Few Among Many: Top 10 FTP Apps For Mac OS X.

Continued from Page 1…

#5 - Fetch
$25 gets you the latest version of one of the oldest Mac FTP applications ever—Fetch. FTP, SFTP, edit, resume transfer, and automatic file format support are available on Fetch.

Unique to Fetch is the ability to publish images for eBay auction listings. Why? Because they can.

Fetch can find servers via Apple’s Bonjour technology (Zero Config) and is Apple Scriptable. If you like dogs, you’ll love the Fetch mascot icon.

More important, though, is Fetch’s ability to upload and download files. It works and has for many years. The interface is a bit complex, but doesn’t require much effort to master.

You can also use AppleScript recording to automate certain repetitive tasks; a handy feature.

#4 - CuteFTP
If you don’t mind spending money for support to go along with a lot of features, then CuteFTP could be attractive.

Cute does SSL and SFTP, synchronizes folders on a local Mac, has bookmarks, edits remote files, and carries the standard list of goodies.

I’ve used Cute on both Mac and Windows without trouble, though I’m concerned that the Mac version hasn’t been update in awhile.

#3 - CyberDuck
You gotta love an application with a name like CyberDuck.

One of the few Open Source FTP applications for the Mac, CyberDuck handls FTP, SFTP (via SSH) and is licensed under the GPL (it’s free).

The interface is straightforward Mac, though it uses those painful window panes that newer apps are dropping.

CyberDuck is OS X through and through and integrates or supports Spotlight, Bonjour, the OS X Keychain, and AppleScript.

All the basics for secure file transfers are there as well as a gazillion and three localizations; from English and Czech to Chinese and Japanese and a bunch in between.

I’ve found CyberDuck to be friendly, secure, and stable. What more could you want from free?

#2 - Captain FTP
At #2 with a bullet this week is Captain FTP, the Mac FTP application that doesn’t quit, and gets better every few months.

Captain FTP bills itself as the first cooperative FTP client. What’s very cool about this is the ability for Captain FTP to allow FTP users to share files directly between each other, Mac to Mac, and not just from Mac to a distant remote nameless headless server.

The folks at Captain FTP ask a simple question: “As FTP is considered to be the most effective way to distribute files over the Internet, why not take it further and allow users to connect each other?”

They give you an answer and a solution that isn’t really peer-to-peer file sharing, but does essentially the same thing; you can share files with other Mac users.

The trick to accomplish this is in the Public Address Book which segregates users, though everyone needs to be using Mac OS X.

Click Here for the extensive list of features on Captain FTP.

If I were not so in love with #1, this would be the best FTP application around. It’s only $25. $34 with 12 months of some kind of protection (I’m afraid to track that down).

#1 - Transmit
Some Mac applications just get better with age, set the standard for others, and seem to ‘get it’ when it comes to the Mac interface.

Panic’s Transmit is one such Mac application. For me, it’s been a favorite for years and it’s what I use to judge other FTP applications.

Transmit is loaded with features; handles Automator Actions, Spotlight favorites, zoom previews, springloaded folders, column view (myfavorite), sidebars (not my favorites), syncs with .Mac, synchronizes folders, shows status in the Dock icon, drag and drop, text file editing, batch downloading, and even Server-to-Server transfers letting your Mac act as middle-man shuttle.

The list of features goes on and on. However, more important is security, stability, dependability. Transmit excels at each. $30 gets you the premier FTP/SFTP application on the Mac.

Not only is Transmit easy for newbies, there’s plenty of features for experienced Mac users. There’s even a Transmit Widget.

Bambi Hambi
Alex, you blew it with Yummy FTP. That should be in the Top 5, not honorable mention. Get with it and at least try it.

Carol Mary Miller
I can’t argue with Transmit at #1, though there’s a few in the bottom five of the Top 10 that I don’t like, such as MacSFTP. Bambi’s right about YummyFTP.

Jack Miller
Captain FTP is an excellent Mac application and the near peer-to-peer FTP function is icing on the cake. Good choice.

Tera Patricks
How many FTP applications do we need? Are there even 10 word processors for Mac OS X? Are there even 10 email applications? How about spreadsheets? You’d think there’d be more of those day-to-day applications than FTP apps.

My favorite is still Transmit. Captain FTP has some cool features, and Yummy should be higher on the list.