MXterm Pro vs Tabby
A side-by-side of two tools that overlap but start from different places. Facts come from each vendor's own pages, checked 2026-10-20.
| MXterm Pro made by us | Tabby | |
|---|---|---|
| platforms | macOSWindowsLinux | macOSWindowsLinuxWeb |
| price | FreemiumFree plan, no account (unlimited terminal panes, up to 5 SSH servers, 1 Control Room with 2 agents). Pro: lifetime licence from $29 for 3 devices for the first 100 licences, then from $8.9/month (seen 2026-10-20 on mxterm.net). | FreeFree (seen 2026-10-20); no paid tier found on GitHub README or releases page |
| source | Proprietary | Open source |
| SSH | ✓ yes | ✓ yes |
| SFTP | ✓ yes | ? not verified |
| Tabs | ✓ yes | ✓ yes |
| Split panes | ✓ yes | ✓ yes |
| Port forwarding | ✓ yes | ✓ yes |
| Jump host | ? not verified | ✓ yes |
| X11 | ? not verified | ✓ yes |
| Serial | ? not verified | ✓ yes |
| Telnet | ? not verified | ✓ yes |
| Mosh | ? not verified | ? not verified |
| Cloud sync | ? not verified | ? not verified |
| Team sharing | ? not verified | ? not verified |
| Scripting / API | ? not verified | ✓ yes |
| AI agents | ✓ yes | ? not verified |
| MCP | ? not verified | ? not verified |
| Phone control | ? not verified | ? not verified |
| Mobile app | ✓ yes | ? not verified |
+ Tabby is stronger at
- SSH client includes X11 forwarding, port forwarding, agent forwarding, jump host management and login scripts in one app
- Serial terminal with saved connections, hex input/output and automatic reconnection, alongside SSH and Telnet
- Plugin and theme installation from the Settings view; encrypted container for SSH secrets and settings; portable mode on Windows
+ MXterm Pro is stronger at
- Runs several AI coding agent CLIs side by side in a Control Room, optionally one git worktree per agent
- SSH hosts, an SFTP panel with an editor, and local terminal panes live in the same tabbed window
- Local-first: conversation records stay on your machine and provider keys sit in the OS keychain
- Free plan needs no account and has no pane limit
~/which to pick
- pick Tabby if
- Users who want one desktop app for local shells, SSH and serial ports with split panes.
- pick MXterm Pro if
- Developers who run AI coding agents and SSH sessions together and want one native window, plus phone access to those sessions.
- skip Tabby if
- Users who need built-in desktop SFTP file browsing or first-party cloud sync of connections.
- skip MXterm Pro if
- Anyone who needs an X11 server, RDP/VNC, serial consoles or a hosted team vault today.