Anyone whose work involves a lot of file transfer, especially in web site design and maintenance, will understand the value of a reliable and speedy FTP client. The qualities to look for when selecting an FTP client are speed, security and stability. FTP clients may have extra features which are useful but these three aspects are absolutely necessary for a good FTP client. Here is the list of top five FTP clients that fulfill these requirements and offer a wide range of other features.
FireFTP: What makes FireFTP one of the best options among FTP clients are the debugging tools and the design extensions for Firefox. FireFTP is lightweight and is perfect for those who don’t need too many features, only a good FTP client option just for upload and download of files.
WinSCP: WinSCP is the most secure free FTP client. It is loaded with numerous features like browser synchronization utility, transparent remote server saving and a remote text editor. The flipsides of WinSCP include its availability being limited to Windows and the complicated maneuvering.
FileZilla: Unlike WinSCP, FireZilla is compatible with all the popular operating systems. It is available free of cost. FireZilla’s greatest strength is its speed and the fact that it can be installed even in a mobile format. Although it does not include many features, it is one of the most popular FTP clients.
Cyberduck: For Mac users, Cyberduck is one of the best FTP clients with features like Quick look, Growl, remote editing and many more in addition to the standard FTP functions. It is available freely online.
CuteFTP: Cute FTP is preferred for its speed and security. Although it is not free, CuteFTP comes with many advantages like automation features, concurrent file transfer options, remarkable user interface, synchronization utilities etc.
These FTP clients will fit the bill for most people who frequently need to transfer files. And if you are working on a website design project, you just can’t do without one of these tools.