Comparison of file sharing applications

File sharing is a method of distributing electronically stored information such as computer programs and digital media. Below is a list of file sharing applications, most of them make use of peer-to-peer file sharing technologies.

This comparison contains next to file sharing applications also download managers that can be used as file sharing applications (using the torrent-protocol). For pure download managers see the Comparison of download managers.

Note: BitTorrent-only clients have another comparison page (linked in section "Others comparison pages").

Table

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Name	Network[1]	Anonymous P2P	Link system compatibility	Price	Platform	License	Programming language	Free Spyware-Adware	Latest release version	Extra information
Acquisition	Gnutella, BitTorrent	No	magnet	Nagware or US$17.99	macOS	GPL	Objective-C, Java	Yes	2010, 2.2 (v223) (November 19, 2010) [±]	Alternative to LimeWire for Mac users; uses Cocoa GUI
aMule	eDonkey, Kad	No	eD2k, magnet	Free	GNU, macOS, Windows	GPL	C++	Yes	2011, 2.3.2 (September 16, 2016[2]) [±]
ANts P2P	ANts	Yes	ed2k	Free	GNU, macOS, Windows	GPL	Java	Yes	2010	File sharing and HTTP publishing.
Ares Galaxy	Ares, BitTorrent	No	arlnk	Free	Windows	GPL	Object Pascal (Delphi)	Yes	2014, 2.4.2 (August 24, 2016 [3]) [±]
BearShare (pre v6.0)	Gnutella	No	ed2k, magnet	Free or US$3.29 monthly	Windows	Proprietary	C++	No	2013, 10.0.0.131462 (January 29, 2013) [±]	Since version 6: clone of the commercial iMesh software; does not connect to Gnutella and restricts downloads to media formats
BitComet	BitTorrent, eDonkey, Kad;[4] HTTP/FTP download	No	ed2k,[4] magnet	Free	Windows	Proprietary	C++	Yes	2015, 1.44 (November 11, 2016) [±][5]	Exploits SuperSeeding and thus is often banned by trackers and peers. Compatible with e2DK links through an eMule plugin which gives access to eDonkey and Kad networks and cross-network sharing abilities with BitTorrent network.
broolz[6]	Direct Connect	No	No	Free or US$59.95	Windows, macOS, GNU	Proprietary	Java	Yes	2011	Internal p2p protocols that allow only secondary users authorised by primary user to share.
Cabos	Gnutella	No	magnet	Free	macOS, Windows	GPL	Java, REALbasic	Yes	2010, 0.8.2 (February 9, 2010) [±]
Calypso	MUTE	Yes	No	Donation	GNU, Windows	GPL	C++, Qt	Yes	2010	Prior name: Kommute
Datawire	P2P Private Networking (chat supported)	Yes	No	Free	Windows, GNU, macOS	Proprietary	Java	Yes	2011
DC++	Direct Connect	No	magnet	Free	Windows	GPL	C++	Yes	2015, 0.851 April 6, 2015	Many modifications exist, for example LinuxDC++
eDonkey2000	eDonkey, Overnet	No	ed2k	Free or US$19.95	GNU, macOS, Windows	Proprietary	C++	Yes	2005	Discontinued
eMule	eDonkey, Kad	No	ed2k	Free	Windows	GPL	C++	Yes	2010, 0.50a (April 7, 2010[7]) [±]	Supports protocol obfuscation
ExoSee	?	No	No	Free	Windows	Proprietary	?	Yes	2007	ExoSee appears to have no business model.
Filetopia	Filetopia	No (except when using a bouncer)	No	Free	Windows	Proprietary	Delphi	No	2002
Flashget	BitTorrent, eDonkey; HTTP/FTP download	?	?	?	Windows	Proprietary	?	?	2012
Free Download Manager	BitTorrent; HTTP/FTP download	No	metalink	Free	Windows	GPL	C++	Yes	2015, 5.1.17 (build 4597) (August 23, 2016) [±][8]
Freenet's FProxy	Freenet	Yes	No	Free	GNU, macOS, Windows	GPL	Java	Yes	2014, 0.7.5 (Build 1465) (August 9, 2014) [±][9]
