# Inbound FTPs

Couchdrop acts as an FTP and FTPs server out of the box.

### Introduction to FTP <a href="#introduction-to-sftp" id="introduction-to-sftp"></a>

**File Transfer Protocol (FTP)** is one of the oldest methods of moving files between computers over a network. It uses a client-server model where users connect to an FTP server to upload, download, or manage files.

While simple and widely supported, traditional FTP sends data - including usernames and passwords - in plain text, making it insecure by modern standards.&#x20;

For this reason, secure alternatives such as **FTPS** (FTP over SSL/TLS) or **SFTP** (SSH File Transfer Protocol) are often preferred.

Despite its limitations, FTP is still used in many legacy systems and workflows because of its simplicity and broad compatibility.

### FTP in Couchdrop <a href="#sftp-in-couchdrop" id="sftp-in-couchdrop"></a>

Couchdrop gives you FTP without the servers. In minutes, you can spin up secure, cloud-hosted FTP endpoints that connect directly to your existing storage like Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive, or S3. Your partners still use FTP exactly as they always have - but you get cloud-native flexibility, enterprise-grade security, and zero infrastructure to manage. It’s the simplest way to modernize FTP​

### Getting Started with Couchdrop <a href="#getting-started-with-couchdrop" id="getting-started-with-couchdrop"></a>

Inbound FTP is supported by default in Couchdrop accounts - but you will need to configure FTP users for access.​<br>