dockable dashboard |
| CrushFTP Server | trialware | macOS, Windows (all), Linux (all), *BSD, Solaris, IBM. | FTP, FTPS, SFTP, SCP, HTTP, HTTPS, WebDAV(SSL), AS2, AS3, Plugin API, Active Directory / LDAP authentication, RADIUS authentication, SQL authentication, SAML SSO Authentication, CrushBalance load balancer, Web UI administration, Groups, Layered Inheritance, Events / Alerts, Protocol Conversion (incoming FTP/FTPS/SFTP/HTTP(s) protocols converted to a back end FTP(ES)/SFTP/HTTP(s)/S3/WebDAV server.), SSH Tunneling, HTTP(S) Tunneling, CrushTask, client certificate authentication, ad-hoc file sharing, keywords search, PGP in stream encryption / decryption, bandwidth acceleration (CrushTunnel), file revisions and synchronization, DMZ front end server mode can also cluster with load balance (supports proxy protocol v1 and v2), DDOS protection, High Availability Virtual IP, data replication and session replication, Job scheduling and monitoring, user config via API, scriptable command line file transfer client. Supports cloud storage via S3, Azure, [Citrix] file storage, Hadoop and Google Drive for file data. |
| FileZilla Server | free software | Windows macOS | FTP, FTPS, supports autoban, speedlimits, IP Filter, Groups, Shared folders, compression |
| Microsoft Internet Information Services | Proprietary | Windows only | FTP, FTPS, WebDAV and WebDAV over SSL
(FTPS is supported in IIS 7 and later) |
| Sysax Multi Server | proprietary, Free Personal Edition | Windows (All Editions) | Secure FTP Server that also supports Secure Shell Access and Web browser based secure file transfer. Protocols supported include FTP, FTPS, SFTP, HTTP, HTTPS, Telnet, and Secure Shell. Features include web UI administration, server event triggers and scripting, and authentication using Windows, ODBC, or Active Directory. Certified for Windows Vista. |
| War FTP Daemon | free software | Windows 9X/2000/XP/2003 | One of the original FTP servers made for the windows platform and still available. |
Console/terminal-based
| Name | FOSS | Platform | Details |
|---|---|---|---|
| CrushFTP Server | No, proprietary | macOS, Windows, Linux, *BSD, Solaris, etc. | FTP, FTPS, SFTP, SCP, HTTP, HTTPS, WebDAV and WebDAV over SSL, AS2, AS3, Plugin API, Windows Active Directory / LDAP authentication, SQL authentication, GUI remote administration, Events / Alerts, X.509 user auth for HTTPS/FTPS/FTPES, MD5 hash calculations on all file transfers, Protocol Conversion (incoming FTP/FTPS/SFTP/HTTP/HTTPS protocols converted to a back end FTP/SFTP server.), SSH Tunneling, HTTP(S) Tunneling, CrushTask, Headless (Web browser management, or you can edit XML files directly, or issue terminal commands to add users, manage groups, inheritance, permissions, query server statistics, etc.) Supports cloud storage via S3, Azure, Citrix file storage, Hadoop and Google Drive for file data. Support for CrushBalance load balancer, or others via proxy protocol v1 and v2. |
| glFTPd | No, proprietary | Linux, BSD, macOS | Virtual users and groups, private paths, bandwidth throttling, upload/download ratio support, on the fly CRC calculating of files being uploaded, script support on almost all commands and operations, online user management, built-in statistics viewable using site commands, FTPS and ACL support. Supports FXP. |
| ProFTPD | Yes, GPL | Unix-like (Linux, BSD, macOS, and more[1]), Windows with Cygwin | Feature rich and popular FTP daemon for Unix-like platforms. Many third party Graphical User Interfaces (GUIs) available. SFTP can be supported via add-on module.[2] |
| Pure-FTPd | Yes, BSD License | Linux, BSD, macOS, and more | Supports FXP. |
| vsftpd | Yes, GPLv2 | Linux, BSD, and more | FTP, FTPS, FTPES. Supports X.509 client cert auth. deny / enable lists for user access. Logging data can be compatible with wu-ftpd format. vsftpd is default FTP daemon in Ubuntu, CentOS, Fedora, Slackware (along with ProFTPD), NimbleX and RHEL. Others like Debian require an additional installation. GPLv2 license with exception for linking with OpenSSL. |
| WU-FTPD | No, proprietary | Linux, BSD, Solaris, macOS and more | Main website seems offline, but continues development in the newer CC series |
Managed/Hosted
| Name | License | Platform | Details |
| AWS Transfer Family | Proprietary | Cloud-based | Fully managed file transfer service supporting FTP, FTPS, SFTP, and AS2 protocols. Integrates with Amazon S3 and EFS for scalable storage. Offers IAM-based authentication, Active Directory integration, and custom identity provider support. Provides logging via AWS CloudTrail and monitoring via CloudWatch. Features high availability across multiple AZs. [3] |
| Azure File Share | Proprietary | Cloud-based | Hosted file share service supporting FTP and SMB protocols. Integrates with on-premises AD and Azure AD DS for centralized authentication. Features include geo-redundancy, snapshots, encryption at rest and in transit, and seamless integration with Azure services. [4] |
| Files.com | Proprietary | Cloud-based | Managed file transfer platform supporting File Transfer Protocol (FTP), SSH File Transfer Protocol (SFTP), and AS2 protocols. Integrates with cloud storage solutions like Amazon S3, Google Cloud Platform, and Microsoft Azure. Features automated workflows, API integrations, activity logging, and encryption at rest and in transit. Ensures compliance with SOC 2, HIPAA, GDPR, and CCPA.[5] |
| HostedFTP | Proprietary | Cloud-based | Fully managed FTP and SFTP service built on AWS. Includes automated server provisioning, 24x7 support with SLA, HIPAA compliance and migration tools for transitioning from self-hosted servers. Features advanced network security and event logging. [6] |