Frost	Freenet	Yes	No	Free	GNU, macOS, Windows	GPL	Java	Yes	2011
FrostWire	BitTorrent	No	magnet	Free	GNU, macOS, Windows	GPL	Java	Yes	2015, 6.3.6 (September 8, 2016) [±]	Fork of LimeWire, with no copyrighted-material blocker planned.
GetRight	BitTorrent; HTTP/FTP download	?	?	?	Windows	?	?	?	2011
giFT	OpenFT and, with plugins, Ares, Gnutella, FastTrack	No	No	Free	GNU, macOS, Windows	GPL	C	Yes	2004, 0.11.8.1 (2004-11-27) [±]
Gnucleus	Gnutella, Gnutella2	No	No	Free	Windows	GPL	C++	Yes	2005, 2.2.0.0 (June 17, 2005) [±]
GNUnet	GNUnet	Yes	ECRS	Free	GNU, macOS, Windows	GPL	C	Yes	2014, 0.10.1 (April 8, 2014[10]) [±]
gtk-gnutella	Gnutella	No	magnet	Free	GNU, Windows	GPL	C	Yes	2015, 1.1.11 (November 11, 2016) [±]
iMesh (pre v6.0)	FastTrack, Gnutella, Gnutella2	No	No	Free	Windows	Proprietary	C++	Yes	2008
I2Phex	I2P (protocol Gnutella)	Yes	magnet	Free	GNU, macOS, Windows	GPL	Java	Yes	2011	Need I2P to run.
I2PSnark[11]	I2P (protocol BitTorrent)	Yes	magnet	Free	GNU, macOS, Windows	GPL	Java	Yes	2014	Integrated into I2P distribution.
iMule	I2P (protocol Kad network)	Yes	ed2k, magnet	Free	GNU, macOS, Windows	GPL	C++	Yes	2013, 2.3.3.2 (May 1, 2016) [±]	needs I2P to run
Infinit	Infinit	No	No	Free	macOS, Windows	Proprietary	C++	Yes	2014	Unlimited and encrypted peer to peer file sharing application with pause and resume.
Jumpshare	Jumpshare	No	No	Free or US$9.99/month	Windows, macOS	Proprietary	Various	Yes	2015	Real-time file sharing with built-in utilities for screenshots, screencasts, notes, and voice clips
Kazaa	FastTrack	No	No	Free	Windows	Proprietary	C++	adware & spyware	2006	Illegal in Australia.
Kazaa Lite	FastTrack	No	No	Free	Windows	Proprietary	?	Yes	2007	Adware-disabled version of Kazaa (fake versions in circulation)
KCeasy	Ares, Gnutella, FastTrack, OpenFT	No	No	Free	Windows	GPL	C++, Object Pascal (Delphi)	Yes	2008	Uses integrated giFT file sharing daemon as back-end.
KGet	BitTorrent; HTTP/FTP download	?	?	Free	part of KDE on Windows	GPL	?	?	2012	?
LimeWire	Gnutella, BitTorrent	No	magnet	Free or US$18.88	GNU, macOS, Windows	GPL	Java	No	2010	Shutdown permanently due to injunction from MGM v. Grokster in which Limewire was ordered to disable all functionality of the software.[12]
Manolito	MP2P	No	MP2P	Free or US$19.95	Windows	Proprietary	?	No	2008
MLDonkey	BitTorrent, eDonkey, FastTrack, (Gnutella, Gnutella2), Kad; HTTP/FTP download	No	ed2k, magnet, sig2dat	Free	GNU, macOS, Windows	GPL	OCaml	Yes	2014, 3.1.5 (March 22, 2014[13]) [±]	P2P application, telnet / web-interface / GUI interface, complete and complex remote usage. Sancho GUI makes automatic SSH tunnels.
Morpheus	NEOnet, Gnutella, Gnutella2, BitTorrent	No	No	Free or US$19.95	Windows	Proprietary	?	Yes	2007, 5.55.1 (November 15, 2007) [±]
MUTE	MUTE	Yes	No	Donation	GNU, macOS, Windows	GPL	C++	Yes	2007
Nachtblitz[14]	I2P (protocol Kad network)	Yes	ed2k, magnet	Free	Windows, GNU with Wine	GPL	.NET Framework	Yes	2015	needs I2P to run
Net Transport[15]	BitTorrent, eMule; HTTP/FTP download	?	?	US$29,95	Windows, macOS	Proprietary	?	?	2015	?
Nodezilla	Private	Yes	No	Free	GNU, Windows	core proprietary, GUI GPL	Java	Yes	2010	Most is proprietary, GUI is GPL.
Opera	BitTorrent; HTTP/FTP download	No	No	Free	GNU, macOS, Windows	Proprietary	C++	Yes	2015, 41.0.2353.69 (November 23, 2016[16]) [±]
