Best FTP Clients For WordPress Users Revealed
File Transfer Protocol (FTP) is an internet protocol that enables file sharing between a remote server and a local device. When you are into web development, you will come across FTP usage, as this is how most of your website resources are accessed from the hosting server. The same goes for WordPress sites. All website related files, including the core HTML files, theme, and plugin code, will all be stored in your hosting server.
To access them, you will be using an FTP client that will talk to your server and let you download and upload the files to and from your local machine to the server directly.
While you need not necessarily have expert coding knowledge to create WordPress sites, there might be certain situations where you will have to directly edit and work with the core website HTML and script files. To do so, you need a proper FTP client that can authenticate and establish a connection with your file server. For instance, if you wanted to make changes to the .htaccess file or make some customized changes to your website.
FTP clients also help you clone copies of your website and thereby help you maintain regular backups. But which FTP client should you use? What options and features are you looking for? Here is a compilation of the best FTP clients that can come in handy when running a WordPress website
Best FTP Clients For WordPress
FileZilla
FileZilla is the most popular free FTP client in use and is rightfully so. It is an entirely free software application that can be used on Windows, Linux, and Mac platforms. For additional advanced options, you also have the choice to subscribe to a pro version that supports WebDAV, Amazon S3, BackBlaze B2, Dropbox, OneDrive, Google Drive, Azure Blob, and Google Cloud storage. Even the pro version is one of the cheapest in the market, priced at just $19.99.
FileZilla provides a simple and straightforward functionality. You can connect to any server you have access to and download or upload files to it. You also get usability features like drag and drop options, saving user credentials, and more. The only downside is that the interface of FileZilla can look murky and outdated.
WinSCP
WinSCP is another completely free-to-use FTP client that also supports the SCP and WebDAV protocols. It is often the first choice for anyone working with a Windows machine to connect to any remote server through SSH or SFTP security protocols.
The WinSCP interface is the easiest to work with where it displays the server contents through a graphical file explorer type of interface. You can easily drag and drop or use keyboard shortcuts to upload and download files.
It also provides additional options to encrypt the transferred files, making all your file operations a lot safer and secure.
The only drawback with this tool is that it is available for use with Windows machines only. This limitation has pushed developers working from Linux and Mac platforms to look for other alternatives.
Cyberduck
Cyberduck is another easy to use free FTP client available for use with Windows and Mac platforms. Along with the primary features of connecting to the FTP servers, it provides additional options like saving credentials, WordPress file upload, and file search.
It also allows you to open files directly into a code editor of your choice and edit files on the go.
ForkLift
ForkLift is to Mac as WinSCP is to Windows. This is a paid software application that is priced at $29.95.
It integrates very well with the Mac aesthetics, providing a native app experience similar to the MacOS interface. You get dual panels, one for the server and the other for your local filesystem. You can drag and drop files from both the panels and work as if you are accessing the files from your local machine itself.
As can be expected from a paid licensed software, ForkLIft provides support for a whole range of services, including SFTP, FTP, WebDAV, Amazon S3, Backblaze B2, Google Drive, Rackspace CloudFiles, SMB, AFP, and NFS.
You can even work with multiple servers simultaneously and perform file sharing among servers without downloading the theme first to your local machine.
There are more features like real-time file synchronization, quick file open and access, multiple file renaming, and an aesthetically pleasing native dark mode.
Free FTP
Free FTP from Coffee is a free FTP client that is available for use with the Windows OS. It has a simple and easy to use interface aimed at beginner level coders. It supports FTP, SFTP, FTPS protocols and has an additional history feature that helps you remember any previous file operation.
Free FTP is also available as an upgraded version priced at $39. The paid version includes additional features like Direct FTP support, code editor, autocompletion, image viewer, and more.
Transmit
Transmit is another Mac-only FTP only client that comes in a free trial and paid versions. The paid version license costs $45 but can be bought at a discount depending on the number of licenses you subscribe to. All your favorite features like drag and drop, support for Box, Google Drive, and Backblaze, and file synchronization are all available. It also has some intuitive features like smart searching, fast file access through multithreading, file info sidebars, batch edits, and extra-large Amazon S3 file transfers.
A special feature called Panic Sync allows you to keep a secure backup of your data in your preferred location. There are also several shortcuts available to make speedy file operations as per your needs. The interface, too, looks great on Mac matching the native aesthetics perfectly.
The Wrap Up
So, whether you own an interior décor business or an e-commerce store, we are sure these FTP clients will serve the purpose perfectly. Check them out now.
