FTP program for Windows XP

June 17, 2005 9:01 AM

What's the best Windows FTP program? I use Transmit on OS X, and it's perfect for my office: easy for noobs to understand, but powerful enough that advanced users still like it. What's the Windows equivalent? I'm willing to pay up to about $50.
posted by letitrain to computers & internet (34 comments total)

filezilla
posted by adampsyche at 9:04 AM on June 17, 2005

Seconded Filezilla.
posted by bondcliff at 9:06 AM on June 17, 2005

WS_FTP. Oldskool.
posted by thanotopsis at 9:12 AM on June 17, 2005

SmartFTP
CuteFTP
Filezilla
posted by signal at 9:17 AM on June 17, 2005

Unfortunately, WS FTP (which I loved) is no longer free, only as a 30 day trial. You could maybe find an old version online.

Third FileZilla.
posted by ALongDecember at 9:18 AM on June 17, 2005

Yeah if you poke around for WS-FTP LE [the old low end free version which you could use if you were a student/non-profit] you can probably find a copy.
posted by jessamyn at 9:22 AM on June 17, 2005

At my last job we used VanDyke's AbsoluteFTP, which I like well enough. It's $30 for a single license.
posted by briank at 9:27 AM on June 17, 2005

Transmit on my Mac.
SmartFTP on my PC.
posted by Hankins at 9:32 AM on June 17, 2005

LeechFTP, all the way!

Yes, the error messages are in German, but the application kicks ass.
posted by shepd at 9:34 AM on June 17, 2005

I second SmartFTP. I found the way that FileZilla managed sites to kinda suck a little.
posted by mcsweetie at 9:41 AM on June 17, 2005

FILEZILLA.

Filezilla is the absolute BEST ftp client i've EVER used (in what, 10 years of using clients for FTP) and it's also one of the best apps i've ever used. it's like ten times better than all the commercial clients out there.

leechftp is totally crashy, shepd -- sorry. It used to be my go to client, but after filezilla -- well, that's it.
posted by fishfucker at 9:48 AM on June 17, 2005

WD_FTP had some indisious display bugs the last time Itried it. Try highlighting some files in a list and re-sorting the list. Voila, the files are now sorted, but your highlighing didn't...change...d'oh! Wonder if they fixed that one?

CUTE FTP is a good non-freeware client.

FileZilla has free (as in beer), open-source goodness baked in. Yummy.
posted by catkins at 9:50 AM on June 17, 2005

ws_ftp. very easy, very intuitive.
many universities make it available free. including mine. *wink*
posted by Rumple at 10:09 AM on June 17, 2005

Not sure I would consider FileZilla the right choice for noobs, to be honest. Its interface leaves a lot to be desired and the Kerberos support is problematic, but if you're an experienced user then FileZilla should work fine, and is free.
posted by Rothko at 10:14 AM on June 17, 2005

Ace ftp is free and very good.
posted by JohnR at 10:16 AM on June 17, 2005

Filezilla.

Not ideal for noobs, though. For them I use Tango Dropbox - it places a big icon on the user's desktop and they simply drag files onto it to upload.
posted by blag at 10:31 AM on June 17, 2005

Am I the only one who likes FlashFXP? If anyone does find an older version of WS FTP, I'm sure oldversion would love to have it.
posted by odinsdream at 10:47 AM on June 17, 2005

I second FlashFXP.
posted by purephase at 10:50 AM on June 17, 2005

You can download the old version of WS FTP here (it's "ws_ftple.exe").
posted by Count Ziggurat at 10:51 AM on June 17, 2005

SmartFTP is simple, intitive and easy. I have no idea if it's
"powerful" or "robust" because all I want to do with it is download and upload files. Supports queing, which is the most advanced feature I need.
posted by Four Flavors at 11:06 AM on June 17, 2005

Filezilla is getting lots of recommendations, but I can tell by looking at the screenshots that it won't work for the noobs. I need something more simple.
posted by letitrain at 11:07 AM on June 17, 2005

FlashFXP looks very nice, I'm going to try that and see how it works.
posted by letitrain at 11:13 AM on June 17, 2005

Tango Dropbox looks like it could be perfect for the more technology-challenged people.

Great suggestions all around - thank you very much!
posted by letitrain at 11:15 AM on June 17, 2005

I used to use ws_ftp but now use "ssh secure file transfer client" after the university made all the servers use ssh. They give program away for free, you can email me for a copy.
posted by 445supermag at 11:18 AM on June 17, 2005

That Filezilla screencap can be customized by the person who sets it up, and the settings can be exported/imported via an XML file, which is perhaps good if something gets altered. You can kill the console display (message log), the queue, the status bar, toolbar, and tree view on the local and remote. The file view can be changed from detail to icon as well. Then it's pretty two finder windows, and you send by dragging stuff over. It ends up looking a lot like Transmit.
I suppose between the two, Tango looks splendid for brand noobs, and FileZilla for people who need a bit more control. (organizing files, deleting *gasp*, renaming, etc..)
posted by Jack Karaoke at 11:47 AM on June 17, 2005

445supermag, is it this one [winscp]?
posted by shepd at 11:48 AM on June 17, 2005

Thanks, Jack Karaoke - I've downloaded it and I'm testing it out now.
posted by letitrain at 11:56 AM on June 17, 2005

No, its name really is "ssh secure file transfer client", when I hit the help menu and go to web site, it goes to ssh.com.
posted by 445supermag at 12:38 PM on June 17, 2005

winscp, hands down.
posted by devilsbrigade at 12:57 PM on June 17, 2005

WinSCP is great, but it is not an FTP application. It only supports SFTP (and SCP) which, while wonderful when it's supported, may not be what letitrain was looking for.
posted by purephase at 1:57 PM on June 17, 2005

I use fireftp, the firefox extension. I love having it directly involved with my browser, you can open it up as it's own window or as a tab.

admittedly it has been buggy in past versions but it is steadily progressing forward and I haven't had any problems with this last release. I ftp all the time being a web/graphic designer.
posted by freudianslipper at 1:59 PM on June 17, 2005

I like SmartFTP too.
posted by rafter at 7:18 PM on June 17, 2005

Why pay? And I'm not talking warez either. Windows XP has FTP built in to its DOS commands.
posted by sjvilla79 at 4:18 AM on June 19, 2005

I concur with both the suggestions for filezilla or the fireFTP extension for Firefox for free alternatives. A really useful for pay app. ($30 USD) is one called Beyond Compare. It's primarily a directory and file comparison program, but has built-in FTP and can easily be set-up to automate files or keep local and remote files in sync. It's easy to use as well.
posted by quixado at 5:52 AM on June 20, 2005