Free SSH clients and terminals

~/notes

• MXterm Pro made by us best for: Developers who run AI coding agents and SSH sessions together and want one native window, plus phone access to those sessions. look elsewhere if: Anyone who needs an X11 server, RDP/VNC, serial consoles or a hosted team vault today.
• AgentsRoom best for: Developers juggling many projects and agents who want status, backlog and mobile oversight on any desktop OS. look elsewhere if: Users wanting an open-source tool or a plain SSH/SFTP client.
• Alacritty best for: Users who want a lean terminal and already handle layouts with tmux or a tiling window manager. look elsewhere if: Anyone who wants built-in tabs, splits, saved SSH hosts or a GUI settings screen.
• Bitvise SSH Client best for: Windows users or admins who want a free GUI SFTP and tunneling client with strong Windows authentication integration. look elsewhere if: Anyone on macOS or Linux, or anyone wanting a modern tabbed terminal with AI or sync features.
• cmux best for: Mac users who want a Ghostty-based terminal that surfaces which agent needs attention, with scriptable browser and CLI. look elsewhere if: Windows or Linux users, or people wanting automatic per-agent git worktree isolation.
• Codex app (now the ChatGPT desktop app) best for: Developers with a ChatGPT subscription who want a first-party GUI for parallel Codex tasks with worktrees and phone follow-up. look elsewhere if: Teams wanting an open-source workspace or one that drives Claude Code and other vendors' agents.
• Conductor best for: Mac developers who want a polished manager for several parallel coding agents with review and merge flow, optionally with shared cloud workspaces. look elsewhere if: Windows or Linux users, or anyone who requires an open-source tool.
• ConnectBot best for: Android users who want a free, open-source SSH client with port forwarding and no account. look elsewhere if: Users who need documented jump-host chaining, team sharing, or cross-device sync of hosts.
• Cyberduck best for: Mac or Windows users who move files between SFTP servers and many cloud storage services. look elsewhere if: Users who need an interactive SSH terminal or Linux desktop client.
• Electerm best for: Users who want SSH, SFTP and RDP/VNC/serial in one free, open-source app across desktop and mobile. look elsewhere if: Users who need team sharing, audit or admin controls, which the sources do not list.
• Emdash best for: Developers on any desktop OS who want a free, open-source worktree-per-task agent manager with SSH remote support and issue-tracker intake. look elsewhere if: Users who need a mobile companion or a lightweight terminal-only tool.
• Ghostty best for: Mac or Linux users who want a fast native terminal with sensible defaults and little configuration. look elsewhere if: Windows users, or anyone who wants saved SSH hosts, SFTP or tunnels built into the terminal.
• Happy best for: Developers who already pay for Claude/Codex and want an open-source phone and desktop front end for those agent sessions. look elsewhere if: People who need a general-purpose SSH/SFTP client for arbitrary servers.
• Herdr best for: Developers who live in a terminal and want persistent, status-aware multi-agent sessions across local and SSH machines. look elsewhere if: Users wanting a graphical app with built-in diff review, browser panes or a phone companion.
• Hyper best for: Web developers who want a themeable, JavaScript-extensible local terminal. look elsewhere if: Users who need a built-in SSH/SFTP session manager, serial or port-forwarding UI.
• iTerm2 best for: Mac users who live in tmux over SSH and want scripting and per-host profiles. look elsewhere if: Anyone needing Windows or Linux, or a dedicated SSH client with a connection manager and file browser.
• Kitty best for: Linux or macOS users who want a scriptable GPU terminal with built-in layouts instead of tmux locally. look elsewhere if: Windows users, or anyone wanting a saved-host SSH manager with SFTP and tunnels.
• La Terminal best for: iPhone/iPad users who want a conventional SSH/Mosh/SFTP client with Secure Enclave keys that can also reach coding agents on a server. look elsewhere if: Android users or anyone requiring an open-source client.
• MobaXterm best for: Windows users who want SSH, X11 and SFTP in a single portable app, especially for occasional X applications. look elsewhere if: Mac or Linux users, or teams that need a hosted shared vault.
• Moshi best for: Developers who keep agents running in tmux on a remote machine and want a polished Mosh-capable phone terminal. look elsewhere if: Users who need an open-source client or a built-in file transfer tool.
• Nexus Shell best for: Mac users who want an SSH/SFTP/Docker workspace that coding agents can use through a local MCP bridge. look elsewhere if: Users on Windows, Linux or iPhone, or those who need split panes or team vaults.
• Offrun best for: Mac users who already pay for several coding agents and want a free parallel-worktree front end. look elsewhere if: Windows or Linux users, or anyone requiring open-source code.
• Orca best for: Developers who want a free, open-source, cross-platform app to run several coding agents side by side in separate worktrees. look elsewhere if: Users who want a plain terminal emulator or SSH client without agent and git-worktree workflow.
• Paseo best for: Developers running several coding agents at once who want to monitor and steer them from a phone. look elsewhere if: Users wanting a general SSH/SFTP client or a hosted, zero-setup agent service.
