Comparison of SSH clients

For more details on this topic, see Secure shell.

An SSH client is a software program which uses the secure shell protocol to connect to a remote computer. This article compares a selection of popular clients.

General

Name	Developer	Status	First release	Latest release	Based on	License	Source available
AbsoluteTelnet	Celestial Software (Brian Pence)	Active	1996			Proprietary	No
Pragma Fortress SSH Client Suite	Pragma Systems, Inc.	Active	2004			Commercial	No
CopSSH	ITeF!x	Active	February, 2009		OpenSSH	BSD	Yes
ConnectBot	Kenny Root / Jeffrey Sharkey	Active	November, 2007			Apache	Yes
Dropbear	Matt Johnston	Active	January, 2005			MIT	Yes
eSSH Client	Ecode Software	Active	July, 2002			Proprietary	No
FileZilla	Tim Kosse	Active	Feb, 2001		PuTTY	GPL	Yes
GoAnywhere Director	Linoma Software	Active	2002			Proprietary	No
KiTTY	(Cyd)	Active	2009	Aug 17, 2011	PuTTY	MIT	Yes
lsh	Niels Möller	Active	May 23, 1999 (0.1)			GPL	Yes
MindTerm	Cryptzone	Active	Nov 13, 1998			Commercial	Yes
OpenSSH	The OpenBSD project	Active	December 1, 1999		ossh	BSD	Yes
PenguiNet	Silicon Circus	Active	April 7, 2000		N/A	Proprietary	No
PowerTerm InterConnect	Ericom Software	Active	1994			Proprietary	No
Private Shell	Imposant	Active	April, 2003			Proprietary	No
ProxyCap	Proxy Labs	Active	2002			Commercial	No
PuTTY	Simon Tatham	Active	January 1999	July 12, 2011		MIT	Yes
Reflection for Secure IT	Attachmate	Active			F-Secure SSH	Proprietary	No
Salt	Hekkelman Programmatuur	Active	Nov, 2011			Proprietary	No
SecureCRT	VanDyke Software	Active	June, 1998			Proprietary	No
SFTPPlus	Pro:Atria Ltd	Active	2005		OpenSSH/PuTTY	Proprietary	No
SmartFTP	SmartSoft Ltd	Active	1998			Proprietary	No
SSH Tectia	SSH Communications Security/Tectia	Active	July 1995			Proprietary	No
SunSSH	Open Solaris	Active	2001		OpenSSH 2.3	OpenSolaris License	Yes
Tera Term	TeraTerm Project	Active	2004		TeraTerm 2.3 (1994–1998)	BSD	Yes
TN3270 Plus	SDI USA, Inc.	Active	2006			Proprietary	No
WinSCP	Martin Prikryl	Active	2000		PuTTY	GPL	Yes
ZOC Terminal	EmTec, Innovative Software	Active	January, 1999			Proprietary	No
TtyEmulator	FCS Software	Active	May, 2002			Proprietary	No

Platform

The operating systems or virtual machines the SSH clients are designed to run on without emulation; there are several possibilities:

• Partial indicates that while it works, the client lacks important functionality compared to versions for other OSs but may still be under development.

The list is not exhaustive, but rather reflects the most common platforms today.

