SFTP Client for Mac + Seedbox: evoftp vs Transmit vs Cyberduck vs FileZilla

The best SFTP client for a Mac and a seedbox is the one that opens several SSH connections per file without you hunting for a setting: evoftp (free, open source, Apple Silicon and Intel builds), with Cyberduck as the free runner-up if you want a notarised app with Keychain, Transmit 5 if you will pay for the most polished Mac client, and FileZilla only if you already know it. evoftp’s two honest Mac caveats: its builds are ad-hoc signed, not notarised (a Gatekeeper detour on first launch), and the unsigned build does not use Keychain.

This is the Mac-specific companion to our evoftp guide: the Mac-only questions first (chip builds, Gatekeeper, notarisation, Keychain), then each client, a table and a pick.

What we judged on

• Segmented downloads. One SSH stream to a distant seedbox is capped by round-trip time; splitting a file across connections is the biggest speed lever. We checked each vendor’s own docs.
• Resume. A 40 GB file that dies at 90% must continue, not restart.
• Mac hygiene. Native build, Gatekeeper behaviour, Keychain.
• Price, licence and seedbox fit. One-step connection, and a few huge files rather than thousands of small ones.

The Mac-specific checks first

Apple Silicon vs Intel

Every client here runs on both Apple Silicon and Intel Macs. evoftp ships two zips (evoftp-mac.zip for Apple Silicon, evoftp-mac-intel.zip for Intel), macOS 11 or later. Cyberduck has been native on Apple Silicon since 8.1.0, macOS 10.13 or later. Transmit 5 needs macOS 13 or later. FileZilla’s Mac binaries need OS X 10.9 or greater. Not sure which chip you have? Apple menu, About This Mac.

Gatekeeper and notarisation

Gatekeeper opens a downloaded app silently only if it is Developer-ID signed and notarised by Apple. Transmit and Cyberduck are also sold on the Mac App Store, so they carry Apple’s signature and open with no detour. FileZilla is distributed directly and its safety article documents only a Windows code signature, so if your Mac prompts, use the steps below. evoftp is ad-hoc signed and not notarised yet, so macOS refuses it on first launch:

• macOS Sequoia (15) and later: Apple removed the Control-click override. Try to open evoftp once, then open System Settings, click Privacy & Security, scroll down, click Open Anyway and confirm. macOS remembers the exception.
• macOS 11 to 14: right-click (or Control-click) the app in Finder, choose Open, then click Open in the dialog. Once is enough.

Keychain

Transmit stores server passwords in your Login keychain. Cyberduck saves them in Keychain Access and autofills them when “Use Keychain” is on. FileZilla stores site passwords in plain text by default (master password option since 3.26). evoftp’s unsigned Mac build stores saved passwords unencrypted in ~/Library/Application Support/evoftp, because macOS only hands encrypted storage to signed apps. Until it is notarised, leave the password field empty and type it at connect time.

1. evoftp (free, open source)

What it is: a dual-pane SFTP client (FTPS and FTP too, since 0.2.0) from EvoSeedbox, built for pulling large files off a distant server. The UI is openly modelled on Transmit. Version 0.2.0, GPL-3.0.

Segmented? Yes, by default, for every file over 8 MB. Balanced profile: 4 segments per file, 3 files at once, 8 connections; Long distance: 8 segments and a 16 MB in-flight window sized from your ping. Pieces are written straight into place (no merge step), and a .evoftp-part sidecar means downloading the same file into the same folder again simply continues it. In our tests a Mac in India at 250 to 700 ms round-trip went from about 2.4 MB/s per connection to line speed.

Price and platforms: free. macOS 11+ (both chip builds), Windows 10/11, Linux AppImage. Downloads.

What it lacks: WebDAV and cloud storage, sync, remote edit, per-server bookmarks, speed limits, drive mounting, notarisation and Keychain.

Verdict: fastest way to get big files off a seedbox onto a Mac, if you accept a first-launch detour and a deliberately small feature set.

2. Transmit 5 (paid, Mac only)

What it is: Panic’s flagship Mac transfer app: dual pane, tabs, Places, Rules, folder sync with simulate, throttling, Panic Sync, Droplets. SFTP, FTP, FTPS, WebDAV, S3 and cloud services.

Segmented? Not as far as its documentation goes. Panic lists “support for multiple connections” (default five simultaneous transfers), but no help page describes splitting one file. One 40 GB file gets one stream.

