SSH clients and terminals for Windows

~/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.
• Claude Code Desktop best for: Claude subscribers who want a GUI for several parallel Claude Code sessions with worktrees, review and phone continuation. look elsewhere if: Users who want to mix agents from several vendors or need a fully open-source workspace.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• SecureCRT best for: Network and systems admins who need scripted access to SSH, Telnet and serial devices from Windows, macOS or Linux. look elsewhere if: Users who want a free tool or built-in cross-device sync.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.