SmartFTP not free?

What do you mean by "so why isn't it?", it is. You are allowed to use SmartFTP for free for personal and educational use. The only thing that differs from the registered version is the license reminder. If you can live with that, fine. If not, you can buy a license, but you don't have to.

i didn't mean to be huffy, just factual. this question gets asked over and over again. maybe that's why it's also answered in the faq
https://www.smartftp.com/support/kb/157