[4][5] Its main function is secure file transfer between a local computer and a remote server.

Originally it was hosted by the University of Economics in Prague, where its author worked at the time.

Since July 16, 2003, the program and its source code is licensed under the GNU GPL.

The portable version runs on Wine[17] on several POSIX-compliant operating systems, such as Linux, macOS, and BSD.

[18] Some older versions of the WinSCP installer included OpenCandy advertising module or bundled Google Chrome.