Price and platforms: $45 one-time from Panic with a 7-day trial, or $24.99/year on the Mac App Store. macOS 13 or later, Mac only.

Verdict: the nicest Mac client to live in, with a conflict dialog (Replace / Resume / Keep Both / Skip) evoftp does not have yet. Buy it for web work; pair it with evoftp or lftp for the big pulls.

3. Cyberduck (free, open source)

What it is: a single-pane browser-style client for macOS and Windows with FTP, SFTP, WebDAV, S3 and 30+ cloud services, bookmark import from Transmit, FileZilla and WinSCP, and a transfer list that survives restarts.

Segmented? Yes, on by default. Files over 100 MB are split across connections and then merged; the docs warn that “merging the segments may take a considerable amount of time” and needs every part present. Segment count is not documented.

Price and platforms: free download with a donation prompt (a $10+ donation gives you a key that removes it), or $23.99 on the Mac App Store. macOS 10.13 or later, native Apple Silicon since 8.1.0, current version 9.5.4.

Verdict: the best free client if you need Keychain, notarisation and cloud protocols in one app. The merge wait is the price of segmenting.

4. FileZilla (free, open source)

What it is: the veteran FTP/FTPS/SFTP client: Site Manager, filename filters, directory comparison, synchronized browsing, speed limits, remote edit.

Segmented? No. FileZilla moves up to 10 files at once but never splits one file; its developers said so on their forum (threads 24720 and 35292) and rejected the request. Resume works, including files over 4 GB.

Price and platforms: free (GPL) on Windows, macOS and Linux; FileZilla Pro (paid) adds cloud protocols. The Windows installer may include bundled offers (the Mac download is a plain app bundle); passwords are plain text unless you set a master password.

Verdict: fine for browsing and small files, wrong for one 40 GB file over a long link.

5. lftp via Homebrew (free, terminal)

The command-line tool whose pget -n technique evoftp reimplements. brew install lftp gives you 4.9.3 (GPL) with Apple Silicon and Intel bottles. pget -n 8 file.mkv pulls one file over 8 connections, mirror --parallel=5 --use-pget-n=8 does a folder, -c continues. No GUI, no Keychain, nothing to notarise.

Also seen: ForkLift 4 (paid, SFTP plus sync, macOS 14.6) and Commander One (SFTP only in the paid PRO Pack). Neither documents segmented downloads, so we did not rank them.

Comparison table

Our pick and why

For a seedbox, evoftp. The job is usually a few very large files from a server hundreds of milliseconds away, and evoftp is the only client here that segments every file by default, writes pieces straight into place and resumes without a dialog. It is also the only one that connects in one step: your EvoSeedbox client area builds a .evoftp connection file with the right host, port and username (explained in the SFTP setup guide).

Pick Cyberduck if the Gatekeeper step or missing Keychain bothers you. Pick Transmit if you also manage web servers. Use lftp for scripts. If you really want the seedbox in Finder, see mounting a seedbox with SSHFS.

FAQ

Why does macOS say evoftp is damaged or from an unidentified developer?

Because the Mac build is ad-hoc signed and not notarised by Apple, so Gatekeeper blocks it on first launch. On macOS Sequoia: System Settings, Privacy & Security, scroll down, Open Anyway. On macOS 11 to 14: right-click the app, Open. The exception is remembered. Windows and Linux builds have no such step.

Does evoftp save my seedbox password in Keychain?

Not on macOS. Windows and Linux builds encrypt saved passwords with your OS login, but macOS only offers that to signed apps, so the Mac build keeps them unencrypted in ~/Library/Application Support/evoftp. Leave the password blank and enter it at connect time if that concerns you.

Which build do I download for an M1, M2, M3 or M4 Mac?

evoftp-mac.zip. Intel Macs take evoftp-mac-intel.zip. Both need macOS 11 or later. Unzip, drag to Applications, do the Gatekeeper step once.

Is Cyberduck’s segmented download the same as evoftp’s?

Same idea, different finish. Cyberduck merges the parts after the download; evoftp writes each segment into the final file as it arrives, so the file is usable the moment the last byte lands.

Ready to try it? Download the Apple Silicon or Intel build from neo.myseedbox.site/share/evoftp/, then follow the evoftp guide for the one-click connection file and the Long distance profile.