Tabby alternative: a terminal or an SSH client?
Tabby is a free, open-source terminal with SSH built in. When a Tabby alternative makes sense, how Gatesys SSH differs, and when Tabby is the better pick.
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Tabby at a glanceTabby vs Gatesys SSHThe real difference: a terminal, or a client that reads the hostWhere Tabby is the better choiceUsing bothFAQSourcesTabby, once called Terminus, is one of the best free terminals there is. It is open source, it runs on Windows, macOS and Linux, and it has an SSH client and a connection manager built in. If you are looking for a Tabby alternative, you probably like it and want one thing it does not try to be: a tool that understands the server on the other end.
We make Gatesys SSH. This comparison uses Tabby’s own README as its source, read on 12 October 2026.
Tabby at a glance
Tabby describes itself as a terminal for a more modern age. It is released under the MIT licence. Its SSH side offers:
- an SSH2 client with a connection manager
- automatic jump host management
- X11 and port forwarding
- agent forwarding, including Pageant and the Windows OpenSSH agent
- an encrypted container for SSH secrets and configuration
Around that sit a local terminal for PowerShell, WSL, Git Bash and the Unix shells, a serial terminal, Telnet, themes, and a plugin system. There is also a web version you can host yourself. Tabby has no assistant of its own; AI arrives through third-party plugins.
Tabby vs Gatesys SSH
| Tabby | Gatesys SSH | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free plan with no account; Pro is $20 a year after 3 free months |
| Source | Open, MIT licence | Closed |
| Runs on | Windows, macOS, Linux, and the web | macOS, Windows, Linux |
| Jump hosts | Yes | Yes, chains of any depth, with a hop-by-hop diagnosis |
| X11 and agent forwarding | Yes | No |
| Serial and Telnet | Yes | No |
| Plugins and themes | Yes | No plugins; a light and a dark theme with accent colours |
| File transfer | A panel inside SSH tabs | Dual-pane SFTP browser with a review sheet for remote saves |
| Server health and forecasts | No | Yes, agentless, on the free plan |
| Reviewed config changes | No | Yes: diff, server check, backup, safety net |
| AI assistant | Third-party plugins | Farabi, on Pro, with your own model |
The real difference: a terminal, or a client that reads the host
Tabby is a terminal first. It gives you a fast, good-looking place to type, wherever the shell happens to be. What the server is doing is yours to find out.
Gatesys SSH starts from the host. Three things follow from that.
It measures before anyone guesses
Each time you connect, the app reads a fixed list of read-only facts over your own session: the OS and kernel, failed systemd units, listening ports, disk use, containers, recently changed files under /etc. A strip above the terminal says what changed since you were last there. Nothing is installed on the server, and no model takes part.
It says what the numbers mean
The terminal header shows live CPU, memory, disk and load. Health turns them into signals, on the free plan: java pid 2211 at 340% CPU for 6 min, or /var full in ~3 h. A forecast is a straight-line fit over the last hour, and when there is too little data it shows no estimate rather than a guess.
It knows which hop failed
When a connect through two bastions fails, a terminal prints one line. Hop Doctor shows a row of checks for every hop (DNS, TCP, SSH, host key, login), the evidence behind each, and a fix as a diff of the host’s fields. It never authenticates a second time to find out.
The assistant is built in, and fenced in
With Pro, Farabi answers questions about the host from those measured facts, on a model you choose, including a local one. The app, not the model, rates every command it suggests, and text the server printed is passed to the model as data, never as instructions. A plugin that pipes your terminal to a chat API has neither guard.
Where Tabby is the better choice
- You want open source. Tabby’s code is public and MIT-licensed. Gatesys SSH is closed source.
- You need X11 or agent forwarding. Gatesys SSH does neither.
- You use serial ports or Telnet.
- You care about plugins, themes and fonts. Tabby is far more customisable.
- You want one terminal for local shells first, with SSH as an extra. Gatesys SSH has local terminals too, but it is an SSH client first.
- You want it in a browser. Tabby has a web app.
Using both
Nothing stops you. Gatesys SSH imports ~/.ssh/config, ProxyJump chains included, so if your hosts already live there, both tools see the same list. Keep Tabby as your everyday local terminal and open Gatesys SSH for hosts behind bastions, for a look at a server’s health, or for an edit to sshd_config you would rather not get wrong.
FAQ
Is Tabby free?
Yes. Tabby is free and open source under the MIT licence.
Is Gatesys SSH open source?
No. The free plan costs nothing and needs no account, but the source is not public.
Does Tabby have AI built in?
Not in the core application. Tabby’s README lists community plugins that connect it to AI assistants. In Gatesys SSH the assistant is part of the app, and its commands are rated by local rules before they can run.
Which is better for jump hosts?
Both connect through jump hosts. Gatesys SSH adds a visible route for each host, one shared connection for the terminal, SFTP and tunnels, and a diagnosis that names the hop and the step when a chain fails.
Sources
- The Tabby README on GitHub, read on 12 October 2026.
- Gatesys SSH: host facts, health and plans.
- More options in the best SSH clients in 2026.
