File sharing File sharing is the practice of distributing or providing access to digital media, such as computer programs, multimedia (audio, images and video), documents or electronic books. Common methods of storage, transmission and dispersion include r ...

is a method of distributing electronically stored information such as

computer program A computer program is a sequence or set of instructions in a programming language for a computer to execute. Computer programs are one component of software, which also includes documentation and other intangible components. A computer progra ...

s and digital media. Below is a list of file sharing applications, most of them make use of

peer-to-peer file sharing Peer-to-peer file sharing is the distribution and sharing of digital media using peer-to-peer (P2P) networking technology. P2P file sharing allows users to access media files such as books, music, movies, and games using a P2P software program th ...

technologies. This comparison contains also

download manager A download manager is a software tool that manages the download, downloading of computer file, files from the Internet, which may be built: into a Web browser, or as a, usually more sophisticated Application software, program. Data transmission ...

s that can be used as file sharing applications. For pure download managers see the

comparison of download managers Comparison or comparing is the act of evaluating two or more things by determining the relevant, comparable characteristics of each thing, and then determining which characteristics of each are similar to the other, which are different, and t ...

, and for BitTorrent-only clients the

comparison of BitTorrent clients The following is a general comparison of BitTorrent clients, which are computer programs designed for peer-to-peer file sharing using the BitTorrent protocol. The BitTorrent protocol coordinates segmented file transfer among peers connected i ...

Table

* Note that several applications had

adware Adware, often called advertising-supported software by its developers, is software that generates revenue for its developer by automatically generating online advertisements in the user interface of the software or on a screen presented to the ...

spyware Spyware (a portmanteau for spying software) is software with malicious behaviour that aims to gather information about a person or organization and send it to another entity in a way that harms the user—for example, by violating their privac ...

tied in during the past and may have it again in the future. The same goes for

forks In cutlery or kitchenware, a fork (from la, furca 'pitchfork') is a utensil, now usually made of metal, whose long handle terminates in a head that branches into several narrow and often slightly curved tines with which one can spear foods eit ...

of open source apps, e.g.

eMule eMule is a free peer-to-peer file sharing application for Microsoft Windows. Started in May 2002 as an alternative to eDonkey2000, eMule now connects to both the eDonkey network and the Kad network. The distinguishing features of eMule are ...

. This list attempts to display the current status only. * No longer available from their websites: Acquisition, Audiogalaxy,

Bearshare BearShare was a peer-to-peer-file-sharing-application originally created by Free Peers, Inc. for Microsoft Windows and also a rebranded version of iMesh by MusicLab, LLC, tightly integrated with their music subscription service. History The pr ...

Bitblinder Bitblinder was an open source software program that allows users to share bandwidth and IP addresses in order to anonymously download torrents and browse the internet. It was first released in June 2009. under an MIT open-source license. It was ...

, CuteMX,

edonkey2000 eDonkey2000 (nicknamed "ed2k") was a peer-to-peer file sharing application developed by US company MetaMachine ( Jed McCaleb and Sam Yagan), using the Multisource File Transfer Protocol. This client supports both the eDonkey2000 network and t ...

Grokster Grokster Ltd. was a privately owned software company based in Nevis, West Indies that created the Grokster peer-to-peer file-sharing client in 2001 that used the FastTrack protocol. Grokster Ltd. was rendered extinct in late 2005 by the United S ...

iMesh iMesh was a media and file sharing client that was available in nine languages. It used a proprietary, centralized, P2P network (IM2Net) operating on ports 80, 443 and 1863. iMesh was owned by American company iMesh, Inc., who maintained dev ...

, Kazaa, Kazaa Lite,

Limewire LimeWire was a free peer-to-peer file sharing client for Windows, MacOS, Linux and Solaris. Created by Mark Gorton in 2000, it was most prominently a tool used for the download and distribution of pirated materials, particularly pirated musi ...

Manolito Manolito may refer to: *Manuel "Manolito" Goreiro, character in the '' Mafalda'' universe *Manolito Gafotas, star of children's books by Spanish author Elvira Lindo *Manolito Montoya, a character on the US TV series '' The High Chaparral'' *Manoli ...

Morpheus Morpheus ('Fashioner', derived from the grc, μορφή meaning 'form, shape') is a god associated with sleep and dreams. In Ovid's ''Metamorphoses'' he is the son of Somnus and appears in dreams in human form. From the Middle Ages, the name ...

Napster Napster was a peer-to-peer file sharing application. It originally launched on June 1, 1999, with an emphasis on digital audio file distribution. Audio songs shared on the service were typically encoded in the MP3 format. It was founded by Sh ...

, Pando and Scour Exchange *

Opera web browser Opera is a multi-platform web browser developed by its namesake company Opera. The browser is based on Chromium, but distinguishes itself from other Chromium-based browsers (Chrome, Edge, etc.) through its user interface and other features. ...

no longer includes P2P functionality.

Notes

{{File sharing protocols File sharing applications File sharing software

Table

See also

Other comparisons

Notes