What is Cyberduck?
Cyberduck is a libre file transfer client: one interface for FTP, SFTP, WebDAV, SMB, Amazon S3, Backblaze B2, Microsoft Azure, OpenStack Swift, Google Cloud Storage, Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, Nextcloud, ownCloud, Box, DRACOON and Files.com. It is licensed under GPL-3.0 and free to download from the project's own site, which is the part people most often get wrong — a paid App Store listing exists, but it is a way to support development, not a restriction. It behaves like a proper Mac app: passwords go in the system Keychain, Bonjour discovers local FTP and WebDAV servers, Quick Look previews remote files, and it can register as the system handler for FTP and SFTP. Cryptomator vaults are supported for client-side encryption.
Verified product facts
- Type
- file transfer clientEditorially reviewed
- Platform
- macOS
- Apple Silicon
- Yes
- Pricing
- FreemiumDeveloper-stated
- Price
- USD 23.99(US App Store)Developer-stated
- Open source
- Yes
- Developer
- David KocherDeveloper-stated
- Relationship to Nuanyue
- Third-party product — not published by NuanyueEditorially reviewed
- Licence
- GPL-3.0
- Current version
- 9.5.4Developer-stated
- Official website
- cyberduck.io
Last updated . Facts marked developer-stated come from the developer and are not independently confirmed; editorially reviewed marks a Nuanyue judgement.
Key features
What Cyberduck does at a glance.
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
Object storage
Amazon S3 with large file uploads, Backblaze B2, Microsoft Azure, OpenStack Swift and Google Cloud Storage
Cloud drives
Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, Nextcloud, ownCloud, Box, DRACOON and Files.com
Cryptomator vaults
For client-side encryption, with filenames and file contents encrypted individually
Passwords
Stored in the system Keychain as Internet passwords, with certificate trust taken from Keychain settings
Bonjour discovery of FTP and WebDAV services
On the local network
Quick Look preview of remote files
Without downloading them first
Bookmarks
With drag and drop, a search filter, a history of visited servers and a Spotlight importer
Synchronisation between local and remote directories
With a preview of affected files before anything runs
Configurable Amazon CloudFront and Akamai CDN distributions
Open any file
In an external editor, with changes uploaded back
What you can use Cyberduck for
- Uploading a site or an asset bundle to an SFTP server without a command line
- Browsing an S3 bucket or an Azure container as if it were a folder
- Editing a file on a remote server in a local editor and having it upload back
- Encrypting files before they reach someone else's cloud with Cryptomator
- Moving files directly between two servers without routing them through the Mac
Who is Cyberduck for?
- Anyone who needs one client for many different transfer protocols
- People who want a free, auditable, open-source tool rather than a subscription
- Users on older Macs, since it runs on macOS 10.13 and later
Who is Cyberduck 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
Limitations
- 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
- It is a transfer browser, not a sync client — it does not keep a local folder continuously mirrored
- The site publishes no version number; the version and date recorded here come from the App Store listing
Strengths and trade-offs
What Cyberduck does well, and what to weigh before choosing it. Points marked developer-stated come from the developer’s own material and have not been independently confirmed.
Strengths
- Free and open source under GPL-3.0, downloadable at no cost from the project's own site.
- Covers an unusually wide range: FTP, SFTP, WebDAV, SMB plus S3, Azure, B2, Swift, Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, Nextcloud and ownCloud.Developer-stated
- Passwords go into the system Keychain rather than a vendor database, and certificate trust comes from Keychain settings.Developer-stated
- Cryptomator vaults give client-side encryption with no account or registration.Developer-stated
- Quick Look previews remote files without downloading them first.Developer-stated
Trade-offs
- The interface is a transfer browser, not a sync client, so it will not keep a folder mirrored in the background.Editorially reviewed
- 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.
- Requires macOS 10.13 or later.
First-use experience
What the app asks of you when you set it up. Only established facts appear here; anything we could not confirm is left out rather than guessed at.
- Installation
- Download the zip from cyberduck.io or update.cyberduck.io and move Cyberduck into Applications, or buy the $23.99 App Store version. The software is identical either way.
- First launch Developer-stated
- Open a connection, pick a protocol and enter the server details. Credentials are saved to the system Keychain rather than to the app, so other tools can read them too.