Name	Mac OS X	Mac OS Classic	Windows	Cygwin	BSD	Linux	Solaris	Palm OS	Java	OpenVMS	Windows Mobile	z/OS	AmigaOS	AIX	HP-UX	iPhone,[Note 1] iPod Touch	Android	Maemo
AbsoluteTelnet	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Not Yet	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Pragma FortressSSH Client Suite	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
CopSSH	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Connectbot	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	No	No	No	No	Yes	No
Dropbear	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	No	No	No	No	Yes	Yes
eSSH Client	Yes	No	Yes	N/A	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	No	No	No	No	No	No
GoAnywhere Director	Yes	Yes	Yes	N/A	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes[Note 2]	Yes	No	Yes[Note 2]	No	N/A	Yes	Yes	Yes[Note 2]	Yes[Note 2]	N/A[Note 2]
lsh	Yes	No	No	No	Partial[Note 3]	Yes	Yes	No	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	No	No	No	No	No	No
MindTerm	Yes[Note 4]	Yes[Note 4]	Yes[Note 4]	No	Yes[Note 4]	Yes[Note 4]	Yes[Note 4]	Yes[Note 4]	Yes[Note 4]	Yes[Note 4]	No	Yes[Note 4]	Yes[Note 4]	Yes[Note 4]	Yes[Note 4]	No	No	No
OpenSSH	Included	No	Yes	Included	Included	Included[Note 5]	Yes	No	N/A	Yes	N/A	Yes	Yes	Yes[Note 6]	Yes	Yes[Note 7]	No	Yes
PenguiNet	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
PowerTerm InterConnect	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Private Shell	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
ProxyCap	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
PuTTY	Partial	Partial	Yes	N/A	Yes	Yes		No	N/A	N/A	Yes	N/A	No	No	No	No	No	No
Reflection for Secure IT	No	No	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	No
Salt	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
SecureCRT	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
SFTPPlus	No	No	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	No	No	No	No	No	No
SmartFTP	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
SSH Tectia	No	No	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	Partial	N/A	N/A	Yes	N/A	Yes	Yes	No	No	No
Tera Term	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	No	N/A	No	No	No	No
TN3270 Plus	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
TtyEmulator	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
WinSCP	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	Only on non-MC model iPod touches	No	No
ZOC Terminal	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No	No
Name	Mac OS X	Mac OS Classic	Windows	Cygwin	BSD	Linux	Solaris	Palm OS	Java	OpenVMS	Windows Mobile	z/OS	AmigaOS	AIX	HP-UX	iPhone,[Note 1] iPod Touch	Android	Maemo

1. ^ ^{a b} Unless otherwise noted, iPhone refers to non-jailbroken devices.
2. ^ ^{a b c d e} Client runs on a server and files can be securely administered or transferred from an internet capable mobile or wireless device.
3. ^ lsh supports only one BSD platform officially, FreeBSD.
4. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k l m} Requires Java 1.1 or later.
5. ^ The majority of Linux distributions have OpenSSH as an official package, but a few do not.
6. ^ Openssh 3.4 was the first release included since AIX
7. ^ Only for jailbroken devices.

Technical

Name	User interface	SSH1	SSH2	Additional protocols		Tunneling			Session multiplexing[Note 1]	Kerberos	IPv6
				TELNET	rlogin	Port forwarding	SOCKS[Note 2]	VPN[Note 3]				Terminal	SFTP/SCP	Proxy client[Note 4]
AbsoluteTelnet/SSH	GUI (multi-session, single-window)	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	SOCKS 4, 5; HTTP
Pragma FortressSSH Client Suite	Graphical User Interface	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	—	—	—	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
CopSSH	GUI or command line	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?
Connectbot	GUI	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	No
Dropbear	command line	No	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	?
GoAnywhere Director	GUI or command line	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	SOCKS 4, 5; HTTP; Telnet; Local
lsh	command line	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	?
MindTerm	GUI	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	SOCKS 4, 5; HTTP; Telnet
OpenSSH	command line	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	ProxyCommand
PenguiNet	GUI	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	Yes	SCP	?
PowerTerm InterConnect	GUI	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	SFTP	?
Private Shell	GUI or command line	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	SOCKS 5
ProxyCap	GUI	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	No	SOCKS 4, 5; HTTP; SSH
PuTTY	GUI or command line	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No[Note 5]	Yes	Yes	Yes[Note 6]	SOCKS 4, 5; HTTP; Telnet; Local
Reflection for Secure IT	GUI or command line	Yes	Yes	Optional	Optional	Yes	Yes	?	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	SOCKS; HTTP
Salt	GUI	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	No
SecureCRT	GUI	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	SOCKS 4, 5; HTTP; Telnet; Generic
SFTPPlus	GUI or command line	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	?	No		No		No	Yes	?
SmartFTP	GUI (multi-session, single-window)	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	SOCKS 4, 5; HTTP
SSH Tectia	GUI or command line	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	?
Tera Term	GUI	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	SCP	SOCKS 4, 5; HTTP; Telnet
TN3270 Plus	GUI	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	SOCKS 4
TtyEmulator	GUI or command line	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	No, not yet	Yes	No, use external tool	SOCKS 4,4a, 5; HTTP Local
WinSCP	GUI or command line	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	simple	Yes	SOCKS 4, 5; HTTP; Telnet; Local
ZOC Terminal	TDI or command line	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	?	No	Yes	Yes	SCP	SOCKS 4

