# Mountain Duck Alternative for S3 on Mac

> A Mountain Duck alternative built only for S3. BucketMate has setup and features tuned for AWS, R2, MinIO, B2, and more, in a polished app for Mac, iPhone, and Web.

Canonical: https://www.bucketmate.app/alternatives/mountain-duck

Mountain Duck mounts many kinds of remote storage as a disk in Finder. BucketMate does one thing: S3. It has setup and features tuned for each provider, in a modern native app for Mac, iPhone, and Web.

- **Mountain Duck**: A Finder and File Explorer mount for many protocols, from the makers of Cyberduck. Runs on macOS, Windows. $49 per user, valid for one major version.
- **BucketMate**: Built only for S3, with support tuned for each provider. A polished, modern native app for macOS, iPhone, and Web. Free plan, or pay once: $29 Mac, $19 iPhone, $39 Universal.

## Which one fits

- S3 as a disk in Finder for any app: Mountain Duck
- SFTP, WebDAV, SMB, or Google Drive too: Mountain Duck
- Features tuned for your S3 provider: BucketMate
- A polished, modern app for managing buckets: BucketMate
- The same buckets on iPhone and in a browser: BucketMate

## Built only for S3, tuned for each provider

- **AWS profiles and SSO**: Sign in with your AWS profiles and SSO, change storage classes, and restore Glacier files. https://www.bucketmate.app/s3-client/aws-s3.md
- **R2 custom domains**: Copy public URLs on your own domain, and use EU or US jurisdiction buckets. https://www.bucketmate.app/s3-client/cloudflare-r2.md
- **MinIO on localhost**: Connect to a local MinIO over HTTP and turn on versioning without the command line. https://www.bucketmate.app/s3-client/minio.md
- **B2 versions**: B2 keeps every version. See them, recover deleted files, and clean up old ones. https://www.bucketmate.app/s3-client/backblaze-b2.md
- **Hetzner locations**: One connection per location, grouped in a workspace for fsn1, nbg1, and hel1. https://www.bucketmate.app/s3-client/hetzner-object-storage.md
- **Tigris tiers**: See and change Standard, Infrequent Access, and Archive tiers per file. https://www.bucketmate.app/s3-client/tigris.md

## Mountain Duck vs BucketMate (checked October 2026)

| Feature | Mountain Duck | BucketMate |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Focus | Many protocols as a disk | S3 only, in depth |
| Interface | Finder, plus a menu bar app | Modern native app with sidebar, previews, and a detail panel |
| Provider support | Connection profiles with provider defaults | Setup and features per provider, like AWS SSO, R2 custom domains, and B2 versions |
| Platforms | macOS, Windows | macOS, iPhone, Web |
| Storage classes and versions | Not shown in Finder | Change class, restore archived files, recover versions |
| Share links | Expiring links for S3 and others | Presigned links with custom expiry and a saved history |
| Offline files | Smart Synchronization keeps chosen folders offline | Download what you need |
| Pricing | $49 per user for Mountain Duck 5, discounted major upgrades | Free plan, or pay once from $19 |

Source: https://mountainduck.io/buy/

## Where Mountain Duck wins

- **Any app can open your files**: Because the bucket is a disk, Photoshop, Xcode, or Office can open remote files directly. BucketMate does not mount a disk.
- **Offline folders**: Smart Synchronization keeps chosen folders on your Mac and uploads changes in the background.
- **More than S3**: One app for SFTP servers, WebDAV, SMB shares, Dropbox, and Google Drive alongside S3.

## Where BucketMate wins

- **S3 is the whole product**: Storage classes, Glacier restores, versions, lifecycle cleanup, and presigned links are built in, not left to Finder.
- **Tuned for each provider**: AWS SSO, R2 custom domains, MinIO on localhost, B2 versions, and Hetzner locations each get their own handling.
- **Polished and easy to learn**: A clean sidebar, Quick Look, drag and drop, and rename in place. Simple on the surface, with power a right-click away.
- **Mac, iPhone, and Web**: The same connections on your phone and in any browser, not only on a desktop.

## Switching from Mountain Duck

1. Copy the endpoint, access key, and secret from your Mountain Duck bookmark.
2. In BucketMate, choose Add connection and pick your provider. The form fills in what that provider needs.
3. Test the connection. Your buckets show up in the sidebar, ready to browse.

## FAQ

### What makes BucketMate different?

It only does S3, and it does it in depth. Each provider gets its own setup and features, like AWS SSO, R2 custom domains, MinIO on localhost, and B2 version cleanup. All of it sits behind a clean, modern interface that stays simple for everyday work.

### Can BucketMate mount S3 in Finder like Mountain Duck?

No. BucketMate is a dedicated S3 app, not a disk mount. You drag files in and out of Finder, and open them with Quick Look or your own apps.

### Can I use both apps?

Yes. Some people keep a mount for editing files in other apps and use BucketMate for share links, storage classes, versions, and bucket cleanup.

### Which providers does BucketMate support?

AWS S3, Cloudflare R2, MinIO, Wasabi, Backblaze B2, DigitalOcean Spaces, Supabase Storage, Hetzner Object Storage, Tigris, and Google Cloud Storage, each with its own setup. Any other S3-compatible endpoint works too.

### How much does BucketMate cost?

There is a free plan for personal use. Pro is a one-time purchase: $29 for Mac, $19 for iPhone, or $39 for Universal (Mac, iPhone, and Web), with lifetime updates.

## Links

- Download: https://www.bucketmate.app/download
- Web app: https://web.bucketmate.app/
- Providers: https://www.bucketmate.app/s3-client.md
- All alternatives: https://www.bucketmate.app/alternatives.md