The short answer. Cyberduck is the free, open-source default and covers FTP, SFTP and most cloud storage from one window. Transmit is the paid one from Panic and is the tool people who pay for this category tend to keep. Flow is the other paid option. Termius and Electerm combine an SSH client with file transfer. Keelhaven is a menu bar app for scheduled encrypted transfers rather than a browser. Decide whether you want to browse servers interactively or run transfers on a schedule — those are different products despite the shared name.
This guide covers 6 ftp and sftp clients for macOS. Every fact below is drawn from the same verified records that back each app’s own page. The recommendations are our editorial judgment, not payment. Last verified 2026-10-05.
Quick comparison
| App | What it is | Pricing | Licence | Version |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cyberduck | file transfer client | Freemium | GPL-3.0 | 9.5.4 |
| electerm | developer tool | Open source | MIT | 5.5.66 |
| Flow | productivity app | not published | not published | — |
| Keelhaven | system tool | Open source | GPL-3.0 | 0.9.1 |
| Termius | developer tool | Free | not published | 10.1.3 |
| Transmit | file transfer client | One-time purchase | Proprietary; licensed per user under Panic’s EULA | 5.11.7 |
What actually decides this
- Browsing or transferring. A browser is for looking at a remote filesystem and dragging things. A scheduled transfer tool runs unattended. Clients called “FTP clients” do one or the other, and buying the wrong one is the standard mistake.
- Protocol coverage beyond FTP. SFTP is now the minimum. Whether a client also speaks S3, WebDAV, Azure or Google Drive decides whether you need a second tool for the same job.
- The bookmark model. How credentials are stored, whether a bookmark can carry a key file, and whether it syncs between machines. This is what you actually live with after the first week.
- Sync versus manual transfer. One-way mirroring, two-way sync and manual drag are three behaviours. A tool that syncs can delete files, which is worth understanding before you point it at a server.
Our picks
- Cyberduck — Its record describes a free, open-source browser for FTP, SFTP and cloud storage, which is the broad free option. Choose it when you want FTP, SFTP and cloud storage in one free tool.
- Transmit — It is Panic’s file transfer client for servers and cloud storage, and the polish is what the licence buys. Choose it when you transfer files every day and would rather pay for polish.
- Termius — Its record covers SSH and SFTP together, which removes a second app from a developer’s machine. Choose it when you already use it for SSH and want SFTP in the same window.
- Keelhaven — Its record describes scheduled, encrypted restic backups from the menu bar, which is unattended transfer rather than browsing. Choose it when the transfer has to run on a schedule, not when you click.
The apps
Cyberduck
Cyberduck is a file transfer client for macOS. Libre, GPL-3.0 file transfer client for Mac and Windows covering FTP, SFTP, WebDAV, SMB and every major cloud storage service, free from the site and $23.99 on the App Store. It is released under GPL-3.0. It is freemium.
Strengths. Free and open source under GPL-3.0, downloadable at no cost from the project’s own site. According to the developer, covers an unusually wide range: FTP, SFTP, WebDAV, SMB plus S3, Azure, B2, Swift, Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, Nextcloud and ownCloud. According to the developer, passwords go into the system Keychain rather than a vendor database, and certificate trust comes from Keychain settings.
Trade-offs. The interface is a transfer browser, not a sync client, so it will not keep a folder mirrored in the background. GPL-3.0 copyleft limits how it can be redistributed or bundled. Two distribution routes at different prices for identical software can mislead people into paying unnecessarily. GPL-3.0 copyleft, which matters to anyone redistributing or embedding it. The free download and the $23.99 App Store version are the same software; paying supports development rather than unlocking features, which is easy to misread.
Not for. Anyone who wants a polished, single-purpose SFTP client — Transmit is the Mac-native paid option. People who need sync-folder behaviour like Dropbox; Cyberduck browses remote storage rather than mirroring it. Users who want automatic background syncing, which is not what a transfer browser does.
What it does. FTP, including FTP over SSL/TLS, with a widely tested implementation aimed at interoperability. SFTP with strong ciphers, public key and two-factor authentication, reading settings from an existing OpenSSH configuration. WebDAV with TLS mutual authentication, and interoperability with ownCloud, box.com and SharePoint. SMB for Windows file shares and Samba servers.
Cyberduck is listed with current version 9.5.4.
Full profile and verified facts for Cyberduck →
electerm
electerm is a developer tool for macOS. Terminal, SSH, and SFTP client. It is released under MIT.
What it does. Works as a terminal/file manager, ssh/sftp/ftp/telnet/serialport/RDP/VNC/Spice client. Global hotkey to toggle window visibility (similar to guake, default is ctrl + 2). Multi-language support(electerm-locales, contributions/fixes welcome). Double click to directly edit (small) remote files.
electerm is listed with current version 5.5.66.
Full profile and verified facts for electerm →
Flow
Flow is a productivity app for macOS. Award-winning, beautiful, fast, and reliable FTP + SFTP client. Its pricing is not published.
Full profile and verified facts for Flow →
Keelhaven
Keelhaven is a system tool for macOS. Menu bar app that runs scheduled, encrypted restic backups to a local disk, S3, SFTP, or a REST server. It is released under GPL-3.0.