Perfect Dark	Perfect Dark	Yes	No	Free	Windows	Proprietary	?	Yes	2014	Boards. Auto update.
Piolet[17]	MP2P	No	MP2P	Free or US$19.95	Windows	Proprietary	?	No	2008
Retroshare	Retroshare	Yes	Own format	Free	Windows, GNU, macOS	GPL	C++	Yes	2015, 0.6.0 beta	Uses PGP for friend authentication. Decentralized F2F network type.
RShare	RShare	Yes	No	Free	Windows	GPL	C#	Yes	2007	eMule-like usability
Robert	I2P (protocol BitTorrent)	Yes	magnet	Free	GNU, macOS, Windows	GPL	Python	Yes	2012	needs I2P to run
Share	Share	Yes	No	Free	Windows	Proprietary	Object Pascal (Delphi)	Yes	2006	Anonymous developer; tries to be Winny successor
Shareaza	eDonkey, BitTorrent, Gnutella, Gnutella2, Direct Connect; HTTP/FTP download	No	ed2k, magnet, Piolet/MP2P, gnutella	Free	Windows	GPL	C++	Yes	2015, 2.7.9.0 (October 6, 2015[18]) [±]	Uses a powerful files library; maintained by volunteer group
Sharing Max	Sharing Max	No	Yes	Free	Windows	Proprietary	Visual Basic	No	2012[19]
SoMud[20]	BitTorrent	No	magnet uri, meta link	Free	Windows, macOS	Proprietary	C++	Yes	2013	Search and download P2P and web video networks such as YouTube and Yahoovideo etc.
StealthNet	RShare	Yes	No	Free	GNU, macOS, Windows	GPL	C#	Yes	2011	Evolution of the RShare client with many functions.
Soulseek	Soulseek	No	No	Free, donations for privileges	Windows	Proprietary	?	Yes	2015, SoulseekQt build 2016.4.24 (April 24, 2016) [±]	Folder downloads, browse users with folder trees, no multi-source downloads
Thaw	Freenet	Yes	No	Free	GNU, macOS, Windows	GPL	Java	Yes	2008
Tribler	BitTorrent and its own	Yes	magnet	Free	Windows, GNU, macOS	GNU LGPL v2.1+[21]	Python, C++	Yes	2015, 6.5.2 (May 13, 2016) [±][22]	Unlike most other torrent clients, Tribler is decentralized (as well as anonymous) and does not rely on any trackers or any other indexing service to discover content.[23] Also features a built-in video streamer.
TrustyFiles[24]	eDonkey, Overnet, Gnutella, Gnutella2, FastTrack, BitTorrent	No	ed2k	Free or US$29	Windows	Proprietary	?	adware & spyware	2007[25]	Has code stolen from Gnucleus, giFT, and avlib;[26] GNU version announced, but never released; takeover similar to the Shareaza.com and Lphant issues is likely to have happened
uGet	BitTorrent; HTTP/FTP download	?	magnet, metalink	Free	GNU, Windows, Android	LGPL	C, GTK+	Yes	2014	uGet 2.0 is currently in Beta Development (as of 9 September 2014) and available for testing via uGetdm.com
Vuze (formerly Azureus)	BitTorrent and I2P	No (except when using I2P)	magnet	Free	GNU, macOS, Windows	GPL	Java	No	2015, 5.7.3.0 (August 9, 2016) [±][27]
Warez P2P	iP2P DHT	No	No	Free or US$19.99	Windows	Proprietary	?	Yes	2007	Developer claims Warez v3.0 beta is malware-free
WinMX	WinMX Peer Network (independent, now user-operated), OpenNAP, chatrooms supported	No	No	Free	Windows	Proprietary	C++	Yes	2004	Official development has ceased due to RIAA coercion. Versions 3.53, 3.54 beta 4 and older are available from 3rd parties.
Winny	Winny	Yes	No	Free	Windows	Proprietary	C++	Yes	2003
Wuala	Wuala	No	No	Free	GNU, macOS, Windows	Proprietary	Java	Yes	2009
YobiDrive FLOWS	YobiDrive	No	No	Free	GNU, macOS, Windows	Proprietary	Java	Yes	2013
Name	Network	Anonymous P2P	Link system compatibility	Price	Platform	License	Programming language	Free Spyware-Adware	Last release year	Extra information

