Most organizations run Linux servers for their enterprise databases and applications. However the developers and admins might have Windows laptops. In those cases, you might be using PuTTY (or related tools like PuttyCM) to ssh from Windows to Linux.
You might also want to transfer files from Windows to Linux and vice versa. You can use any one of the free SFTP clients mentioned in this article.
Even if you are already using some SFTP client, check-out these tools, you might end-up liking one of these sFTP clients better than your current one.
Did we miss any of your favorite SFTP or SCP client?
01 – Solar-PuTTY Windows. Manage remote sessions in a professional way. Connect to any server. WinSCP 5.17 is a major application update. New features and enhancements include: Improvements to sessions and workspace management, so that WinSCP can now easily restore tabs that were open when it was last closed. Hardware-accelerated AES. Extension Archive and Download to archive remote files and download the archive.
1. WinSCP
WinSCP Supports SFTP, SCP and FTP. This is the best and efficient SFTP and SCP graphical tool for Windows. Following are few features of WinSCP.
- Its integrated well with Windows using the drag and drop feature. From Windows Explorer, you can right mouse click on a file, select “Send To”, and transfer the file to remote Linux server.
- Apart from GUI, WinSCP also provides a command line interface to transfer files.
- If you frequently connect to multiple servers, you can store those session information (ip-address, username) in WinSCP. Storing the password is not recommended.
- You can automate the file transfer by writing scripts in WinSCP.
- WinSCP can monitor a local directory for changes and automatically sync with the remote directory.
- WinSCP is open source.
2. PSCP and PSFTP (from PuTTY)
PuTTY is used to SSH from Windows to Linux. Apart from the SSH client, PuTTY also has both SCP and SFTP client. It is called PSCP and PSFTP. Just like PuTTY, these are very light weight, easy to use, reliable, and open source.
Please note that PSCP and PSFTP are just command-line tools without any GUI.
Note: If you are using PuTTY, don’t forget to check-out these PuTTY tips, and 12 powerful PuTTY Add-ons.
3. Filezilla
FileZilla is a GUI tool that supports FTP, FTPS and SFTP. Following are some of the features.
- It is cross platform and works on Windows, Linux and Mac OS.
- Filezilla is open source.
- Supports IPv6.
- You can drag and drop files.
- Edit remote files directly from Filezilla.
- Compare local and remote directory contents.
4. FireFTP
FireFTP is a FTP addon for Firefox, which can also do SFTP.
To use SFTP in FireFTP, from Firefox browser, click on Tools -> FireFTP -> From the drop-down list, select either “Quick Connect” or “Create an Account” -> In the “Main” tab, enter the ip-address, uid, and pwd for the Linux server -> Click on “Connection” Tab -> Click on “Security” drop-down list and select “SFTP” from here, as shown below.
5. CoreFTP LE
CoreFTP is a commercial product that has both Pro and Free version. The free version pretty much has every feature that you would need for your typical SFTP file transfer needs.
- Drag and drop support.
- You can stop and resume the file transfer.
- File transfer bandwidth can be controlled
- command line mode is available
6. Swish – SFTP from Windows Explorer
This is very different from all other SFTP clients. This integrates directly to your Windows Explorer. You can just browse remote files from your Windows Explorer directly, and drag and drop files to transfer it.
Please note that this is still in “alpha” stage.
Once you’ve installed it, do the following to create a remote SFTP connection from the Windows Explorer:
- On Windows XP -> My Computer -> Click on Swish Icon -> Tools menu bar -> Add SFTP Connection.
- On Windows 7 -> Click on “Computer” in your Windows Explorer -> Click on Swish Icon -> Click on “Add SFTP Connection”.
7. BitKinex
BitKinex is a freeware SFTP Clienit. Following are some of the features.
- Uses multipart and multithreaded file transfer for speed.
- Support FTP, FTPS, SFTP, HTTP, HTTPS and WebDAV protocols.
- Supports server-to-server file transfer.
- Command line interface to transfer files
What is your favorite SFTP or SCP clients for Windows? Please leave a comment and let us know.
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SSH is a multi-purpose protocol for secure system administration and file transfers. It is included in every Linux and Unix system. PuTTY is the most popular SSH Connection Clients, however, it is a very basic SSH Client.
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If you are searching for SSH with more features, here are some of the best and free SSH Clients for both Apple macOS and Microsoft Windows. Download away!
↓ 01 – Solar-PuTTY | Windows
Manage remote sessions in a professional way. Connect to any server or device in your network with Solar-PuTTY for Windows.
