SFTP Client for Windows 11: Six Options Compared

Windows 11 already has an SFTP client, and it has no window

Checked 24 September 2026 against each vendor's own documentation. Before installing anything, know what you already have. Microsoft's OpenSSH overview lists the commands built into the Windows feature — ssh, sshd, ssh-keygen, ssh-agent, ssh-add, ssh-keyscan, sftp and scp — so sftp user@host is first-party and free. Do not assume it is on: the install-state table records "Windows 10 build 1809 +" as "Not installed, install and enable using optional features".

Get-WindowsCapability -Online | Where-Object Name -like 'OpenSSH*'
Add-WindowsCapability -Online -Name OpenSSH.Client~~~~0.0.1.0

That covers one file and a known path. It does not give you a listing you can scan, a transfer queue, a resume, or a remote file you can double-click — which is what the five graphical clients below are for. If you want a drive letter rather than a client, see mount SFTP on Windows 11; this page will not repeat it.

The six, side by side

Three columns settle most of this. Licence matters more than usual, because four of the six are free for commercial use and the differences are in the wording. Sync is a real dividing line: only WinSCP publishes automatic directory synchronisation. Mounts as a drive separates a transfer client from a virtual disk, and only two claim it.

One axis the table cannot show: which agent holds your key. Windows' in-box ssh and sftp use the Windows ssh-agent service, while WinSCP integrates with PuTTY's Pageant. Same key file, different place to type the passphrase — which is why running several clients side by side gets confusing. Pick one and standardise the key handling around it.

`sftp.exe`: first-party, scriptable, no window

Worth keeping even after you install something else. It is the same OpenSSH binary set as on Linux, it reads %USERPROFILE%\.ssh, and it works with the ssh-agent service once you enable it — Get-Service ssh-agent | Set-Service -StartupType Automatic, then ssh-add $env:USERPROFILE\.ssh\id_ecdsa.

Where it stops: no listing, no queue, no resume UI, nothing another application can open. It is still the right place to debug authentication before blaming a GUI — if sftp user@host works, every later failure is client configuration, which is why SFTP permission denied (publickey) starts there.

WinSCP: the default answer on Windows, and it earns it

WinSCP describes itself precisely: "an open source free SFTP client, FTP client, WebDAV client, S3 client and SCP client and file manager for Windows." It is GPL, version 3 or later, and its licence page puts the permission plainly — "Run WinSCP for any purpose for free."

The two features it wins on are both documented. First, Windows integration: "drag&drop, URL, shortcut icons, jump list", plus a choice of "Explorer and Commander interfaces". Second, synchronisation: "directory synchronization in several semi or fully automatic ways", which no other free client here publishes. It also ships "batch file scripting and command-line interface and .NET assembly", so one tool covers an interactive session and a scheduled job. On keys it supports "password, keyboard-interactive, public key and Kerberos (GSS) authentication".

Where it stops: Windows only, and it does not mount, so no other application gets a path to open.

FileZilla: the cross-platform one, with the cloud behind a paywall

FileZilla is the obvious pick when the same person also uses macOS or Linux — the one client here with a current Flathub listing, org.filezillaproject.Filezilla under GPL-2.0-or-later. The trap is protocol coverage: in the project's own description the free client "supports FTP, FTPS, and SFTP — connections to traditional servers and NAS devices." WebDAV, S3, Backblaze B2 and the cloud drives are all FileZilla Pro features, from EUR12.99 for a single device. For pure SFTP on Windows 11 that paywall is irrelevant.

Where it stops: it does not mount — FileZilla's answer is RemoteDrive, a separate macOS product — and its Windows installer has a long history of bundled offers.

Cyberduck: free, and the widest protocol list

Cyberduck 9.5.4 shipped on 25 August 2026, needs Windows 10 or later, is GPL, and one window speaks FTP, SFTP, WebDAV, SMB, Amazon S3, OpenStack Swift, Backblaze B2, Azure, OneDrive, Google Drive and Dropbox. If your SFTP server is one remote among several and the others are buckets, this is the free client that reaches all of them. It is funded by donation: at least 10 USD returns a key that "registers the installed application to your name and disables the donation prompt".

Where it stops: it does not mount, by design — that is Mountain Duck's job — and its interface is a bookmark window rather than a two-pane transfer layout. See Cyberduck alternatives.

Bitvise SSH Client: free for everyone, including companies

The most surprising licence on the page: "Bitvise SSH Client can be used free of charge, in all types of environments, without limitation." A purchased licence adds stronger support commitments and indemnification, which a free licence does not grant. It also states that "Bitvise software does not contain ads, install product bundles or collect user data for sale" — worth noting next to FileZilla's installer history.

The feature list is broad: "one of the most advanced graphical SFTP clients", terminal emulation, port forwarding, "SFTP drive mapping", and "an FTP-to-SFTP bridge allowing you to connect to an SFTP server using legacy FTP applications" — which solves a problem nothing else here addresses, such as a legacy device that only speaks FTP talking to a server where plain FTP is switched off. Supported versions run from Windows 11 and Windows Server 2025 back to Windows XP SP3; the version at the time of checking is 9.66.

Where it stops: Windows only, and what its drive mapping installs underneath is not documented on the pages checked here.

AnyStorage: SFTP next to your buckets

This is the app this site makes. Release 0.2.25 shipped on 23 September 2026 for Windows 10 or newer, macOS 11 or newer and Linux. SFTP is one of more than 20 connection types, alongside FTP, WebDAV, S3, Cloudflare R2, Backblaze B2, MinIO, Google Cloud Storage, Azure Blob, Alibaba Cloud OSS, Tencent Cloud COS and the three big cloud drives — so a delivery server and a release bucket sit in tabs in the same window.

Where it stops, honestly. The free tier allows two connections, fewer than WinSCP's or Cyberduck's unlimited site lists, though commercial use is allowed. Search, preview, bulk operations and drag-and-drop upload are Pro features. There is no directory synchronisation and no CLI, so it does not replace WinSCP for scheduled jobs, and 0.2.25 is a young 0.2.x release beside Cyberduck's twenty-four years. For object storage, the S3 GUI client page goes deeper.

Which one for which job

None of these six is a wrong choice; the difference is what you do most often.

• One file, one command, nothing installed: sftp.exe.
• The everyday Windows workhorse: WinSCP — free for any purpose, real Explorer integration, and the only documented automatic directory synchronisation here.
• You also use macOS or Linux: FileZilla, the only entry with a current Flathub listing, remembering the free build is FTP, FTPS and SFTP only.
• SFTP plus buckets, for free: Cyberduck.
• A company that wants a licence with no conditions: Bitvise, free "in all types of environments, without limitation".
• SFTP as one connection among many, in tabs: AnyStorage, with the two-connection free cap in mind.
• A drive letter rather than a client: mount SFTP on Windows 11, or mount SFTP as a network drive.
• On a Mac: Transmit alternatives for Mac, and FTP and SFTP client as the protocol hub.

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