• Note that several applications had adware or spyware tied in in the past and may have it again in the future. The same goes for forks of open source apps, e.g. eMule. This list attempts to display the current status only.

Others comparison pages

• Comparison of Advanced Direct Connect software
• Comparison of BitTorrent software
• Comparison of eDonkey software
• Comparison of G2 software
• Comparison of gnutella software
• Comparison of download managers

File sharing web applications

A web application, unlike a software, does not need to be installed on the computer.

Name	License	Programming language	Latest release version	Extra Information
FileZ	GPL	PHP	2012	https://github.com/FileZ/FileZ
QuickBase	Proprietary	Java	2000	https://quickbase.intuit.com
ZendTo	free	PHP	2015	http://zend.to/

See also

• Anonymous peer-to-peer
• Anontune, a music site by Anonymous
• Disk sharing
• File sharing in Canada
• File sharing timeline
• File-sharing program
• List of filesharing programs for Linux and BSD
• Open Music Model
• Warez

Notes

1. • According to the article Forbes, Top File-Sharing Networks, on 22 June 2005
     • eDonkey had 4,856,554 users
     • FastTrack had 2,548,774 users
     • Gnutella had 1,530,299 users
   • BitTorrent 10 million in March, 2006 according to the Business Week article BitTorrent Goes Hollywood
2. "Download", aMule team, sourceforge.net, 2011-11-12, retrieved 2016-06-16
3. "Ares Galaxy at SourceForge.net". AresGalaxy].SourceForge.net.
4. Compatibility with eDonkey and Kad networks is done via a modded eMule plugin also developed by the Comet team
5. "BitComet Client Release Notes - A free C++ BitTorrent/HTTP/FTP Download Client". www.bitcomet.com. 2010-08-31. Retrieved 2016-11-14.
6. "broolz - your cloud your way; File Sharing, File Synchronization, File Backup, File Recovery & Enterprise Collaboration Tools". Web.archive.org. 2012-02-25. Archived from the original on February 25, 2012. Retrieved 2013-10-25.
7. "The eMule Project at SourceForge.net". eMule.SourceForge.net. 2010-04-07. Retrieved 2010-07-11.
8. "Free Download Manager". Files. Free Download Manager.org. Retrieved 25 August 2016.
9. https://freenetproject.org/news.html#build01465
10. Grothoff, Christian (2013-12-24). "GNUnet 0.10.0 released" (Mailing list). info-gnunet. Retrieved 2013-12-25.
11. "Untraceable: How to Seed Torrents Anonymously Using I2PSnark « Torrent". Torrent.wonderhowto.com. Retrieved 2013-10-25.
12. Judge Wood (26 October 2010). "Limewire Permanent Injunction" (PDF). Retrieved 17 March 2012.
13. "MLDonkey at SourceForge.net". SourceForge. 2014-03-22. Retrieved 2014-05-09.
14. http://echelon.i2p/nachtblitz
15. http://www.xi-soft.com/default.htm
16. "Opera Stable 40.0.2308.81 update". 2016-10-04. Retrieved 2016-10-15.
17. Piolet Networks. "Free music downloads, mp3 downloads". Piolet. Retrieved 2013-10-25.
18. "Shareaza download page on sourceforge Web site". SourceForge. Retrieved 2015-10-09.
19. "Download Free Sharing Max, Sharing Max 1.0.0.2 Download". Brothersoft.com. 2012-05-31. Retrieved 2013-10-25.
20. "Features". Somud.com. Retrieved 2013-10-25.
21. tribler/LICENSE.txt at devel · Tribler/tribler, GitHub, retrieved 2014-12-18
22. "Releases".
23. whatIsTribler/2
24. "TrustyFiles Ultimate P2P - Personal File Sharing for MP3 Music, Movies, Games, Photos, and Software". Trustyfiles.com. Retrieved 2013-10-25.
25. From RazorPop:. "TrustyFiles Free - Free download and software reviews - CNET Download.com". Download.cnet.com. Retrieved 2013-10-25.
26. "Gnucleus won't connect - Page 2". Gnutellaforums.com. Retrieved 2013-10-25.
27. "Changelog". Vuze Community. Retrieved 2013-08-24.