[linux] Is there any WinSCP equivalent for linux?

I love WinSCP for Windows. What are the best equivalent softwares for linux?

I tried to use sshfs to mount the remote file system on my local machine, but it is not as user friendly as simply launching a GUI, plus it seems to require root access on the client machine, which is not very convenient.

Of course command line tools such as scp are possible, but I am looking for a simple GUI.

This question is related to linux scp winscp

The answer is


To run WinSCP under Linux (Ubuntu 12.04), follow these steps:

  1. Run sudo apt-get install wine (run this one time only, to get 'wine' in your system, if you haven't it)
  2. Download latest WinSCP portable package https://winscp.net/eng/download.php
  3. Make a folder and put the content of zip file in this folder
  4. Open a terminal
  5. Type wine WinSCP.exe

Done! WinSCP will run like in Windows environment!

Best regards.


Filezilla is available for Linux. If you are using Ubuntu:

sudo apt-get install filezilla

Otherwise, you can download it from the Filezilla website.


Filezilla is available for Linux. If you are using Ubuntu:

sudo apt-get install filezilla

Otherwise, you can download it from the Filezilla website.


Just use gnome, just type in the address and away you go!


  1. gFTP
  2. Konqueror's fish kio-slave (just write as file path: ssh://user@server/path

If you're using Xfce (or LXDE) instead of Gnome, there's an equivalent tool: Gigolo.
I suppose, but not sure, it can be installed also on other desktop environments.
It supports FTP, SSH and WebDAV and it is quite intuitive to use: just click on Connect, choose the protocol, fill the parameters and go. You can save the connections for later use.


scp file user@host:/path/on/host


Filezilla is available for Linux. If you are using Ubuntu:

sudo apt-get install filezilla

Otherwise, you can download it from the Filezilla website.


Just use gnome, just type in the address and away you go!


I've used gFTP for that.


WinSCP works fine on Linux under Wine. I installed Wine and WinSCP and had no problems.


One thing I find WinSCP does well that I cannot do easily with Ubuntu tools is tunneling to a secondary machine. This is done with one with one connection setting in WinSCP. While I can use the native file browsers in Ubuntu (11.11) to reach any machine, I cannot easily tunnel thru an intermediate machine to reach a third one. I suspect it is because I do not well understand how to set up tunneling. I am toying with gSTM, but there is little documentation, and I suspect it is for setting up local tunnels, not remote ones. In any case it is not as dead simple as WinSCP made it. This is no anwser, but perhaps it highlights a critical feature of WinSCP that suggestions for alternatives should address.

Now off to learn more about tunneling...


I've used gFTP for that.


I've used gFTP for that.


use fire FTP,Krusader...


  1. gFTP
  2. Konqueror's fish kio-slave (just write as file path: ssh://user@server/path

Xfce/Thunar solution is basically the same as Gnome/Nautilus:

Simply type sftp://yourhost/ to address line in Thunar (You can get there by Ctrl + L)

(The authorization is identical to ssh/scp, i.e. with proper use of ~/.ssh/config, keys and ssh-agent, you can achieve decent ease and security: server alias + no passwords asked.)


  1. gFTP
  2. Konqueror's fish kio-slave (just write as file path: ssh://user@server/path

I use FileZilla and it works fine with SFTP (SSH File Transfer Protocol). Follow these steps to install it and configure it:

1. Install FileZilla via terminal:

sudo apt-get install filezilla

2. Open the program and go to File -> Site Manager... or simply type Ctrl+S

3. The following window should appear: enter image description here

4. Enter the name of your host, select the port (usually 22 for ssh/scp/sftp) and choose SFTP - SSH File Transfer Protocol as protocol and optionally set the Logon Type to Normal if authentication is needed, resp. enter your data.


Why not use nautilus the default file manager in gnome? Here is how you may -
Best SCP GUI on Linux


I've used gFTP for that.


One big thing not mentioned is the fact that with WinSCP you can also use key file authentication which I am unable to do successfully with Ubuntu FTP clients. KFTPGrabber is the closest thing I can find that supports key file authentication... but it still doesn't work for me, where WinSCP does.


To run WinSCP under Linux (Ubuntu 12.04), follow these steps:

  1. Run sudo apt-get install wine (run this one time only, to get 'wine' in your system, if you haven't it)
  2. Download latest WinSCP portable package https://winscp.net/eng/download.php
  3. Make a folder and put the content of zip file in this folder
  4. Open a terminal
  5. Type wine WinSCP.exe

Done! WinSCP will run like in Windows environment!

Best regards.


use fire FTP,Krusader...


Xfce/Thunar solution is basically the same as Gnome/Nautilus:

Simply type sftp://yourhost/ to address line in Thunar (You can get there by Ctrl + L)

(The authorization is identical to ssh/scp, i.e. with proper use of ~/.ssh/config, keys and ssh-agent, you can achieve decent ease and security: server alias + no passwords asked.)


scp file user@host:/path/on/host


Nautilus can be used easily in this case.

For Fedora 16, go to File -> Connect To server, select the appropriate protocol, enter required details and simply connect, just make sure that the SSH Server is running on other side. It works great.

Edit: This is valid on Ubuntu 14.04 as well


  1. gFTP
  2. Konqueror's fish kio-slave (just write as file path: ssh://user@server/path

One thing I find WinSCP does well that I cannot do easily with Ubuntu tools is tunneling to a secondary machine. This is done with one with one connection setting in WinSCP. While I can use the native file browsers in Ubuntu (11.11) to reach any machine, I cannot easily tunnel thru an intermediate machine to reach a third one. I suspect it is because I do not well understand how to set up tunneling. I am toying with gSTM, but there is little documentation, and I suspect it is for setting up local tunnels, not remote ones. In any case it is not as dead simple as WinSCP made it. This is no anwser, but perhaps it highlights a critical feature of WinSCP that suggestions for alternatives should address.

Now off to learn more about tunneling...


scp file user@host:/path/on/host


If you're using Xfce (or LXDE) instead of Gnome, there's an equivalent tool: Gigolo.
I suppose, but not sure, it can be installed also on other desktop environments.
It supports FTP, SSH and WebDAV and it is quite intuitive to use: just click on Connect, choose the protocol, fill the parameters and go. You can save the connections for later use.


Nautilus can be used easily in this case.

For Fedora 16, go to File -> Connect To server, select the appropriate protocol, enter required details and simply connect, just make sure that the SSH Server is running on other side. It works great.

Edit: This is valid on Ubuntu 14.04 as well


Filezilla is available for Linux. If you are using Ubuntu:

sudo apt-get install filezilla

Otherwise, you can download it from the Filezilla website.


One big thing not mentioned is the fact that with WinSCP you can also use key file authentication which I am unable to do successfully with Ubuntu FTP clients. KFTPGrabber is the closest thing I can find that supports key file authentication... but it still doesn't work for me, where WinSCP does.


WinSCP works fine on Linux under Wine. I installed Wine and WinSCP and had no problems.


I use FileZilla and it works fine with SFTP (SSH File Transfer Protocol). Follow these steps to install it and configure it:

1. Install FileZilla via terminal:

sudo apt-get install filezilla

2. Open the program and go to File -> Site Manager... or simply type Ctrl+S

3. The following window should appear: enter image description here

4. Enter the name of your host, select the port (usually 22 for ssh/scp/sftp) and choose SFTP - SSH File Transfer Protocol as protocol and optionally set the Logon Type to Normal if authentication is needed, resp. enter your data.


scp file user@host:/path/on/host


Why not use nautilus the default file manager in gnome? Here is how you may -
Best SCP GUI on Linux


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