rclone Alternative with a GUI for Windows

How rclone mount works on Windows

rclone is a command-line program for more than 70 storage services – from SFTP and S3 to Google Drive and OneDrive. On Windows, rclone mount uses WinFsp too, just like SSHFS-Win. For an SSH server you first create an SFTP remote with rclone config and then mount it:

rclone config                       # create an SFTP remote "myserver"
rclone mount myserver:/var/www X: --vfs-cache-mode writes

Without --vfs-cache-mode writes, many Windows programs can't save reliably on the drive, because they write files in ways the uncached mode doesn't support. The drive exists as long as the rclone process runs. To make it permanently available, you have to set it up yourself as a scheduled task or service.

When rclone is the better choice

• Cloud storage: S3, Google Drive, OneDrive, Dropbox and many more in one tool.
• Sync and copy jobs with rclone sync or rclone copy, including checksums and bandwidth limits.
• Encryption of stored data with the crypt backend.
• Scripts and servers without a desktop – rclone runs everywhere, including Linux and macOS.

When a GUI for SSH drives is the better choice

• No command line: you create connections in a dialog, mount them with a click and always see their status.
• Everything for SSH in one place: besides the drive, a terminal, a file browser for SFTP/FTP/FTPS and a live panel with the server's CPU, RAM and disk usage.
• Reconnects and restore at Windows startup without setting up a service yourself.
• Several users on one PC with separately encrypted credentials.

Using both together

rclone and NeoSSHWinManager are both built on WinFsp and run side by side without problems, as long as they use different drive letters – for example rclone for cloud storage and NeoSSHWinManager for your SSH servers.