Although site creation platforms and CMS (like WordPress ) make it easy to modify a site, with an intuitive interface, it is sometimes essential to add or delete files “manually”. This is where FTP comes in! It enables you to download and upload files to your web server, without using a browser.
? Are you a WordPress developer? Working in a development environment? Looking for the best FTP client out there, then you’ve come to the right place. In this article, We’ll be discussing the different FTP clients available for Windows, MacOSX and Linux, highlighting the benefits of each one. We’ll also be giving you a few tips on how to choose the best FTP client for your needs. So whether you’re a beginner or a seasoned pro, this article is for you!
FTP stands for File Transfer Protocol, and it’s one of the most popular ways to transfer files between your computer and website. You can use FTP to upload files, update your website, or even install plugins and themes. When you use FTP with WordPress, it’s possible to do all these things and more.
FTP is often used as a synonym for “using FTP with WordPress” but that’s not entirely accurate. While FTP can be used with WordPress directly, there are also plenty of other software tools that can be used with your site too.
However, an FTP client can help you quickly fix common WordPress errors when you cannot access the WordPress admin area.
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FTP stands for File Transfer Protocol, which means File Transfer Protocol in English. The main use of this protocol is to import files from a computer to a website.
It allows you to upload files from your computer to your WordPress site. To use FTP, you’ll need an FTP client, which is a desktop application that connects your computer to your WordPress hosting account.
It provides an easy-to-use graphical user interface, so you can perform all FTP functions such as copy, upload, delete, rename and edit files/folders on your WordPress site. It is not necessary to install an FTP client to use WordPress.
Using FTP requires an FTP client, which is a program that connects your computer to your site’s hosting. This allows you, using a simple interface, to perform different types of actions: add files to your site, copy them, rename them, modify them or even delete them. However, one thing you should keep in mind is that you have to have an account on the server where you are working. If you don’t have an account on that server, then it will be difficult for you to access its files and folders.
This protocol is responsible for establishing a direct connection between the server (who hosts a file) and the client (who wants to access the file) through port 21 on TCP.
After authenticating ourselves on the server, if the connection has been made successfully, we will be able to see all the files that are hosted on the server (or the files that we have access to) and download the ones that interest us.
The download will be made directly from the server, without going through other intermediate servers, which guarantees maximum speed.
The main problem with the FPT is that, by default, it does not have any type of encryption. Data travels flat across the network, which can lead to certain hacking attacks. To solve this, other similar protocols have been implemented, such as FTPS and SFTP, which do have an end-to-end encryption layer.
Many of us will ask ourselves, what can we use an FTP for? The truth is that, unless we are advanced users (such as system administrators, or webmasters), we probably do not need to use this protocol.
FTP is a file transfer protocol. Therefore, we will only need to use it when we have to send files from our PC to another PC or server, or download them from them. However, today there are other protocols that allow us to do this more comfortably. This protocol is very old, and, therefore, it is used less and less, unless we have specific needs for it.
To be able to use an FTP client, you must first have your FTP credentials. This information is generally transmitted by the host of the site at the time of its creation.
After downloading the client of your choice, you will therefore need to enter your username, password and host (most often the URL of the site) to be able to connect. You can then drop or retrieve files as you wish.
Most FTP clients have the same functionality and are very similar, but sometimes we discover a small feature in one of them that completely changes the concept of FTP and makes it more useful for us.
Here are the features you should consider if you are looking for the best FTP client:
There are many different FTP clients, but they all work in much the same way. You can use any client that you like, as long as it has built-in support for the protocol you’re using (SFTP or SCP) and supports one of the following:
To perform a transfer, you need client software, whose role is to establish the connection with a server. Transferring data from a client computer to a server computer is called “uploading” and transferring data from a server to a client is called “downloading”.
The advantage is that there is a myriad of FTP clients on the internet. We have compiled the best of them in order to offer you this ranking.
There are many different types of FTP clients available — some free, others paid — but all of them allow you to manage your website using a command line interface (CLI).
The CLI allows you to copy files from your computer directly into your WordPress site without having to move them manually from one folder to another on local storage.
FileZilla does not have to be ashamed of its performance, despite being free and its old-fashioned interface. Intended to establish a connection quickly with a server, getting started with the software is quick and easy.
The software is distributed under the open-source General Public License (GPL). It is therefore completely free and can be distributed and modified freely. It is nonetheless secure since Filezilla supports the SFTP protocol (SSH File Transfer Protocol) and FTPS.
If you want to quickly transfer files without wasting time with technical hacks, just use the quick connection bar, the strong point of this FTP client. Good news: you can transfer large files (> 4 GB). To do this, first enter the server address in the “host” field. Then enter the server port in the “port” field. If a username or password is required, enter it in the corresponding fields. Finally, click “Quick Connect” or press Enter key to connect to the server.
FileZilla is a powerful FTP client, which also exists as an FTP server. Thanks to it, you can host your large files for your contacts or simply store your own website. This kind of tool implies that your PC remains on 24/24, but if you have large bandwidth, it will save you from using a specialized host (paying, most of the time).
