ExpanDrive vs Mountain Duck (2026): which should you pick?

Pick ExpanDrive if

• Fits if you want Google Drive, S3 or SFTP showing as a drive on your own machine
• Works for teams of up to 10 who can live on community support

Look elsewhere if

• Skip it if you need Server Edition, the web console or priority support, as those are Business at $29 a month
• Pricey if you're past 10 users: it's $29 a month for each further 10
• Watch out: annual billing is arranged by emailing sales, not chosen on the page
• Not for you if your storage isn't among the 15 services and has no SFTP, FTP or WebDAV endpoint

Pick Mountain Duck if

• Fits if you work on files in S3 or an SFTP server from ordinary desktop apps
• Works for teams who would rather buy licences once than pay a subscription

Look elsewhere if

• Skip it if you run Linux, as only macOS and Windows are listed
• Pricey if you need it for several people: each seat needs its own licence, $49 each
• Watch out: a licence covers one major version, so a version 6 would need an upgrade
• Watch out: the trial length isn't stated on the pages we read
• Not for you if you only want cloud storage in Finder for free, since ExpanDrive's free plan covers that

ExpanDrive

• The free plan covers up to 10 users or devices; past that the Business plan is $29 a month per 10 more.
• Server Edition, the web console and priority support need the Business plan.
• Annual billing is arranged by emailing sales rather than chosen on the page.
• Supports 15 services and protocols, so storage outside that list needs an SFTP, FTP or WebDAV endpoint.

Mountain Duck

• Runs on macOS 13 or later and Windows 10 or later only; no Linux version is listed.
• A licence is valid for one major version, so a future version 6 would need an upgrade purchase.
• The buy page shows the price only after the form loads; it is per seat, so each user needs a licence.
• Free to download as a trial, but the trial length is not stated on the pages we read.

ExpanDrive

Mount any cloud as a drive

Lists Amazon S3, Google Drive, OneDrive, SharePoint, Dropbox, Box, Backblaze B2, Wasabi and more as drives alongside local folders.

Stream on demand

Files are fetched when opened, with local caching, rather than mirrored in full to the disk.

Offline access

Pin the files you need offline and let changes sync back once the connection returns.

FTP, SFTP and WebDAV

Generic protocol endpoints are supported alongside the named cloud services, for servers that are not on a major cloud.

Server Edition

A headless service for Windows Server and Linux that mounts at boot and can re-share a cloud as SMB on Windows.

Command line control

The exfs tool lists, mounts and unmounts drives and installs license keys, so it can be scripted.

Mountain Duck

Integrated connect mode

Version 5 syncs through the File Provider API on macOS and Cloud Files on Windows, so no device driver or network mount is installed.

Smart synchronization

All remote files are listed, and each is downloaded to the local disk only when opened. Chosen folders can be kept offline.

Broad protocol and cloud support

Connects over FTP, SFTP, WebDAV and SMB, and to Amazon S3, Google Storage, Azure, Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive, SharePoint, Box and others.

Cryptomator vaults

Client-side encryption using Cryptomator-compatible vaults, so data at rest is unreadable to the server or cloud provider.

Team features

File locking for Office documents on WebDAV servers, version history on versioned S3 buckets, and custom versioning on the server.

Sharing and search

Create expiring share links from the context menu on supported storage, and search remote files with Spotlight or Windows Search.

ExpanDrive

• Free$0

  All 15 services and protocols, offline caching and Finder or Explorer integration. Up to 10 users or devices.

• Business$29

  per month for up to 10 users, billed monthly

  Adds one Server Edition instance, the web management console, team configuration sharing and priority email support.

• EnterpriseCustom

  Sold through sales. Adds a response SLA under 30 minutes, SAML SSO, audit logs and role-based access controls.

Mountain Duck

• Single user$49

  per user, one-time, for version 5

  Per-seat licence, usable on any number of computers by the same user. Discounted upgrades for later major versions.

• 5 users$193

  for 5 users, one-time, for version 5

  Volume price for five seats, below five single licences. The buy page also offers 10, 20 and 50 users, and a custom quote.

• 10 users$348

  for 10 users, one-time, for version 5

  Volume price for ten seats. Larger teams and white-label deployments are handled as custom quotes.

ExpanDrive

• Annual discount

  Annual billing saves 10 to 15%

  ExpanDrive says annual customers typically save 10 to 15% against the monthly Business rate, arranged through sales.

• Education

  Typically 40% off for academics and nonprofits

  Verified academic institutions and registered non-profits are typically offered 40% off Business plans, requested by email.

Mountain Duck

• Education

  30% academic discount

  Mountain Duck offers a 30% discount coupon for academic use, requested by ticket from an institutional email address.

• Other savings

  30% switcher or Cyberduck discount

  A 30% discount is offered to owners of a Cyberduck key, or of a Transmit Disk, ExpanDrive or NetDrive licence, on request.