Roundup

The best free, open-source SSH clients for Windows and Mac

There's no single best SSH client. The right one depends on what you're connecting to and from where. Here's how we'd choose, Pane included. All of these are free and open source.

Quick pick

Which SSH client to pick
If you want…Use
The built-in, zero-install optionOpenSSH (ssh in Terminal or PowerShell)
A full-featured terminal with an SSH managerTabby
Speed and config-as-codeWezTerm
A classic Windows clientPuTTY
A reliable session on a bad connectionMosh
Your whole dev machine, plus agents, from any device or phonePane

  • The built-in, zero-install option

    Use
    OpenSSH (ssh in Terminal or PowerShell)

  • A full-featured terminal with an SSH manager

    Use
    Tabby

  • Speed and config-as-code

    Use
    WezTerm

  • A classic Windows client

    Use
    PuTTY

  • A reliable session on a bad connection

    Use
    Mosh

  • Your whole dev machine, plus agents, from any device or phone

    Use
    Pane

OpenSSH

Already on macOS, Linux and modern Windows. Put your hosts in ~/.ssh/config and type ssh <name>. It's the foundation every other tool here builds on.

Tabby

A cross-platform terminal with tabs, splits, saved SSH profiles and SFTP. A good pick if you want one app for local shells and many servers. Pane vs Tabby

WezTerm

A fast, GPU-rendered terminal configured in Lua, with SSH domains that read your SSH config. Pane vs WezTerm

PuTTY

The long-standing Windows SSH client. Simple and dependable, with a dated interface.

Mosh

A replacement for the SSH session itself that survives roaming and sleep. Pair it with any terminal.

Pane

Pane isn't only an SSH client. It connects to your own machines over Tailscale, or an SSH tunnel from a desktop. Then it gives you their terminals, files and coding agents from any desktop or your phone's browser, and their dev servers at localhost on a connected desktop. Pick it when the remote machine is where you develop. How it works

How to choose

  1. Servers you administer: OpenSSH plus Tabby or WezTerm.
  2. A dev machine you build on: Pane.
  3. From a phone: Pane's browser app, or a dedicated SSH app if you only need a shell. Mobile options

Related

Sources

Corrections
If anything here is wrong or out of date, tell us and we'll fix it and update the date at the top. Open an issue on GitHub
Sources
or
Download*
Windows SmartScreen warningDirect downloads can show a SmartScreen warning while Pane is unsigned. Pane is fully open source, so you can audit the code and build from source yourself.1. Click More info2. Click Run anyway3. Continue the installerThe PowerShell install downloads the official release directly and avoids most browser download friction.npm global install
Paste that in PowerShell.Linux

By Parsa Khazaeepoul, co-founder of Pane. .