- Manage multiple sessions from one console with a tabbed interface
- Save credentials or private keys to any session for easy login
- Automate all scripts you’re using when connection is established
- Find your saved session easily thanks to Windows Search integration
↓ 02 – OpenSSH | Windows | macOS | Linux
OpenSSH is a free version of the SSH connectivity tools that technical users rely on. OpenSSH encrypts all traffic (including passwords) to effectively eliminate eavesdropping, connection hijacking, and other attacks. Additionally, OpenSSH provides secure tunneling capabilities and several authentication methods, and supports all SSH protocol versions. The OpenSSH suite consists of the following tools:
- Remote operations are done using ssh, scp, and sftp.
- Key management with ssh-add, ssh-keysign, ssh-keyscan, and ssh-keygen.
- The service side consists of sshd, sftp-server, and ssh-agent.
- Strong cryptography (AES, ChaCha20, RSA, ECDSA, Ed25519…) – Encryption is started before authentication, and no passwords or other information is transmitted in the clear. Encryption is also used to protect against spoofed packets. A number of different ciphers and key types are available, and legacy options are usually phased out in a reasonable amount of time.
- Strong authentication (public keys, one-time passwords) – Strong authentication protects against several security problems: IP spoofing, fakes routes and DNS spoofing. Some authentication methods include public key authentication, one-time passwords with s/key and authentication using Kerberos (only in -portable).
↓ 03 – MobaXterm Home Edition | Windows
Enhanced terminal for Windows with X11 server, tabbed SSH client, network tools and much more. MobaXterm is your ultimate toolbox for remote computing. In a single Windows application, it provides loads of functions that are tailored for programmers, webmasters, IT administrators and pretty much all users who need to handle their remote jobs in a more simple fashion.
- Full X server and SSH support
- Remote desktop (RDP, VNC, Xdmcp)
- Remote terminal (SSH, telnet, rlogin, Mosh)
- X11-Forwarding
- Automatic SFTP browser
↓ 04 – KiTTY | Windows
KiTTY is an opensource terminal emulator, forked from Small PuTTY iconPuTTY , that adds many extra features to the original software. Some of these extra features are automatic password, automatic command, running a locally saved script on a remote session, ZModem integration and more.
↓ 05 – mRemoteNG | Windows
mRemoteNG is a fork of mRemote: an open source, tabbed, multi-protocol, remote connections manager. mRemoteNG adds bug fixes and new features to mRemote. It allows you to view all of your remote connections in a simple yet powerful tabbed interface. mRemoteNG supports the following protocols:
- RDP (Remote Desktop/Terminal Server)
- VNC (Virtual Network Computing)
- ICA (Citrix Independent Computing Architecture)
- SSH (Secure Shell)
- Telnet (TELecommunication NETwork)
- HTTP/HTTPS (Hypertext Transfer Protocol)
- rlogin
- Raw Socket Connections
↓ 06 – Hyper | Windows | macOS | Linux
Hyper is a beautiful and extensible, cross-platform terminal built on open web standards. It provides an elegant command-line experience that is consistent across all supported platforms which includes macOS, Windows and various Linux distributions like Fedora and Debian.
The goal of the project is to create a beautiful and extensible experience for command-line interface users, built on open web standards. In the beginning, our focus will be primarily around speed, stability and the development of the correct API for extension authors.
↓ 07 – Bitvise SSH Client | Windows
SSH client supports all desktop and server versions of Windows, 32-bit and 64-bit, from Windows XP SP3 and Windows Server 2003, up to the most recent – Windows 10 and Windows Server 2016. As for encryption, it provides state-of-the-art encryption and security measures suitable as part of a standards-compliant solution meeting the requirements of PCI, HIPAA, or FIPS 140-2 validation.
- one of the most advanced graphical SFTP clients
- State-of-the-art terminal emulation with support for the bvterm, xterm, and vt100 protocols
- Support for corporation-wide single sign-on using SSPI (GSSAPI) Kerberos 5 and NTLM user authentication, as well as Kerberos 5 host authentication
- Support for RSA and DSA public key authentication with comprehensive user keypair management
- Powerful SSH port forwarding capabilities, including dynamic forwarding through integrated SOCKS and HTTP CONNECT proxy
- Powerful command-line parameters which make the SSH client highly customizable and suitable for use in specific situations and controlled environments
- An advanced, scriptable command-line SFTP client (sftpc)
↓ 08 – Termius Basic | Windows | macOS | Linux
Termius is more than a mere SSH client – it’s a complete command-line solution that’s redefining remote access for sysadmins and network engineers. Securely access Linux or IoT devices and quickly fix issues from the comfort of your couch via laptop or phone.