Kermit
Ranked 3 of 17 file transfer apps by recommenders
Long-running free file transfer protocol, praised for reliable transfers over poor connections and wide portability. Critics note weak defaults and a hard-to-learn ecosystem.
Long-running free file transfer protocol, praised for reliable transfers over poor connections and wide portability. Critics note weak defaults and a hard-to-learn ecosystem.
19 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 15
- criticize it
- 4
- approval share
- 79%
Recommended in 2 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 15 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 3.8 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 2 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Faster than ZModem in places
“Kermit gained support for 4K and 9K jumbo frames, sliding windows, etc., and was generally faster than ZModem”
Comment from 3 Aug 2026 in “Celebrating 45 Years of Kermit with the First New C-Kermit Release in 15 Years” “every bit as fast as Zmodem”
Comment from 4 Aug 2026 in “Celebrating 45 Years of Kermit with the First New C-Kermit Release in 15 Years” Gets files through difficult connections
“its reputation for being able to handle difficult connections. It got the file through on its first try.”
Comment from 3 Aug 2026 in “Celebrating 45 Years of Kermit with the First New C-Kermit Release in 15 Years” “Kermit came to the rescue”
Comment from 3 Aug 2026 in “Celebrating 45 Years of Kermit with the First New C-Kermit Release in 15 Years” Portable across many systems
“such a treasure trove of software for obscure systems”
Comment from 4 Aug 2026 in “Celebrating 45 Years of Kermit with the First New C-Kermit Release in 15 Years” “Kermit was an extraordinary monument to portability”
Comment from 3 Aug 2026 in “Celebrating 45 Years of Kermit with the First New C-Kermit Release in 15 Years” Still maintained with new releases
“The first new Kermit release for Windows in TWENTY-TWO YEARS”
Comment from 4 Apr 2026 in “Big-Endian Testing with QEMU” “I'm amazed to see that Kermit is still alive and kicking.”
Comment from 3 Aug 2026 in “Celebrating 45 Years of Kermit with the First New C-Kermit Release in 15 Years”
Other file transfer apps people recommend
The four most recommended other file transfer apps, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LocalSend | 81 | 25 | 76% | 11 | — | Approved |
| Magic Wormhole | 21 | 6 | 78% | 8 | — | Approved |
| KermitThis page | 15 | 4 | 79% | 2 | — | — |
| croc | 13 | 3 | 81% | 5 | — | Approved |
| OpenSSH scp | 12 | 10 | 55% | 6 | — | — |
What people said
All 21 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“I could never get started with kermit - it's a huge ecosystem into itself”
“I found it essential for the same reasons, in those early Internet days”
“every bit as fast as Zmodem”
“such a treasure trove of software for obscure systems”
“Kermit was the protocol of last resort.”
“Kermit came to the rescue”
“pretty useful for a quick way to transfer files between the client and the remote host”
“at least K95 supported zmodem also”
“Kermit was an extraordinary monument to portability”
“Kermit hated latency, and dial up modems had that in spades.”
“Kermit gained support for 4K and 9K jumbo frames, sliding windows, etc., and was generally faster than ZModem”
“I use it as a powerful ssh wrapper and BBS client”
“its reputation for being able to handle difficult connections. It got the file through on its first try.”
“Kermit didn't have great defaults especially compared to ymodem and zmodem”
“It was very popular in the user community.”
“very handy for keeping a directory in sync”
“I'm amazed to see that Kermit is still alive and kicking.”
“It's very handy for automating things over a serial port console.”
“ckermit handled that itself, fun times.”
“The first new Kermit release for Windows in TWENTY-TWO YEARS”
“making sure that all functions are declared in both ANSI format and K&R format”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.