• PuTTY best for: Windows users who want a small, long-established SSH/serial client plus command-line SFTP/SCP tools. look elsewhere if: Users who want tabs, split panes or a modern session manager inside one window, or an official macOS/Linux/mobile app.
• Royal TSX best for: Mac users who juggle many RDP, VNC and SSH hosts and want a shared, credential-aware connection tree. look elsewhere if: People who mainly want a lightweight terminal with serial, Mosh or X11.
• Secure ShellFish best for: Apple users who want server folders in Files/Finder and Shortcuts automation alongside a terminal. look elsewhere if: Users who need documented Mosh, port forwarding or jump-host support, or any non-Apple platform.
• ServerCC best for: Developers running Claude Code or Codex on their own server or Mac who want to resume and manage those sessions from a phone over SSH. look elsewhere if: Users who want a general SSH client with port forwarding, jump hosts or Mosh, or who need open-source code.
• Splash best for: Developers who want a free, open-source GUI to run several ACP-compatible agents in parallel worktrees across macOS, Windows or Linux. look elsewhere if: Anyone needing a mature, supported product or a native phone app for steering agents.
• SSHive best for: Mac and iPhone users who want one-time-priced SSH, RDP and VNC in a single native app. look elsewhere if: Windows or Linux users, Intel Macs, or anyone needing open source or team vaults.
• Superset best for: Mac developers who want parallel worktree-based agents with scheduled automations and phone follow-up, and can accept a source-available license. look elsewhere if: Windows users or teams that require an OSI-approved open-source license.
• T3 Code best for: Developers who run several agent CLIs and want one open-source UI usable from desktop, browser and phone. look elsewhere if: Anyone who needs a stable, fully documented, contribution-friendly project today.
• Tabby best for: Users who want one desktop app for local shells, SSH and serial ports with split panes. look elsewhere if: Users who need built-in desktop SFTP file browsing or first-party cloud sync of connections.
• Termary best for: Mac users running several Claude Code or Codex agents in parallel who want worktree isolation and phone monitoring. look elsewhere if: Anyone needing Windows or Linux, an open-source terminal, or a general-purpose SSH/SFTP client.
• Termius best for: People who manage the same set of servers from a laptop and a phone and are willing to pay for sync. look elsewhere if: Anyone who wants a no-account, fully offline, self-hosted tool or needs documented X11 forwarding.
• TermOnMac best for: Mac users who want to continue a terminal or Claude Code session from iPhone or iPad without configuring SSH. look elsewhere if: People who need to connect to Linux servers, use SSH keys or jump hosts, or use Android.
• Termux best for: Android users comfortable in a shell who want SSH plus a scriptable Linux-style environment on the phone. look elsewhere if: Users who want a point-and-tap SSH manager with saved hosts, SFTP browser and key UI.
• Tern best for: Developers running several coding agents in parallel who want worktree isolation, review queue and phone approval for free. look elsewhere if: Users needing a general SSH/SFTP client, Windows support, or open source.
• Voltius best for: Windows or Linux users wanting an open-source Termius-style client with self-chosen sync backends. look elsewhere if: Mac-first users who want a mature, non-experimental macOS build or an iOS app today.
• Warp best for: Developers who want an AI-agent-centric terminal with shared workflows and optional team plans. look elsewhere if: Users who want a classic SSH/serial/port-forwarding client or a terminal with no AI or paid-tier surface.
• Wave Terminal best for: Developers who want a graphical, widget-based terminal with remote file editing and AI over SSH. look elsewhere if: Users who need serial, Telnet, X11 or documented tunnel/SFTP management.
• WezTerm best for: Users who want one Lua-scripted terminal with built-in multiplexing and SSH on Windows, macOS and Linux. look elsewhere if: People who want a GUI host manager, SFTP browser or tunnel manager.
• Windows Terminal best for: Windows developers who switch between PowerShell, cmd and WSL shells in one tabbed window. look elsewhere if: Anyone who wants a saved-host SSH manager or file transfer UI, or who works on macOS/Linux.
• WindTerm best for: Individuals who want a free multi-protocol terminal with built-in SFTP and tmux support across desktop OSes. look elsewhere if: Users who need Mosh, scripting, sync or active vendor support, or who require fully open source.
• WinSCP best for: Windows users who need a scriptable GUI client for SFTP/SCP and S3 file transfers. look elsewhere if: macOS or Linux users, or those who need a terminal-first SSH workflow.
• Xshell best for: Windows users who want a scriptable SSH client with strong tunneling and a free license for personal use. look elsewhere if: Mac or Linux users, or companies unwilling to buy per-user licenses.
• Xum (formerly Mux) best for: Developers who want an open-source, model-agnostic agent workspace with worktree and SSH runtimes and browser access. look elsewhere if: People who want a polished stable Windows app or to run vendor CLIs such as Claude Code inside the app.
• Zellij best for: Developers who want a modern, configurable multiplexer with layouts and plugins on macOS, Linux or Windows. look elsewhere if: Users who want a standalone terminal app, an SSH connection manager, or file transfer.