The Best FTP Software

I get asked a lot of questions like “What’s the best software for x.” Recently I’ve had a few people email me about my favorite FTP software. For the few of you who may not know, FTP (file transfer protocol) is how you access your web server in order to manage files. You can read more about FTP at Wikipedia.

A lot of you probably know that you can use your default browser as a FTP program, but doing it this way is extremely slow and painful. FTP programs make the whole process a lot easier. So which FTP program do I use? I use SmartFTP.

SmartFTP is a great program with a ton of features. It can be downloaded for free at their website (trial version). You can also purchase the full version at their website, although I’ve been using the free version for about 5 years and have yet to have a problem. The only thing you have to put up with when using the free version is having a little window popup when you launch it asking you to purchase the full version.

The GUI in SmartFTP is very easy to pickup and can be used by even the newest user. Over the years they’ve added a ton of features that make managing your web files a lot easier. For example, when uploading files you can now upload entire folders rather than selecting all of the files you want to be uploaded. This makes installing CMS software a breeze when you don’t have shell access.

Overall SmartFTP is one of the best (if not the best) free FTP programs available. I suggest everyone look it over. Just for the record, this wasn’t a paid post, and I’m not getting commission for recommending this program. I just think it’s a great piece of software that deserves to be mentioned.