- System integration Developer-stated
- Bonjour discovers local FTP and WebDAV servers, Quick Look previews remote files, notifications go to Notification Center, and Cyberduck can register as the system-wide handler for FTP and SFTP and open .inetloc and .duck bookmark files from the Finder.
- Apple Silicon
- Supported
What it is
Cyberduck is a libre file transfer client, and the single most important fact about it is the one most listings get wrong: it is free and open source under GPL-3.0. The download from cyberduck.io costs nothing. There is a Mac App Store version at $23.99, and it exists so that people who want to can pay for the project — it is the same software, not a paid tier. If you only remember one thing, remember that.
What it does is give one interface to a very long list of protocols and services. On the classic side: FTP (including over TLS), SFTP with public key and two-factor authentication, WebDAV with mutual TLS, and SMB. On the cloud side: Amazon S3, Backblaze B2, Microsoft Azure, OpenStack Swift, Google Cloud Storage, and the consumer drives — Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, Nextcloud, ownCloud, Box, DRACOON and Files.com. Cryptomator vaults add client-side encryption with no account required.
How it fits into macOS
This is where Cyberduck earns its place. Credentials are stored in the system
Keychain as Internet passwords rather than in a vendor database, and certificate
trust comes from Keychain settings. Bonjour discovers FTP and WebDAV servers on
the local network. Quick Look previews remote files without downloading them.
Notifications go to Notification Center, and Cyberduck can register as the
system-wide handler for FTP and SFTP and open .inetloc and .duck bookmarks
from the Finder. It can also open any remote file in an external editor and upload
changes back.
Synchronisation gets a preview of affected files before anything runs, and transfers can be resumed and filtered with a regular expression.
Requirements
The current release is 9.5.4, build 45528, dated 25 August 2026. That date is
corroborated twice — the vendor’s changelog lists “9.5.4 / 25 Aug 2026”, and the
repository carries a matching release-9-5-4 tag whose release commit is dated the
same day. The download page also publishes an MD5
(190509aae0ed6f11b0ddc5d3b58c72bd) for verifying the archive.
It requires macOS 10.13 or later, stated on the download page as “macOS 10.13
or later on Intel (64bit) or Apple M1 required” and confirmed by the app bundle’s
own LSMinimumSystemVersion. That is a low floor by current standards and the
practical reason Cyberduck stays installable on older hardware.
Apple Silicon support is real but unpublished: no product page says so, yet the 9.5.4 executable is a universal binary carrying both arm64 and x86_64 code, so it runs natively on Apple Silicon without Rosetta.
The other thing to be clear about is what it is not. Cyberduck is a transfer browser, not a sync client — it will not keep a local folder continuously mirrored the way Dropbox does. If that is what you want, this is the wrong tool.
Release history
Dated releases recorded for Cyberduck, newest first, each with the source it was read from.
9.5.4
Current release, build 45528, dated 25 August 2026 on both the vendor changelog and the repository's release-9-5-4 tag.
Source: Official website
Questions about Cyberduck
Is Cyberduck free?
Yes. It is libre software under GPL-3.0 and free to download from cyberduck.io. There is also a Mac App Store version at $23.99, which supports development; it is the same software rather than a paid upgrade.
Is Cyberduck open source?
Yes, under the GNU General Public License v3.0. The source is at github.com/iterate-ch/cyberduck.
Why is there a paid version if it is free?
The App Store listing is a way to pay for the project. The features are identical to the free download from cyberduck.io, so paying is a contribution rather than a requirement.
Which macOS version does Cyberduck need?
macOS 10.13 or later, according to the Mac App Store listing.
Which protocols does Cyberduck support?
FTP and FTP over TLS, SFTP, WebDAV, SMB, Amazon S3, Backblaze B2, Microsoft Azure, OpenStack Swift, Google Cloud Storage, Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, Nextcloud, ownCloud, Box, DRACOON and Files.com.Developer-stated
Can Cyberduck encrypt files before uploading them?
Yes, through Cryptomator vaults, which encrypt filenames and file contents individually with no registration or account required.Developer-stated
Competitors
Direct competitors: overlapping features aimed at the same users.
Transmit
Panic's macOS file transfer client for servers and cloud storage.
Both are Mac file transfer clients covering FTP, SFTP and cloud storage, but Transmit is a paid native app from Panic while Cyberduck is free and open source under GPL-3.0.
Links
Sources
Facts on this page are checked against the sources below. Last updated .
