For new projects, always prioritize FluentFTP via NuGet to ensure security and long-term compatibility.
FluentFTP is a fully managed, open-source library that supports FTP, FTPS, and massive file transfers with simplified syntax. dotnet add package FluentFTP Use code with caution. Code Example: Simple File Download c# ftpclient download file
FluentFTP provides built-in methods for complex tasks that would require hundreds of lines of code using legacy methods: For new projects, always prioritize FluentFTP via NuGet
FtpWebRequest request = (FtpWebRequest)WebRequest.Create("ftp://://example.com"); request.Method = WebRequestMethods.Ftp.DownloadFile; request.Credentials = new NetworkCredential("user", "pass"); using (FtpWebResponse response = (FtpWebResponse)request.GetResponse()) using (Stream responseStream = response.GetResponseStream()) using (FileStream fileStream = new FileStream("test.txt", FileMode.Create)) { responseStream.CopyTo(fileStream); // Transfers stream content to local file } Use code with caution. 4. Summary: Choosing Your Method FluentFTP (Recommended) FtpWebRequest (Legacy) All (.NET Framework, Core, 5/6/7/8+) Primarily .NET Framework Security Supports latest TLS 1.3 Limited/Outdated security Simplicity One-line DownloadFile() Manual stream management required Performance High (Internal optimization/buffering) Standard stream performance Use DownloadFiles() to pull an entire list of
Use FtpLocalExists.Append to resume a partial download by comparing local and remote file sizes.
Use DownloadFiles() to pull an entire list of files or a whole directory structure.
If you are maintaining an older .NET Framework project, you might still encounter FtpWebRequest . Note that this approach is in modern .NET 6+ environments. Legacy Code Example: