WinSCP Supported Transfer Protocols

Since version 3.0, WinSCP supports two secure transfer protocols, SFTP and SCP. Currently, many of the SSH servers support both protocols. Either of them have both advantages and disadvantages. This document contains their comparison to help you to decide which is most appropriate for your needs. The comparison lists either features that are characteristic to the specific protocol as-is, or features that are caused by the implementation of the protocol in WinSCP.

The default mode of operation is to use SFTP and fall back to SCP. Both protocols have advantages and disadvantages.