diff --git a/cmd/limactl/copy.go b/cmd/limactl/copy.go
index 4b5fc3e3cf6..9193093771e 100644
--- a/cmd/limactl/copy.go
+++ b/cmd/limactl/copy.go
@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@ func newCopyCommand() *cobra.Command {
 
 	copyCommand.Flags().BoolP("recursive", "r", false, "copy directories recursively")
 	copyCommand.Flags().BoolP("verbose", "v", false, "enable verbose output")
+	copyCommand.Flags().BoolP("rsync", "", false, "use rsync for copying instead of scp")
 
 	return copyCommand
 }
@@ -49,10 +50,24 @@ func copyAction(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
 		return err
 	}
 
-	arg0, err := exec.LookPath("scp")
+	useRsync, err := cmd.Flags().GetBool("rsync")
 	if err != nil {
 		return err
 	}
+
+	var arg0 string
+	if useRsync {
+		arg0, err = exec.LookPath("rsync")
+		if err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+	} else {
+		arg0, err = exec.LookPath("scp")
+		if err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+	}
+
 	instances := make(map[string]*store.Instance)
 	scpFlags := []string{}
 	scpArgs := []string{}
@@ -67,6 +82,9 @@ func copyAction(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
 
 	if verbose {
 		scpFlags = append(scpFlags, "-v")
+		if useRsync {
+			scpFlags = append(scpFlags, "--progress")
+		}
 	} else {
 		scpFlags = append(scpFlags, "-q")
 	}
@@ -93,11 +111,15 @@ func copyAction(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
 			if inst.Status == store.StatusStopped {
 				return fmt.Errorf("instance %q is stopped, run `limactl start %s` to start the instance", instName, instName)
 			}
-			if legacySSH {
-				scpFlags = append(scpFlags, "-P", fmt.Sprintf("%d", inst.SSHLocalPort))
+			if useRsync {
 				scpArgs = append(scpArgs, fmt.Sprintf("%s@127.0.0.1:%s", *inst.Config.User.Name, path[1]))
 			} else {
-				scpArgs = append(scpArgs, fmt.Sprintf("scp://%s@127.0.0.1:%d/%s", *inst.Config.User.Name, inst.SSHLocalPort, path[1]))
+				if legacySSH {
+					scpFlags = append(scpFlags, "-P", fmt.Sprintf("%d", inst.SSHLocalPort))
+					scpArgs = append(scpArgs, fmt.Sprintf("%s@127.0.0.1:%s", *inst.Config.User.Name, path[1]))
+				} else {
+					scpArgs = append(scpArgs, fmt.Sprintf("scp://%s@127.0.0.1:%d/%s", *inst.Config.User.Name, inst.SSHLocalPort, path[1]))
+				}
 			}
 			instances[instName] = inst
 		default:
@@ -107,7 +129,9 @@ func copyAction(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
 	if legacySSH && len(instances) > 1 {
 		return errors.New("more than one (instance) host is involved in this command, this is only supported for openSSH v8.0 or higher")
 	}
-	scpFlags = append(scpFlags, "-3", "--")
+	if !useRsync {
+		scpFlags = append(scpFlags, "-3", "--")
+	}
 	scpArgs = append(scpFlags, scpArgs...)
 
 	var sshOpts []string
@@ -128,13 +152,23 @@ func copyAction(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) error {
 			return err
 		}
 	}
+
+	var cmdArgs []string
 	sshArgs := sshutil.SSHArgsFromOpts(sshOpts)
+	if useRsync {
+		// for rsync, add the -e flag with SSH options
+		scpFlags = append(scpFlags, "-e", fmt.Sprintf("ssh %s", strings.Join(sshArgs, " ")))
+		cmdArgs = append(cmdArgs, append(scpFlags, scpArgs...)...)
+	} else {
+		// for scp, append SSH options and scpArgs
+		cmdArgs = append(cmdArgs, append(sshArgs, scpArgs...)...)
+	}
 
-	sshCmd := exec.Command(arg0, append(sshArgs, scpArgs...)...)
+	sshCmd := exec.Command(arg0, cmdArgs...)
 	sshCmd.Stdin = cmd.InOrStdin()
 	sshCmd.Stdout = cmd.OutOrStdout()
 	sshCmd.Stderr = cmd.ErrOrStderr()
-	logrus.Debugf("executing scp (may take a long time): %+v", sshCmd.Args)
+	logrus.Debugf("executing %s (may take a long time): %+v", arg0, sshCmd.Args)
 
 	// TODO: use syscall.Exec directly (results in losing tty?)
 	return sshCmd.Run()