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

Pick ForkLift if

• Fits if your files live on servers and cloud drives as much as on your Mac
• Works for web builders who want SFTP and S3 inside the file manager

Look elsewhere if

• Skip it if you're on Windows or Linux, as it's macOS only, and 4.4 or later needs macOS 14.6
• Not for you if you expect updates for life, since a license covers 1 or 2 years and later versions run in trial mode
• Pricey if it's for the office, because the Single user license is personal use only and Small Business starts at $69.95
• Watch out: Dropbox Smart Sync isn't supported, and the vendor says no API is available for it

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

ForkLift

• macOS only. ForkLift 4.4 and later require macOS 14.6; earlier ForkLift 4 versions need macOS 12.4 or later.
• A license includes updates for 1 or 2 years. Later versions run in trial mode until a new license is bought, though covered versions keep working.
• The Single user license is for personal use; office use on up to 5 Macs needs the Small Business license, from $69.95.
• Dropbox Smart Sync is not supported; the vendor says no API is available for it.

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.

ForkLift

Two panes, tabs and workspaces

Shows two file panes side by side with tabs in each, and Workspaces save a layout of open tabs and locations to load again later.

Remote connections

Connects to SFTP, FTP, WebDAV, Amazon S3, Backblaze B2, Google Drive, OneDrive, Dropbox, SMB, AFP and NFS, with several servers open at once and drag and drop between them.

Folder sync

Compares a local or remote source and target folder to find matching, modified, new and deleted files, then synchronizes them one-way or two-way. A sync can be saved as a favorite.

Preview and remote editing

A preview panel plays audio and video and shows images and PDFs. Text files can be edited in place, and remote files open in your preferred editor and upload on save.

Archive management

Browses local and remote archives as if they were ordinary folders, including Quick Look, search and filter.

Git, Terminal and command line tools

Shows the git status of files with add, commit, push and pull, opens a Terminal, iTerm, Warp or Ghostty window at the current path, and runs command line tools by shortcut.

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.

ForkLift

• Single user (1 year of updates)$19.95

  one-time purchase, lifetime license

  For personal use on your Mac. Versions released during the year of updates can be used indefinitely.

• Family (1 year of updates)$29.95

  one-time purchase, lifetime license

  Install on all Macs in your household, with one year of free updates.

• Single user (2 years of updates)$34.95

  one-time purchase, lifetime license

  The personal license with two years of free updates in place of one.

• Family (2 years of updates)$49.95

  one-time purchase, lifetime license

  Install on all Macs in your household, with two years of free updates.

• Small Business (1 year of updates)$69.95

  one-time purchase, lifetime license

  Install on up to 5 Macs in the office, with one year of free updates.

• Small Business (2 years of updates)$119.95

  one-time purchase, lifetime license

  Install on up to 5 Macs in the office, with two years of free updates.

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.

ForkLift

• Lifetime license

  Lifetime license with 1 or 2 years of updates

  Every license is a lifetime license: the versions released during its 1- or 2-year update period can be used indefinitely, for as long as they stay compatible with your macOS.

• Education

  Educational discount on request

  Students, teachers and lecturers can ask for an educational discount by emailing support from an educational address or with proof of eligibility. The amount is not published.

• Other savings

  100 bonus days for existing customers

  Owners of an earlier ForkLift license get 100 extra days of free updates on a new license when they enter their old key in the store.

• Other savings

  Second year of updates at a lower price

  A Single user license with 2 years of updates costs $34.95, against $39.90 for two licenses with 1 year each.

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.