1. ^ Accelerating OpenSSH connections with ControlMaster.
2. ^ The ability for the SSH client to perform dynamic port forwarding by acting as a local SOCKS proxy.
3. ^ The ability for the SSH client to establish a VPN, e.g. using TUN/TAP.
4. ^ Can the SSH client connect itself through a proxy? This is distinct from offering a SOCKS proxy or port forwarding.
5. ^ Current development snapshots of PuTTY contain Kerberos support, which is planned for the next release. Also, there exist third-party patches that add Kerberos functionality to PuTTY. [1][2]
6. ^ The PuTTY developers provide SCP and SFTP functionality as binaries for separate download.

Features

Name	Keyboard mapping	Session tabs	ZMODEM transfers	Find text in buffer	Mouse input support[Note 1]	Unicode support	URL hyperlinking	Public key authentication	Smart card support	Hardware encryption	FIPS 140-2 validation	Scripting
AbsoluteTelnet	full	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	Yes	Yes
Pragma FortressSSH Client Suite	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
CopSSH	?	?	?	?	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes[Note 2]	Yes	No	?
Connectbot	No	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	?	No	No
GoAnywhere Director	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No[Note 3]	Yes
MindTerm	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	No
OpenSSH	?	?	?	?	?	Yes	?	Yes	Yes[Note 2]	Yes	Partial[Note 4]	No
PenguiNet	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	?
PowerTerm InterConnect	full	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	Yes	Yes
Private Shell	full	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
ProxyCap	No	No	No	No	No	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	No	No
PuTTY	No	No[Note 5]	No	No	Yes	Yes	No[Note 6]	Yes	No[Note 7]	?	No	No
Reflection for Secure IT	Yes	No	?	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	?
Salt	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	UTF-8	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	No
SecureCRT	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
SmartFTP	Partial	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	AES-NI	Yes	No
Tera Term	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No
TN3270 Plus	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	Yes
TtyEmulator	No	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	No	Yes
ZOC Terminal	full	Yes	Yes	Alt+F	Yes	UTF-8	No	Yes	No	No	No	Yes

1. ^ The ability to transmit mouse input to text mode applications such as Midnight Commander
2. ^ ^{a b} OpenSSH needs to be patched to ask for the pin of the smartcard. If you don't want to patch OpenSSH you can use ssh-agent (the link is in french)
3. ^ Uses FIPS 140-2 validated cryptographic libraries.
4. ^ Validated [3] when operated on Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 in FIPS mode
5. ^ PuTTY does not support directly, but with installing PuTTY Connection Manager or SuperPuTTY session tabs support is available.
6. ^ PuTTY does not support this but a branch of PuTTY named PuTTY Tray does.
7. ^ PuTTY does not support smart cards but PuTTY-CAC does, see http://www.risacher.org/putty-cac/.

See also

• Comparison of SSH servers
• Comparison of FTP client software

References

External links

• SSH clients at the Open Directory Project
• SSH for Java - Comparing Java clients
• A Comparison of Free SSH and SCP Programs for Windows