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A few weeks ago I compared UltraEdit with EditPad Pro; an ancillary product that comes with the UltraEdit Studio suite is UltraFTP. I've been using an open source FTP client for many years and have come to rely on WinSCP for keeping websites up to date, uploading software for customers, and more. I figured since I now own the UE suite of products, I should at least look at UltraFTP. Unfortunately, it didn't live up to my expectations.
This will be a short blog--it's not an exhaustive comparison and I didn't even do any upload or download timings to see which is fastest because I found a couple of deal-breakers and didn't spend any more time with UltraFTP--I'll be sticking with WinSCP. Here are the two things that decided it for me:
Problem deleting
I was using UltraFTP to update a site built with Drupal and I noticed a directory left over from some testing I had done several months earlier. I tried to delete it but it's folder permissions prevented it. I pulled up the permissions in the properties list, checked the write property and saved it, then tried to delete the folder again. It didn't delete and the error message was the same. I tried refreshing the folder list, going up to the parent folder, and back down, but nothing worked.
So I switched to WinSCP to see if that would reveal any further details on why it couldn't be deleted, but the folder deleted immediately with the first try. Switching back to UltraFTP, the program was frozen--I could not close the session or the program or perform any other option.
No Command-Line Scripting
I have a few different sites where software updates are made available to customers from a downloadable link on a website. I've written some batch scripts that build the project, code-sign the executables, then upload the installers via FTP. WinSCP has great support for scripting and automation which works well within my batch scripts, saving me time and reducing errors.
Other Features
The UltraFTP home page lists several features that remind me a lot of WinSCP--which has almost every one of them: synchronized files and folders, configurable sessions, fast transfers, integrated text editor, drag-and-drop file support, and more. It's funny that one prominent reason listed for why you would choose UltraFTP is because it's commercially supported. WinSCP has more features and I get frequent updates, so that's not a selling point for me.
My conclusion
I like WinSCP and found no compelling reason to switch.
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