Comparison of iPod file managers
# Comparison of iPod file managers

This is a list of iPod file managers. i.e. software that permits the transferring of media files content 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 iTunes. e.g. transferring content from an iPod to a computer is restricted by 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 | 2.9.71 (January 31, 2021; 2 years ago (2021-01-31)) | Yes | GPL | Yes | Experimental (leopard) | Yes |
| Banshee | Aaron Bockover | 2005-08 | 2.6.2 (February 18, 2014; 9 years ago (2014-02-18)) | Yes | MIT | Experimental | Experimental | Yes |
| Clementine | David Sansome, John Maguire | February 2010 | 1.3.1 (April 19, 2016; 7 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; 12 years ago (2011-05-06)) 1.0.1.25 (Windows) (8 April 2010; 13 years ago (2010-04-08)) | 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; 22 months ago (2021-09-10)) | Yes (trial) | Proprietary | Yes | Yes | No |
| MediaMonkey | Ventis Media Inc. | 2003-08-25 | 5.0.2.2531 (December 22, 2021; 19 months ago (2021-12-22)) | Yes (Standard) | Proprietary | Yes | No | No |
| Rhythmbox | Colin Walters | 2004-04 | 3.4.4 (January 4, 2020; 3 years ago (2020-01-04)) | Yes | GPL | No | No | Yes |
| Senuti | FadingRed | 2006-04-26 | 1.1.7 (Oct 6, 2009) | Yes (limited trial) | Proprietary | No | Yes | No |
| Winamp native | Nullsoft | 1997-06 | 5.9.2 Build 10042 (April 26, 2023; 3 months ago (2023-04-26)) | Yes (Bundle & Full) | Proprietary | Yes | No | No |
| XPlay | Mediafour | 2002-06-24 | 3.5.0 (Dec 30, 2009) | 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 | ? | ? |
| Banshee | Yes | Yes | ? | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | ? |
| Clementine | Yes | No | ? | No | No | ? | Yes | ? | ? |
| EphPod | No | Yes | ? | ? | No | No | No | No | No |
| gtkpod | No | ? | ? | Yes | Yes | Yes | 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 | 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 2 3 4 Support arrived with libgpod >= 0.7.90 due to the use of libimobiledevice.
* ↑ gtkpod developers have found a workaround .

## iPhone & iPod Touch compatibility

| Manager | iPod Touch/iPhone Firmware up to 1.1.4 | iPod Touch/ iPhone FW 2.x | iPod Touch/ iPhone FW 3.0 | iPod Touch/ iPhone FW 3.1 | iPod Touch/iPhone FW 4.0.2 | iPod Touch/iPhone FW 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 | iPod Touch/iPhone Firmware up to 1.1.4 | iPod Touch/iPhone FW 2.x | iPod Touch/iPhone FW 3.0 | iPod Touch/iPhone FW 3.1 | iPod Touch/iPhone FW 4.0.2 | iPod Touch/iPhone FW 5.0.x |
