Buckets vs Transmit 5 for Amazon S3 on the Mac (2026)

Verified 13 Oct 2026. This page is written by the team that makes Buckets. We have tried to be fair. Check panic.com/transmit for current pricing and features. If something here is out of date, email buckets@serverlesscreed.com.

Transmit 5 by Panic is a polished Mac file-transfer app that many people have used for years and are happy with. It connects to many kinds of servers and cloud storage, including Amazon S3. Buckets does one job: it is a desktop console for Amazon S3, CloudFront and S3-compatible storage.

At a glance

	Buckets	Transmit 5
Price	14-day trial, then $5/month, $49/year, $99 lifetime, or Team at $49/seat/year (3-seat minimum)	$45
Platforms	macOS (Apple silicon), Windows (x64), and Linux (x64, arm64)	macOS
Scope	Amazon S3, S3-compatible storage, and CloudFront	Many protocols and cloud services, including S3
AWS sign-in	IAM Identity Center (SSO) with automatic token refresh, saved profiles, AssumeRole, the AWS CLI browser login, and a multi-account dashboard	See Panic's documentation
S3 administration	Bucket policies and an IAM policy generator, lifecycle, Object Lock, replication, Batch Operations, Storage Lens, and IaC export	See Panic's documentation
CloudFront	Distributions, invalidations with a cost preview, Origin Access Control, signed URLs and cookies, CloudFront Functions, and folder-to-site publishing	See Panic's documentation
Cost visibility	Cost preview before billable operations, Cost Explorer, storage-class analysis	See Panic's documentation

Choose Transmit if…

• You move files between many kinds of servers, not just S3. Buckets has no FTP support, and it can only mount SFTP, WebDAV and FTPS servers as a folder through rclone, not browse them in the app.
• You want the most Mac-native feel. Transmit is a long-standing Mac app with a devoted following.
• You want a single low one-time price and your S3 use is mostly uploading and downloading.
• You have an Intel Mac. Buckets currently ships for Apple silicon only.

Choose Buckets if…

• S3 is your job, not just a destination. Buckets covers policies, lifecycle rules, Object Lock and retention, replication, Batch Operations, a security and PII scanner, Time Travel recovery from object versions, and IaC export to CDK, CloudFormation, SAM, or Terraform.
• You work across many AWS accounts with IAM Identity Center and want sessions that refresh themselves.
• You run websites or downloads behind CloudFront. You can publish a local folder to a private bucket with Origin Access Control and targeted invalidations. You can also sign URLs and cookies, and test and publish CloudFront Functions.
• Your team isn't all on Macs. The same license covers Windows and Linux; each seat includes 2 machines.
• You want a lifetime option without a subscription. Buckets' Lifetime license is $99 one-time, with future updates included.

Privacy

The Buckets desktop app has no analytics or crash-reporting SDK. AWS requests go directly from your computer to AWS. Our Trust Center lists every network connection the app makes.

Sources

• Transmit 5 by Panic, checked 13 Oct 2026
• Buckets facts: pricing, documentation, Trust Center

Download the 14-day trial and try both on the bucket you use every day.