FileZilla Server allows you to make many settings related to the IP address (in active or passive mode), manage the connection port, secure transfers, etc. But the application mainly offers to manage user groups and grant them different privileges, specifying each a different password, as well as an input directory. And of course to ban certain IP addresses if you want to reserve your space for your friends only.
A ranking of the best FTP clients would not be worthy of interest if it did not show WinSCP. This open-source software, 100% free, is qualitative on all levels.
It supports SFTP, WebDAV, and also S3 protocols for Amazon and Google Cloud Storage infrastructure.
The first advantage of WinSCP, and not the least: it is configurable in French. While this may seem obvious to some, know that the world of FTP (and computing in general) is quite attached to English, and if you are not comfortable with the language of Shakespeare it can sometimes be complicated. So we appreciate the effort. In all, more than 38 translations (German, Italian, Chinese, Catalan, Russian, Swedish, etc.) were produced by the teams. Hats off.
As a bonus, WinSCP includes a text editor, similar to Windows NotePad, which allows you to quickly modify a local or remote text file. To change the background color of the editor, use the Color drop-down menu.
This customization option is if you work with multiple open editors. The editor then opens with the session color or the default background color.
Let’s be honest: the free version of Core FTP does not have much to envy to its big brother, Core FTP Pro – which is paid for. It must be said that the software has many assets to spare. Not only does it allow you to connect to a server and transfer files to a remote computer, but it also incorporates security protocols that make it a safe FTP client. In particular, it supports the SSL/TLS, SFTP and HTTP/HTTPS protocols.
Although being a complete FTP client, Core FTP LE does not require titanic capacities from your computer. Its RAM consumption (on average 4 MB) is very moderate compared to other software of this type (average of 8-12 MB).
To connect to a remote server, you must first configure a site in the Site Manager. It is accessed directly from the main menu. Once you have launched the site manager, the first thing to do is click on the “new site” button. This will create a new site profile which you will use to connect to an FTP server.
The information needed to connect to a server is as follows:
You may also be asked to provide an alternate port. In most cases, the port will still be the classic 21 for standard FTP and SSL connections, and 22 for SSH.
After establishing a connection with a server, you can start transferring files between your computer and the remote FTP server. Your computer’s files are displayed in the local directory on the left side of the screen, while the remote directory is on the right side.
To upload a file to the FTP server, simply select (highlight) the index.html file in the list of local directories, then click the upload button. You can also right-click on the selected file and select “Upload”, or click and drag the file to the remote directory.
CoffeeCup Software has quite a reputation in the software world. Far from confining itself to FTP, the American company develops many programs for creating and editing websites.
CoffeeCup Free FTP was the first FTP client to integrate a text editor directly into the software. It is available for free download, so it would be a shame to miss out.
The software integrates several secure transfer protocols, such as SFTP, FTPS, and HTTPS. On the other hand, it is impossible to schedule transfers in advance, unlike most competing FTP clients.
In return, CoffeeCup Free FTP provides an automatic code editor: you only have to enter the first part of the code and the software completes the rest for you; it’s a big-time saver.
Finally, CoffeeCup handles most existing FTP variants. You can choose from a range of different protocols, including FTP, SFTP, FTPS, and their different encryption methods. The software can even handle HTTP. Also, the ZIP archive creation feature automatically creates a ZIP folder and saves it to your local computer. Simply choose the files from your server that are most important to you, and with a single click you can compress and back them up.
It couldn’t be more practical: net2ftp is an FTP client accessible from a Web browser. You can therefore transfer your files wherever you have access to an internet connection: in a café, at the library, on your neighbor’s computer or at the office. It also saves you from downloading yet another program that will take up space on your hard drive.
You should still know that you are forced to respect a daily quota in terms of data. The data transfer volume is limited to 50 MB per day, after which you will not be able to perform any more transfers unless you install net2ftp on your own web server.
To connect with net2ftp, enter your FTP server, username and password. The FTP server name can be “ftp.my-domain.com” if you have your own domain name. Otherwise, it depends on your host and their server structure. If you don’t know your FTP server, username, or password, check your hosting company’s support pages or contact their customer service.
The first time you log in, you will see the contents of the “/” root directory. To go to a sub-directory, just click on the name of the sub-directory. To go back to the parent directory, click on the top line with the label Up.
It may happen that the FTP server returns the list of directories and files in an unusual format. In this case, net2ftp shows you the lines at the bottom of the screen, under the title “FTP server’s output which is not recognized is shown below”. If you want this fixed, please contact the net2ftp developers. They will analyze the output from your FTP server and improve the way net2ftp scans it.
SmartFTP is a paid FTP client for Windows (7 and later), of which you can download a 30-day demo version, in 32 bits or 64 bits (see links below). The software interface is particularly neat, with a modern look like Microsoft Office (ribbon).
After installation, the interface of SmartFTP is in English. Switching to French (except for a few labels and buttons) requires the separate download of a language file, via the options (File tab). Once the manipulation is done, we appreciate the wealth of functions and the many settings. Special mention for the integrated text editor: it is also a code editor with a colored syntactic display (configurable), which handles most languages.
