Comparison of iPod file managers

This is a list of iPod file managers, i.e. software that permits the transferring of media files. In the case of iPod file managers, this takes place between an iPod and a computer or vice versa.

iTunes is the official iPod managing software, but 3rd parties have created alternatives to work around restrictions in the program, or for those avoiding known issues with iTunes.

General

Manager	Creator(s)	First public release date	Latest stable version	Downloadable without paying?	Software license	Windows	Mac OS X	Linux
Amarok	Mark Kretschmann	2003-06-23	3.1 (August 2, 2024; 9 months ago (2024-08-02)) [±]	Yes	GPL	Yes	Experimental (leopard)	Yes
Banshee	Aaron Bockover	2005-08	2.6.2 (February 18, 2014; 11 years ago (2014-02-18)[1]) [±]	Yes	MIT	Experimental	Experimental	Yes
Clementine	David Sansome, John Maguire	February 2010	1.3.1 (April 19, 2016; 9 years ago (2016-04-19)) [±]	Yes	GPL v3	no iPod support	Yes	Yes
ephPod	ephpod	?	2.77 (January 16, 2009)	Yes	?	Yes (XP, NT, 2k)	No	No
gtkpod	Jorg Schuler	?	2.1.5 (Jun 2, 2015)	Yes	GPL	No	No	Yes
iRip	The Little App Factory	2003-09	2.1 (Mac) (May 6, 2011; 14 years ago (2011-05-06)[2]) [±] 1.0.1.25 (Windows) (8 April 2010; 15 years ago (2010-04-08)[3]) [±]	No	Proprietary	Yes	Yes	No
iTunes	Apple Inc.	2001-01-08		Yes	Proprietary	Yes	Yes	No
JRiver Media Center	J. River	2003-07	28.0.63 (September 10, 2021; 3 years ago (2021-09-10)) [±]	Yes (trial)	Proprietary	Yes	Yes	No
MediaMonkey	Ventis Media Inc.	2003-08-25	5.0.4.2690 (November 23, 2022; 2 years ago (2022-11-23)) [±]	Yes (Standard)	Proprietary	Yes	No	No
Rhythmbox	Colin Walters	2004-04	3.4.8 (November 10, 2024; 6 months ago (2024-11-10)) [±]	Yes	GPL	No	No	Yes
Senuti	FadingRed	2006-04-26	1.1.7 (Oct 6, 2009)[4]	Yes (limited trial)	Proprietary	No	Yes	No
Winamp native	Nullsoft	1997-06	5.9.2 Build 10042[5] (April 26, 2023; 2 years ago (2023-04-26)) [±]	Yes (Bundle & Full)	Proprietary	Yes	No	No
XPlay	Mediafour	2002-06-24	3.5.0 (Dec 30, 2009)[6]	No	Proprietary	Yes	No	No
Manager	Creator(s)	First public release date	Latest stable version	Downloadable without paying?	Software license	Windows	Mac OS X	Linux

Media organization and transfer features

Manager	Copy Music	Copy Videos	Copy Smart Playlists	Copy Album Artwork	Extract DRM-Free Music	Extract DRM-Free Videos	Extract Playcounts	Extract Playlists	Copy Content to iPod
Amarok	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	No
Banshee	Yes	?	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	?	Yes
Clementine	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
EphPod	Yes	?	Yes	No	Yes	No	?	?	?
gtkpod	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
iRip	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
iTunes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
JRiver Media Center	Yes	?	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	?	?	?
MediaMonkey	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Rhythmbox	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Senuti	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	?
Winamp native	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	Yes	Yes
XPlay	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Manager	Copy Music	Copy Videos	Copy Smart Playlists	Copy Album Artwork	Extract DRM-Free Music	Extract DRM-Free Videos	Extract Playcounts	Extract Playlists	Copy Content to iPod

iPod syncing and maintenance features

Manager	Download Podcasts	Rebuild iPod Database	Portable	6th Gen. Firmware	5th Gen. nano Firmware	shuffle3G Firmware	iPod Touch/ iPhone support	Photo support	Supports Gapless Metadata
Amarok	Yes	Yes	?	Yes	?	No	Yes[a]	?	?
Banshee	Yes	Yes	?	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	?
Clementine	Yes	No	?	No	No	?	Yes	?	?
EphPod	No	Yes	?	?	No	No	No	No	No
gtkpod	No	?	?	Yes[b]	Yes[a]	Yes[a]	Yes, jailbroken only	?	Yes
iRip	Yes	?	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
iTunes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
JRiver Media Center	Yes	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
MediaMonkey	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
Rhythmbox	Yes	?	?	?	Yes	No	Yes[a]	No	No
Senuti	No	?	?	?	?	?	Yes	?	?
Winamp native	Yes	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	Yes
XPlay	No	Yes	No	?	?	?	?	Yes	?
Manager	Download Podcasts	Rebuild iPod Database	Portable	6th Gen. Firmware	5th Gen. nano Firmware	shuffle3G Firmware	iPod Touch/iPhone support	Photo support	Supports Gapless Metadata

1. Support arrived with libgpod >= 0.7.90 due to the use of libimobiledevice.
2. gtkpod developers have found a workaround .

iPhone & iPod Touch compatibility

Manager	iPhoneOS up to 1.1.4	iPhoneOS 2.x	iPhoneOS 3.0	iPhoneOS 3.1	iOS 4.0.2	iOS 5.0.x
Amarok	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes, Read-only	Yes, Read-only
Banshee	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes, Read-only	Yes, Read-only
Clementine	Yes, limited	Yes, limited	Yes, limited	Yes, limited	No	No
EphPod	No	No	No	No	No	No
gtkpod	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	?
iRip	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes, Read-only
iTunes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
JRiver Media Center	No	No	No	No	No	No
MediaMonkey	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Rhythmbox	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Senuti	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	?
Winamp native	No	No	No	No	No	No
XPlay	Yes	Yes, Read only	Yes, Read only	Yes, Read only	Yes, Read only	Yes, Read only
Manager	iPhoneOS up to 1.1.4	iPhoneOS 2.x	iPhoneOS 3.0	iPhoneOS 3.1	iOS 4.0.2	iOS 5.0.x

See also

• iPod
• iTunes
• iPhone