SFTPro vs Cyberduck
The Cyberduck alternative that doesn't feel like 2011.
We build software we want to fall in love with, and a UI that looks a decade old is hard to love. Cyberduck is free and connects to almost anything — but its cross-platform interface hasn't aged gracefully, and editing means bouncing to another app. SFTPro is native SwiftUI, keyboard-first, with a real editor built in. $19.43, once.
What changes when you switch.
Line by line — what you leave behind on Cyberduck, and what you get instead.
Built like a Mac.
Native SwiftUI and actor-based networking. Fresh design, real macOS performance, and zero lag scrolling huge directories — none of the cross-platform toolkit tax.
Keyboard-first.
Move, open, edit, upload — every action has a key. Cyberduck keeps sending you back to the mouse; SFTPro lets you keep your hands where they are.
Yours forever.
$19.43, one-time — free updates included. No subscription, no account, no upgrade treadmill. Buy it, own it, keep it.
SFTPro vs Cyberduck, side by side.
| Cyberduck | SFTPro | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | $19.43 |
| Model | Donationware | One-time |
| Native SwiftUI | No | Yes |
| Keyboard-first navigation | Partial | Full |
| Built-in editor w/ syntax highlighting | No | Yes |
| SSH key auth (Ed25519 / RSA) | Yes | Yes |
| Host-key verification (TOFU) | Yes | Yes |
Where Cyberduck still wins
We tease the looks, but Cyberduck is a genuinely useful free tool with a huge reach. Stay with it if you need:
- A price of $0 — SFTPro is free to browse and preview, but writing costs $19.43.
- Protocol and cloud breadth — S3, Google Drive, Dropbox, Backblaze, OpenStack, Azure, and more.
- Windows support, or a workflow that already lives inside Cyberduck's bookmarks.
Try it free. Pay when you write.
Free to browse and preview. $19.43 one-time to unlock editing and uploads. Works on macOS 14 (Sonoma) or later.
Cyberduck switchers ask
Cyberduck is free — why pay $19.43 for SFTPro?+
You don't pay to try it. Browsing, connecting, previewing, and downloading are free in SFTPro too. The $19.43 one-time unlocks editing, uploads, and file operations — the writing half of the workflow — in a native, keyboard-first app that's a genuine pleasure to use.
Does SFTPro connect to S3 and cloud storage like Cyberduck?+
No. SFTPro focuses on SFTP over SSH. Cyberduck's real strength is breadth — if you need S3, Dropbox, or Google Drive, keep Cyberduck for those and reach for SFTPro when you want fast SFTP work.
Is my data handled safely?+
Passwords and key passphrases live in the macOS Keychain, never on disk in plain text, and never leave your machine. First connection pins the server's key fingerprint (TOFU) and warns loudly if it ever changes.