Read on for a blow-by-blow comparison between Cyberduck 3.0.2 and FileZilla 3.1.0.1 to see who wins.

Cyberduck has long been the freeware FTP app of choice here, with OneButton FTP a distant but worthy second.

In the interim, though, FileZilla has been updated on a regular basis, so I decided to give it another chance.

Cyberduck used to take a few seconds, but with the latest version is a lot speedier.

I have a feeling, though, that it may start to bog down again over time.

The top pane on each side is meant to help you navigate through folders and see whats inside them as represented by the lower pane.

Ive never seen anything quite like it before in a Mac program, and found it confusing and non-intuitive.

Cyberduck has just one pane, which lists the files in a remote server.

You double-click on folders to open them as you would in the Finder.

There is no pane for local files as there is in FileZilla and other FTP programs such as Transmit, but its easy enough to view them in the Finder and drag-and-drop from there.

FileZillas toolbar is cluttered by comparison, and the icons are both ugly and indecipherable.

Below is an example of two particularly bizarre FileZilla icons.

Cyberduck also has a collection of bookmarks available at the click of a button.

Uploading a 652 KB JPEG took about 40 seconds in both cases.

I checked the sparse documentation and the FAQ at the FileZilla website nothing.

Likely Ill be embarrassed anyway with a comment below starting with, Well, all you have to do is...

The point, though, is that something so basic should be a snap to figure out.

But in my admittedly simple tests I could see no appreciable difference in speed.

Ive used Cyberduck for a few years now, and have never known it to crash or quit in the middle of a transfer although that doesnt mean it hasnt happened to other people.

But if this is the case, you might be better off splurging for Transmit or Yummy FTP.

Unless you have specialized needs or strongly held preferences, youre best avoiding FileZilla and sticking with Cyberduck.

FileZilla can be a struggle to use at times, but it does indeed work as advertised and so has earned a place in the thriftmac collection.

Filezilla Vs Cyberduck For Mac