BucketPilot vs Cyberduck
A free desktop transfer client vs a browser-based storage management platform — different tools for different jobs.
The short version
Cyberduck is a much-loved free, open-source desktop client (macOS/Windows) that speaks S3, SFTP, Azure, GCS and more — great for browsing and hand-driven transfers from your own machine. BucketPilot is a browser-based platform: jobs run on servers on a schedule whether your laptop is open or not, objects are indexed for search, and a team shares one console with roles. The honest framing: Cyberduck is a client, BucketPilot is a service.
Side by side
| Cyberduck | BucketPilot | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free (donation-ware) | Paid plans (14-day trial) |
| Runs | On your desktop | In the browser; jobs on managed workers |
| Protocols | S3, SFTP, FTP, Azure, GCS, WebDAV, more | S3, R2, GCS buckets; SFTP & Azure as migration sources |
| Scheduled backups | No (manual transfers) | Hourly/daily/weekly incremental jobs |
| Search | Browse folders | Indexed search across millions of objects |
| Team | Per-person installs & credentials | Shared workspace, roles, audit log |
| Transfers survive laptop sleep | No | Yes — server-side |
Which should you use?
Use Cyberduck for free, occasional, hands-on file work from your own machine — it's excellent at that, and its protocol range is wider than BucketPilot's.
Use BucketPilot when transfers need to happen on a schedule without a human, when several people need governed access to the same buckets, or when finding objects matters as much as moving them. Many teams keep both: Cyberduck for ad-hoc personal use, BucketPilot for the shared, automated layer.