Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

OpenSSH VS SFTPGo

Compare OpenSSH VS SFTPGo and see what are their differences

OpenSSH logo OpenSSH

OpenSSH is a free version of the SSH connectivity tools that technical users rely on.

SFTPGo logo SFTPGo

Fully featured and highly configurable SFTP server with optional HTTP/S, FTP/S and WebDAV support - S3, Google Cloud Storage, Azure Blob
  • OpenSSH Landing page
    Landing page //
    2018-09-29
  • SFTPGo Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-07-22

OpenSSH features and specs

  • Security
    OpenSSH provides secure encrypted communications between two untrusted hosts over an insecure network, offering strong encryption standards and authentication mechanisms.
  • Open Source
    As an open-source project, OpenSSH is free to use and benefits from contributions and transparency from a wide community of developers and users.
  • Portability
    OpenSSH is highly portable and available across many operating systems, including Linux, macOS, and Windows, making it a versatile tool for different environments.
  • Rich Feature Set
    In addition to basic SSH functionality, OpenSSH includes features like secure file transfer (SFTP and SCP), tunneling, forwarding, and key management.
  • Strong Community Support
    OpenSSH benefits from extensive community and developer support, ensuring regular updates, patches, and a wealth of documentation and user discussions.

Possible disadvantages of OpenSSH

  • Complexity
    Configuring and managing OpenSSH can be complex, especially for beginners, and requires a good understanding of security principles and SSH protocols.
  • Performance Overhead
    Encryption and decryption processes can introduce performance overhead, which can be a concern in environments with high traffic or limited resources.
  • Dependency on Proper Configuration
    The security of OpenSSH heavily depends on proper configuration; misconfigurations can lead to vulnerabilities, defeating the purpose of using a secure protocol.
  • Limited GUI Tools
    OpenSSH primarily operates via command-line interface (CLI), which may not be as user-friendly as graphical user interface (GUI) tools for some users.
  • Compatibility Issues
    While OpenSSH is highly portable, there can be compatibility issues with certain legacy systems or non-standard SSH implementations.

SFTPGo features and specs

  • Security
    SFTPGo provides secure file transfer capabilities by supporting SFTP, FTP/S, and WebDAV protocols, which are well-known for their ability to facilitate encrypted data exchange.
  • Flexibility
    It offers a range of storage backends, including local filesystem, S3-compatible storage, and Google Cloud Storage, allowing users to integrate it with various storage solutions.
  • User Management
    SFTPGo comes with a rich set of user management features, such as virtual folders, per-user permissions, and fine-grained controls over access and bandwidth, simplifying administration tasks.
  • Event-driven Automation
    The software supports event-driven task automation and notification through hooks and triggers, providing customization for workflows and system integration.
  • Web-based Interface
    SFTPGo includes a web-based management interface, which allows administrators to manage users, monitor activity, and configure the server without requiring command-line expertise.

Possible disadvantages of SFTPGo

  • Complexity of Configuration
    Due to its extensive configuration options and features, beginners might find the setup process complex and require time to fully understand and implement all functionalities.
  • Performance Overhead
    For deployments that do not require extensive security features, the overhead associated with encrypted protocols and additional settings might affect performance.
  • Community Support
    As an open-source project, while it has an active community, users might not have access to the same level of dedicated support compared to commercial alternatives.
  • Documentation Depth
    Although documentation is available, some users may find it lacking in detail for advanced configurations, requiring additional time for experimentation and community engagement.
  • Resource Use
    Depending on the scale of deployment and usage, SFTPGo may be resource-intensive, requiring careful planning to ensure hardware and associated infrastructure can handle the load efficiently.

OpenSSH videos

Ubuntu Server 18.04 Administration Guide Part 02 - Securing OpenSSH

More videos:

  • Review - Linux Commands for Beginners 22 - Remote Management with OpenSSH

SFTPGo videos

SSHFS and SFTPGo

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to OpenSSH and SFTPGo)
SSH
93 93%
7% 7
FTP Client
0 0%
100% 100
Server Management
100 100%
0% 0
File Transfer
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare OpenSSH and SFTPGo

OpenSSH Reviews

Top 10 Best MobaXterm Alternatives for Windows, macOS & Linux In 2021
OpenSSH is a safe and secure alternative to tools like MobaXterm (for which the password flows in clear on the network), however it is much more than that considering that it likewise permits to release remote commands (like rsh, or remsh), but also to transfer whole files or directories (like rcp). OpenSSH is available in the form of a daemon and a customer, the daemon...
30 best PuTTY alternatives for SSH clients for 2020
OpenSSH is a widely-used open source free emulator for Windows, Mac OS, Linux, and iOS. It is protected by SSH and incorporates SCP and SFTP for file transfers.

SFTPGo Reviews

We have no reviews of SFTPGo yet.
Be the first one to post

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, SFTPGo seems to be a lot more popular than OpenSSH. While we know about 21 links to SFTPGo, we've tracked only 1 mention of OpenSSH. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

OpenSSH mentions (1)

  • is ssh (OpenSSH) impacted by CVE-2022-3786 and CVE-2022-3602
    I haven't found a clear answer to this. After checking openssh.com I haven't found any mention. Source: almost 3 years ago

SFTPGo mentions (21)

  • What you guys are hosting instead of Nextcloud? I'm sick of it.
    EDIT: Thanks for the recommendations from all of you!! I've chose to use the below: - Files: sftpgo - Calendar: baikal - Notes: memos (But beware, it sends opt-out telemetry) - Network folder: webdav on sftpgo. Source: almost 2 years ago
  • HashiCorp Did It Backwards
    > Even these projects have gotten to a level of sophistication that it would implode without big tech support. The worst thing is that all this FAANG or VC backed companies make a lot of people believe that they are the only viable way. > Why do you think you don't see any interesting oss tech from hobbyists is these days? Actually not true, just an example, - Source: Hacker News / about 2 years ago
  • Running an FTP server WITHOUT admin priveleges
    This is possible using SFTPGo. The default Windows installer register SFTPGo as a Windows service. You can download the portable version and run it manually or install SFTPGo from the Scoop packages. You can use the built-in SFTPGo virtual permissions to only allow uploads. SFTPGo uses virtual users, no system users are required. Source: about 2 years ago
  • Was the move to AES 256 really necessary?
    Basically it's a file storage managed over HTTPS. Nextcloud is pretty heavy, that's the reason why I using just a single statically compiled cross-platform binary SFTPgo. Source: over 2 years ago
  • Simple read only ftp server
    Using SFTPGo you can easily configure read-only accounts. SFTPGo uses virtual users and virtual permissions. So you don't need to create system users for your SFTPGo users and you don't need to use chmod to make folders read-only (but the system user that SFTPGo runs as needs file system level permission to access the files/folders you want to share). Source: over 2 years ago
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What are some alternatives?

When comparing OpenSSH and SFTPGo, you can also consider the following products

Symantec Data Loss Prevention - Fully protect your data with the comprehensive detection technologies and unified policies of Symantec's industry leading Data Loss Prevention (DLP).

FileZilla Server - Download FileZilla Server 0.9.60.2 for Windows

Microsoft BitLocker - BitLocker is a full disk encryption feature included with Windows Vista and later.

ProFTPD - The Official ProFTPD web site. ProFTPD is a high-performance, extremely configurable, and most of all a secure FTP server, featuring Apache-like configuration and blazing performance.

PuTTY - Popular free terminal application. Mostly used as an SSH client.

vsftpd - Very secure FTP Daemon, a secure, fast FTP server for UNIX systems, including Linux.