| SFTP To Go | Proprietary | Cloud-based | Fully managed SFTP service supporting FTP, SFTP, FTPS, and HTTPS protocols. Encryption at rest and in transit, and IP whitelisting. Offers AWS S3 integration for scalable cloud storage, multi-user management, public key authentication, webhook support for real-time notifications, and high availability. API support. Ensures compliance with HIPAA, GDPR. [7] |
| SFTPPlus | Proprietary | Cloud-based | Managed file transfer software supporting FTP, FTPS, SFTP, WebDAV, and HTTPS protocols. Offers features like event-driven automation, detailed audit logging, Active Directory integration, public key authentication, and support for containerized or hybrid deployments. [8] |
Libraries
| Name | Licence | Language | Platform | Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| pyftpdlib | MIT License | Python | Platform independent | A high-level portable library to easily write asynchronous FTP servers with Python. It is currently the most complete RFC-959 FTP server implementation available for Python. |
Summary board
Graphical UI based FTP Servers
| Cerberus | Complete | CrushFTP Server | FileZilla | IIS | Multi Server | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| License type | proprietary | proprietary | proprietary | FLOSS/GPL2 | proprietary | proprietary | |
| OS | Linux | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| macOS | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | |
| Unix | No | No | Yes | No | No | No | |
| Windows | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| User Interface | CLI | ? | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes, via PowerShell[9] | ? |
| GUI integrated | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | |
| GUI(s) separately | Yes | Yes | ? | ? | ? | ? | |
| Web-based GUI | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | ? | |
| Services | FTP | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| SFTP | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | |
| FTPS | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| SCP | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | |
| WebDAV | No | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | |
| HTTP/HTTPS | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | |
| AS2 | No | No | Yes | No | No | No | |
| Authentication | LDAP | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No |
| Active Directory | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | |
| Local | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| Database | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | |
| High Availability | Failover Cluster (active/passive) |
Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No |
| Load Balancing (active/active) |
Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | ? | |
| Automation | Event-handling | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | ? |
| Scripting | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | ? | |
| Cerberus | Complete | CrushFTP Server | FileZilla | IIS | Multi Server | ||
Terminal/Console based FTP Servers
| CrushFTP | ProFTPD | Pure-FTPd | vsftpd | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| License type | proprietary | FLOSS/GPL | BSD | FLOSS/GPL2 | |
| OS | Linux | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| Unix | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| Windows | Yes | No | No | No | |
| User Interface | CLI | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| GUI integrated | Yes | No | No | No | |
| GUI(s) separately | Yes | Yes | No | No | |
| Web-based GUI | Yes | No | No | No | |
| Services | FTP | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| SFTP | Yes | Yes | No | No | |
| FTPS | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| SCP | Yes | No | No | No | |
| WebDAV | Yes | No | No | No | |
| HTTP/HTTPS | Yes | No | No | No | |
| AS2 | Yes | No | No | No | |
| Authentication | LDAP | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? |
| Active Directory | Yes | No | No | No | |
| Local | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| Database | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | |
| High Availability | Failover Cluster (active/passive) |
Yes | No | No | No |
| Load Balancing (active/active) |
Yes | No | No | No | |
| Automation | Event-handling | Yes | Yes | ? | ? |
| Scripting | Yes | Yes | No | No | |
| CrushFTP | ProFTPD | Pure-FTPd | vsftpd | ||
See also
- File Transfer Protocol (FTP)
- Comparison of FTP client software
- FTPS (FTP over SSL/TLS)
- FTP over SSH
- SSH File Transfer Protocol (SFTP)
- Comparison of SSH servers
- Comparison of SSH clients
Notes
- ^ "The ProFTPD Project: Features & Platforms". Proftpd.org. Retrieved 2018-04-22.
- ^ "ProFTPD module mod_sftp". Proftpd.org. Retrieved 2018-04-22.
- ^ "Secure File Transfer Service - AWS Transfer Family - AWS". Amazon Web Services, Inc. Retrieved 2025-01-16.
- ^ khdownie (2024-05-10). "Introduction to Azure Files". learn.microsoft.com. Retrieved 2025-01-16.
- ^ "Files.com". Files.com. Retrieved 2025-01-16.
- ^ "FTP in the Cloud™ | Hosted~FTP~". hostedftp.com. Retrieved 2025-01-16.
- ^ "SFTP To Go: Managed SFTP/FTPS Cloud Storage as a Service". sftptogo.com. Retrieved 2025-01-16.
- ^ "SFTPPlus | Secure managed file transfer software". www.sftpplus.com. Retrieved 2025-01-16.
- ^ Microsoft TechNet (9 November 2009). "Web Server (IIS) Administration Cmdlets in Windows PowerShell". Microsoft.