What it does. A free, open-source menu bar app that encrypts your Mac.
Keelhaven is listed with current version 0.9.1.
Full profile and verified facts for Keelhaven →
Termius
Termius is a developer tool for macOS. A beautiful SSH and SFTP client for Mac. It is also available for mobile. It is free.
What it does. Termius is a modern SSH client for Mac, Windows, Linux, iOS, and Android. Connect with one click from any device.
Termius is listed with current version 10.1.3.
Full profile and verified facts for Termius →
Transmit
Transmit is a file transfer client for macOS. Panic’s file transfer client for macOS, connecting over SFTP, FTP, WebDAV and cloud services such as Amazon S3, Backblaze B2, Google Drive and Dropbox. It is released under Proprietary; licensed per user under Panic’s EULA. It is one-time purchase.
Strengths. A one-time purchase from panic.com: $45 buys the app permanently, with no recurring fee. Connects to SFTP, FTP, WebDAV and a broad set of cloud services including S3, Backblaze B2, Google Drive, Dropbox and OneDrive. Licences are per user rather than per Mac, so one buyer can install Transmit on all of their own Macs.
Trade-offs. The Mac App Store build is subscription-only and is not interchangeable with the panic.com licence, so the two purchase routes cannot be mixed. At $45 it costs more than the free and open-source file transfer clients it competes with, such as Cyberduck. Some cloud services are rate-limited to two simultaneous connections.
Not for. People who want the cheapest option — free clients such as Cyberduck cover similar ground. Teams sharing one licence — Transmit licences are per user, so each user needs their own.
What it does. SFTP, FTP and FTPS connections. WebDAV over HTTP and HTTPS. Cloud storage including Amazon S3, Backblaze B2, Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, Azure, Box and OpenStack Swift. Transmit Disk mounts saved servers as volumes in the Finder.
Transmit is listed with current version 5.11.7.
Full profile and verified facts for Transmit →
How to choose
- Free of charge. Termius — no payment is required.
- No licence fee, source available. electerm and Keelhaven — the source can be read and, under the terms of each licence, reused.
- One-time purchase. Transmit — you pay once.
- Freemium. Cyberduck — free to use, with paid tiers for additional features.
- Pricing not published in our data. Flow — check the developer’s own site before assuming anything about cost.
Open source: Cyberduck, electerm and Keelhaven (3 of 6).
Common mistakes
- Expecting FTP and SFTP to behave the same. They are different protocols over different transports, and a client that supports both may still configure them differently.
- Saving a password in a bookmark without checking whether it is stored in the keychain or in a plain file beside it.
- Pointing a sync or mirror action at a server before testing it against a copy. Mirroring deletes.
- Assuming a cryptomator-style encrypted vault is the same as client-side encryption of a transfer. They solve different problems.
How this guide was put together
Each app’s facts come from its own record: the developer’s own pages and repository, the App Store listing where one exists, and the documentation, each with a source grade and an access date. Where a fact rests on the developer’s own statement rather than on something we verified independently, the sentence says so. Where our data has no value for something, the guide says “not published” instead of guessing.
A price appears here only where the record carries one from a stated source; the guide never estimates one, and it records the pricing model alongside so the two can be read together. Prices change and vary by region, so each app links to its own page for the current detail.
The facts and the recommendations are kept apart on purpose. Everything in the app entries, the comparison table and the answers above is composed from the records. The short answer, the criteria and the picks are our editorial judgment: they reflect what we would choose and why, and they are not paid for. Where we make a recommendation we name the condition it applies under, because we do not call anything “the best” without explaining the criteria.
Verified 2026-10-05.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I choose between these ftp and sftp clients?
There is no single answer — it depends on what you need. This guide covers 6 ftp and sftp clients: Cyberduck, electerm, Flow, Keelhaven, Termius and Transmit. They differ mainly in pricing model, licence and the trade-offs each one carries. Pick by the trade-off you care about rather than by rank.
Are these ftp and sftp clients free?
Pricing across this group: freemium (Cyberduck), open source (electerm and Keelhaven), not published (Flow), free (Termius) and one-time purchase (Transmit). Where we list pricing as not published, the developer does not state a model we could verify — check their own site before assuming anything about cost. We quote a price only where the record carries one from a stated source, and we never estimate one. Prices change and vary by region and by store, so always check the developer’s own page for the current figure.
Which of these ftp and sftp clients are open source?
Cyberduck (GPL-3.0), electerm (MIT) and Keelhaven (GPL-3.0) are open source.
Do these ftp and sftp clients support Apple Silicon?
Apple Silicon support is explicitly stated for Cyberduck and Transmit. For the others our data does not carry an explicit statement either way, so we do not infer one.
How do I choose between them?
Start with how you pay: the guide groups these apps by pricing model, because the budget is the constraint most people actually have. Then check the trade-offs listed for each app: the limitations are the part that decides most people’s choice, because they describe what the app will not do for you.
Who should not use these apps?
Cyberduck and Transmit each list an audience they are explicitly not aimed at. Those notes come from the same verified records as the rest of this guide, and they are worth reading before you install anything.
When was this data last verified?
The facts in this guide were last confirmed on 2026-10-05. Every app page carries its own verification dates and source list, so you can check any individual claim.
