This is a blunt warning to anyone who ever purchased, or is thinking about purchasing, FileZilla Pro.
I bought FileZilla Pro under a perpetual license - a one-time payment, lifetime right to use the version I purchased. After reinstalling my operating system, I simply needed to reinstall the software I already paid for.
- Support admitted I still have the legal right to use the old version of FileZilla Pro that I originally purchased.
- Then they told me they refuse to provide the installer for that version.
- Their excuse: “For security reasons we do not provide older versions.”
If a customer cannot download the installer, the “perpetual license” is dead. It doesn’t matter what rights they acknowledge on paper - they are blocking any practical way to use the software unless you pay again under their new subscription model.
There is no way to reinstall. There is no way to access the product you bought. Your “perpetual license” effectively becomes worthless the moment you reinstall your OS or lose the installer.
FileZilla is fully aware that customers legally own those old versions. They openly admit it. And then they withhold the installer anyway, leaving users with no realistic option except paying again.
If you’re considering FileZilla Pro, understand exactly what you are walking into: You can pay for a perpetual license, and later be denied any way to reinstall the product you legally own.
Although “Zilla” appears in the name, the FileZilla project is not affiliated with Mozilla in any way. The similarity in naming is not coincidental. Their intention is to deceive users into thinking this project is related to Mozilla so they can sell perpetual licenses that do not persist across OS reinstalls.
Tim Kosse, FileZilla author and trademark owner