The best SSH clients in 2026, compared
Twelve SSH clients for macOS, Windows and Linux compared on price, platforms, jump hosts, SFTP and AI: Termius, MobaXterm, PuTTY, SecureCRT, Tabby and more.
On this page
The short answerComparison tableGatesys SSHBitvise SSH ClientMobaXtermPuTTYRoyal TSXSecureCRTTabbyTermiusWarpWindTermXshellXPipeHow to chooseFAQSourcesThere is no single best SSH client. There is a best one for a network engineer with a console cable, another for someone who answers pages from a phone, and another for an SRE whose servers sit behind two bastions. This guide compares twelve of them on the things that decide the choice: where they run, what they cost, and what each does that the others do not.
A note on bias: we make Gatesys SSH, so it is on the list and it comes first. The other eleven are in alphabetical order, each entry says who it suits best, and the prices are from each vendor’s own website, read on 12 October 2026.
The short answer
| If you want | Look at |
|---|---|
| Servers behind bastions, server health, and an assistant that cites evidence | Gatesys SSH |
| The same hosts on your phone and your laptop | Termius |
| X11, RDP, VNC and SSH in one Windows app | MobaXterm |
| Serial consoles and scripting for network gear | SecureCRT |
| A tiny, free, open-source classic | PuTTY |
| A free, open-source terminal with themes and plugins | Tabby |
| RDP, VNC and SSH connections managed together on a Mac | Royal TSX |
| An agentic terminal for writing code | Warp |
Comparison table
| Client | Runs on | Price | Free version | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gatesys SSH | macOS, Windows, Linux | Pro $20 a year | Full SSH client, no account | Closed |
| Bitvise SSH Client | Windows | Free | Free in all environments | Closed |
| MobaXterm | Windows | $69 per user | 12 sessions, 2 tunnels | Closed |
| PuTTY | Windows, Unix | Free | Everything | Open, MIT |
| Royal TSX | macOS (Royal TS on Windows) | €49 per user | 10 connections, 10 credentials | Closed |
| SecureCRT | Windows, macOS, Linux | $119 per licence | 30-day evaluation | Closed |
| Tabby | Windows, macOS, Linux, web | Free | Everything | Open, MIT |
| Termius | macOS, Windows, Linux, iOS, Android | Pro $10 a month, billed annually | SSH, SFTP, port forwarding, local vault | Closed |
| Warp | macOS, Windows, Linux | Build $20 a month | The terminal; AI is pay as you go | Closed |
| WindTerm | Windows, macOS, Linux | Free | Everything | Partly open, Apache-2.0 |
| Xshell | Windows | $119 per user | Home and school use only | Closed |
| XPipe | Windows, macOS, Linux | Homelab $40 a year, Professional $80 a year | Community edition | Open core |
Gatesys SSH
Gatesys SSH is a desktop SSH, SFTP and jump-host client for macOS, Windows and Linux. Its free plan is the whole client with no account: sessions to any number of hosts, a dual-pane SFTP browser, local, remote and SOCKS5 tunnels, jump chains of any depth, a keychain and an audit log.
What sets it apart is that it reads the server. A failed connect gets a hop-by-hop diagnosis. Each visit shows what changed since you were last there. Health forecasts a disk filling up, with no agent on the host. An edit to sshd_config goes through a review with a way back. Pro, at $20 a year after three free months, adds Farabi, an assistant that answers from those measured facts on a model you choose, with every suggested command rated by rules and never by the model.
Best for: sysadmins, SREs and developers whose Linux servers sit behind bastions. Look elsewhere if: you need a mobile app, sync between devices, X11 forwarding, serial or RDP. The Windows installer is not code-signed yet.
Bitvise SSH Client
Bitvise is a long-standing Windows client with a graphical SFTP window, tunnelling and terminal emulation. Its licence page says it can be used free of charge in all types of environments, which makes it one of the few free-for-work Windows clients with a file browser.
Best for: Windows users who want a free client with SFTP and port forwarding. Look elsewhere if: you work on a Mac or Linux desktop.
MobaXterm
MobaXterm bundles SSH with an X server, RDP, VNC, serial, a Unix toolbox and multi-execution across terminals. The free Home Edition is limited to 12 sessions, 2 SSH tunnels and 4 macros; the Professional Edition is $69 or €49 per user. It runs on Windows only. Read the full MobaXterm comparison.
Best for: Windows administrators who need X11 forwarding and several protocols in one window. Look elsewhere if: you are on macOS or Linux, or the free limits bite.
PuTTY
The classic. PuTTY is free, open source and tiny, and it handles SSH, Telnet and serial. Version 0.85 came out in August 2026. It has no tabs, no file browser and its own key format. Read the PuTTY comparison, which also covers converting .ppk keys.
Best for: serial consoles, locked-down machines, and anyone who wants the smallest possible tool. Look elsewhere if: you manage more than a handful of hosts or want files and tunnels in the same window.
Royal TSX
Royal TSX is a connection manager for macOS, with Royal TS as its Windows sibling. It handles RDP, SSH, Telnet, VNC, web consoles and file transfer over FTP, SFTP and SCP, and it can tunnel connections through an SSH-based secure gateway. The free Lite mode holds up to 10 connections and 10 credentials; a single-user licence is €49 with no subscription.
