At a glance
ForkLift's column comes from BinaryNights' own pages: binarynights.com (home page, store, manual, support and version history) and its release notes, checked November 4, 2026, when ForkLift 4.7.7 was current.
| AnyBucket | ForkLift 4 | |
|---|---|---|
| SFTP, FTP, FTPS, WebDAV, Amazon S3 | ✓ | ✓ |
| S3-compatible stores by endpoint | ✓ | ✓ |
Reads your ~/.ssh/config, jump hosts |
✓ | ✓ |
| Two panes side by side | ✓ | ✓ |
| Copy from one server to another | ✓ | ✓ |
| Copies on the server itself when both sides share it | ✓ | Not described |
| Commander keys: F5 copies, F6 moves | ✓ | Not described |
| Automatic retry on a fresh connection | ✓ | Not described |
| The queue picks up again after quitting | ✓ | Not described |
| Checksums verified after transfers | ✓ | Not described |
| Sync both ways | ✓ | ✓ |
| Notifications when transfers finish | ✓ | Not described |
| Price | $9.99 once, for two Macs | $19.95 with one year of updates |
The full comparison has every row, with Cyberduck, Transmit, Commander One, FileZilla and the Finder too.
Price
AnyBucket costs $9.99, once. One license covers two Macs, and there's no account to create.
ForkLift 4 is a lifetime license with a fixed period of free updates: $19.95 for one user with one year of updates, or $34.95 for one user with two years. Family licenses for all the Macs in a household cost $29.95 or $49.95, and Small Business licenses for up to five Macs $69.95 or $119.95. After the update period, you keep using the latest version your license covers.
Copies that stay on the server
Both apps connect to several servers at once and copy between them. AnyBucket also notices when both panes are on the same server and runs the copy there: S3 CopyObject, WebDAV COPY, and cp over SSH when the SFTP account has a shell. Nothing comes down to your Mac. Between two different servers, files stream through a small, bounded spool on your Mac. Moves copy, verify, then delete. See server to server.
The keyboard
ForkLift has Quick Open and customizable shortcuts. AnyBucket uses the keys of the two-pane commanders: F5 copies, F6 moves, F2 renames, F3 opens Quick Look, F4 edits, F7 makes a folder and F8 deletes. Space marks, ⇥ switches panes and + marks by pattern. ⌘K goes to bookmarks, recent folders, open tabs or a pasted server address, and ⌘G copies the marked files anywhere you pick. See all shortcuts.
Transfers that finish
ForkLift's queue can be reordered, with conflict rules and bandwidth limits. AnyBucket's queue retries transient failures by itself on a fresh connection, after 1, 3 and 8 seconds. It's saved as it runs, so quitting the app or a restart doesn't lose it: interrupted transfers come back at the next launch. Checksums are verified where the protocol allows, and a notification tells you when a batch is done. See the transfer queue.
Both apps sync two folders either way or both ways. AnyBucket's Compare & Sync lists every file with its action, and you can change any row before anything moves.
SSH
ForkLift moved its SFTP to OpenSSH in 4.2.6 and respects your ~/.ssh/config, ProxyJump included. AnyBucket runs the ssh that comes with macOS in the same spirit: whatever works with ssh user@host in Terminal works in AnyBucket, with your keys, agent, config and security keys. See SSH keys and jump hosts.
Where ForkLift shines
ForkLift is a full Finder replacement that can be your default file viewer. It also connects to SMB, AFP and NFS shares, and comes with tools such as Multi Rename and App Deleter.
Switching to AnyBucket
- In AnyBucket, press ⇧⌘K for each server, or paste its address into the palette (⌘K) and press ⌥↩ to save it as a bookmark.
- SFTP hosts in your
~/.ssh/configwork as they are. - Save the tabs you use every day as a workspace with ⌥⌘S.
AnyBucket sits happily beside Finder or ForkLift: drag files in and out of its panes. You can try it live first.