SmartFTP provides extensive support, dedicating an entire section for tutorials and a knowledge base where you’ll find answers to frequently asked questions.
SmartFTP comes in two editions, Professional and Ultimate. The latter provides additional features, including a terminal emulator, scheduled transfers, and support for transfers to Amazon S3 storage services, Google Drive, and Microsoft OneDrive.
You can install the SmartFTP client for free or purchase a plan. The pricing for this FTP client comes in three tiers: Professional at $39.99/year, Ultimate at $69.99/year, and Enterprise at $149.99/year.
Free, FTP Voyager offers a very elegant interface with pretty buttons and a ribbon. It allows you to effectively control everything you want to do with an FTP client, and that you can do with this software. In fact, when you look closely at the functions and options available, you say to yourself that not much should be missing.
FTP Voyager makes it possible to program transfers, possibly with monitoring of the programming by a Windows service (if desired), and to automate operations without the need to use a scripting language.
The software is supplied as a ZIP file containing the executable program for installation and an interesting manual in PDF format of 73 pages. In English, but it’s still very good!
Using tabs helps you keep track of FTP servers, easily switching between your connections.
There are also options for dragging and dropping files, automatically syncing files between servers, scheduled transfers, and file transfers to specific folders using file extensions.
There are also options to drag and drop files, automatically sync files between servers, scheduled transfers, and file transfers to specific folders using file extensions.
It supports FTPS, TLS, SSL and SFTP secure protocols. and also integrates the Z compression mode so you will be able to improve your transfer rates and speed up your work process.
You can also enable the Data Saver option presented in all modern browsers. This means saving and optimizing your browsing, such as reducing the size of web pages and compressing images and thus also reducing the appearance of advertisements.
PuTTY – PuTTY was originally developed for Windows but it works fine on both Windows and Linux systems too! PuTTY has been around for over 15 years now which makes it one of the most popular tools available today
An SFTP client is a software which uses the SFTP protocol to transfer files securely to and from a remote computer. An SFTP client is typically used when you want to transfer files between your local computer and another computer that supports the Secure Shell (SSH) protocol.
If you’re looking for a way to upload or download files securely, then an SFTP client is definitely worth considering.
The most popular SFTP clients are WinSCP, FileZilla and Cyberduck.
The SFTP transfer protocol is independent of the operating system used and the type of connection.
The most common features of an SFTP client include:
* Creating folders
* Transferring files
* Opening files in a text editor or viewer (such as Windows Notepad or Notepad++)
SFTP clients communicate with the remote host using a port of 22 (SSH), and they authenticate each other by sending public keys over an encrypted channel. In addition, they use cryptographic algorithms such as AES-128-GCM or AES-256-GCM to encrypt all data sent between them.
In addition to offering you the possibility of transferring data by the SFTP protocol, it also allows you to display the directories, their change of name or the restriction of rights.
With an SFTP client, you can also delete entire files and (or) directories. If you delete all content, it will no longer appear on your site. Simply mark the content for deletion and right click. If you select the Delete option, the chosen content will be deleted from your web space once you confirm it.
FTP is not secure. Data sent via FTP is vulnerable to sniffing, spoofing, and brute force attacks, among other basic attack methods used to hack a wordpress site. Check out this post on how to secure your wordpress site from hackers.
FTP is an insecure protocol that should not be used for transferring sensitive data.
In fact, there are many ways to compromise the confidentiality of data in transit when using FTP:
Sniffing: An attacker can intercept the data as it passes through an open connection.
Spoofing: An attacker can pretend to be a server or client and convince another party that they have authorized access to the client/server’s file system.
Brute Filing: An attacker can repeatedly send requests for files on a remote system until it completes the download process. This is known as “brute-force” and is commonly used by virus writers who attempt to gain access to systems protected by passwords or other security features.
The operation of this protocol is quite simple and safe. Simply, computer A connects directly to computer B, and you will be able to see the files that it has available to share. When viewing them, you can simply download them directly to the computer that has been connected to the other.
FTP connections have a client and server relationship. This means that a computer has to be configured as an FTP server, the one where the content is hosted, and then you connect to it as a client.
In computers, the data of the FTP protocol is sent through ports 20 and 21, which are the ones that are assigned in all the equipment to carry out their file transfers.
Although having one computer as a client and another as a server may seem complicated if you don’t understand these things, fortunately, today all of this is simple. You are only going to have to use a program that takes care of everything, which are those that are called FTP clients.
Many are free, and as users, you will only have to establish the address of the server to which you want to connect and that’s it. In addition, they usually also have versions to create the server.
Encryption: The big difference between FTP and SFTP is the ability to encrypt. SFTP is a much more secure protocol than FTP because when a file is sent and received using FTP standards, it is not encrypted.
CoffeeCup Software has a certain reputation in the IT world. After being the first FTP client to integrate a text editor directly into the software, the American company is now developing numerous programs for creating and editing websites.
CoffeeCup Free FTP is one of its few products that is 100% free.
These are the Best ftp Clients for Mac in 2024:
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