Best for: Mac users who manage Windows servers over RDP alongside Linux hosts. Look elsewhere if: SSH is all you do.
SecureCRT
SecureCRT is the terminal of network operations: SSH, Telnet and serial, tab groups, a credentials manager, and scripting in Python and other languages. A licence is $119 with a year of updates, or $129 bundled with the SecureFX file browser. Read the SecureCRT comparison.
Best for: network engineers working on routers and switches over console ports. Look elsewhere if: you mainly manage Linux servers and do not want to pay per seat.
Tabby
Tabby is a free, open-source terminal for Windows, macOS and Linux with an SSH client, a connection manager, jump hosts, X11 and port forwarding, a serial terminal, themes and plugins. Read the Tabby comparison.
Best for: people who want one customisable, open-source terminal for local shells and SSH. Look elsewhere if: you want the client to tell you about the server’s health or to review config changes.
Termius
Termius runs on five platforms, phones included, and syncs hosts between them. The free Starter plan has SSH, SFTP, port forwarding, a local vault and AI autocomplete. Pro is $10 a month billed annually and adds the cloud vault and sync; Team and Business plans add shared vaults. Read the Termius comparison.
Best for: people who need SSH on a phone, and teams that share a vault. Look elsewhere if: you would rather keep hosts and keys on your own disk, or $120 a year is too much.
Warp
Warp is a terminal built around AI agents, for macOS, Windows and Linux. The terminal is free; agent usage is metered, with a Build plan at $20 a month. It is a terminal rather than a host manager: at the time of writing it has no saved-host list with jump chains, no SFTP transfer window and no tunnel cards. Its remote features work through an extension it offers to install on the remote host. See AI in SSH clients compared.
Best for: developers who want an agent in their local terminal. Look elsewhere if: you need a host manager, or may not install software on the servers you reach.
WindTerm
WindTerm is a free terminal for Windows, macOS and Linux with SSH, Telnet, serial, SFTP and SCP, ProxyJump and port forwarding. Its README says it is free for commercial and non-commercial use and that it is partly open source, with the released code under Apache-2.0.
Best for: people who want a fast, free, cross-platform terminal with file transfer. Look elsewhere if: you want every line of the client’s code to be open, or active commercial support.
Xshell
Xshell is a polished Windows terminal with tabs, a session manager and script recording. It costs $119 a user, or $139 with the Xftp file browser. The free licence is for home and school use only. Read the Xshell comparison.
Best for: Windows users who want a mature, native terminal. Look elsewhere if: you are on a Mac or need a free client for work.
XPipe
XPipe is a connection hub rather than a terminal. It keeps your SSH, container and hypervisor connections in one place and launches them in the terminal you already use. The Community edition is free; Homelab is $5 a month or $40 a year, and Professional is $10 a month or $80 a year.
Best for: people with many kinds of remote systems who like their existing terminal. Look elsewhere if: you want the terminal, the file browser and the tunnels in one app.
How to choose
Five questions settle most of it.
- Where do you work? Windows only leaves every door open. A Mac or a Linux desktop rules out MobaXterm, Xshell and Bitvise.
- What do you connect to? Serial consoles and Telnet point to SecureCRT or PuTTY. X11 points to MobaXterm or Tabby. RDP and VNC next to SSH point to Royal TSX or MobaXterm.
- Is it for work? Check the free licence. Xshell’s is for home and school. MobaXterm’s free edition has caps. Gatesys SSH, PuTTY, Tabby, Bitvise and WindTerm are free at work.
- Do your servers sit behind bastions? Then look closely at how each client builds a jump chain and what it tells you when one fails. That is the case Gatesys SSH was built for; see the ProxyJump guide.
- Where should your hosts and keys live? Sync is convenient and it means a vendor’s cloud. Local-only is private and it means setting up each computer.
FAQ
What is the best free SSH client?
For a full client that is free at work with no account: Gatesys SSH on any desktop, or Bitvise on Windows. For open source: PuTTY or Tabby. Termius has a free plan with a local vault.
What is the best SSH client for Windows?
Windows has the widest choice. MobaXterm if you need X11 and RDP, SecureCRT for network gear, PuTTY for the minimal classic, and Gatesys SSH for servers behind bastions with health and safe config changes. Windows also ships OpenSSH, so ssh works in any terminal.
What is the best SSH client for Mac?
Gatesys SSH, Termius, Tabby, SecureCRT and Royal TSX all have native macOS builds. MobaXterm, Xshell and Bitvise do not run on a Mac.
Do I need an SSH client at all?
Not strictly. OpenSSH’s ssh, scp and sftp ship with macOS, Linux and Windows. A client earns its place when you have many hosts, jump chains, tunnels you start every day, files to edit, or you want to know what is happening on the server without typing five commands to find out.
Sources
Vendor pages read on 12 October 2026: Termius pricing, MobaXterm editions, VanDyke pricing, Xshell, Tabby, Warp pricing, Royal TSX, XPipe pricing, Bitvise licensing and WindTerm. Prices change; check before you buy.
