PuTTY AlternativesOnly apps categorised as Shells for Windows

There are many alternatives to PuTTY for Windows if you are looking for a replacement. The best Windows Shell alternative is Tabby, which is both free and Open Source. If that doesn't suit you, our users have ranked more than 100 alternatives to PuTTY and nine of them are Shells available for Windows so hopefully you can find a suitable replacement. Other interesting Windows Shell alternatives to PuTTY are PowerShell, ZOC, WindTerm and Tempest - SSH and SFTP client.

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PuTTY alternatives are mainly Shells, but if you're looking for Terminal Emulators or SSH Clients you can filter on that. Other popular filters include Mac, Linux, iPhone, iPad, Windows, Android and Google Chrome. These are just examples - use the filter bar below to find more specific alternatives to PuTTY.
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Alternatives list

  1. Tabby icon
     118 likes
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    Tabby is an infinitely customizable cross-platform terminal app for local shells, serial, SSH and Telnet connections.

    106 Tabby alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source (MIT)

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
     
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    1
    9
    Comments about Tabby as an Alternative to PuTTY
    takavar
    Positive
    0

    I think Tabby is overall easier and more smoother to work with. Specially since you get tabs, themes etc. If you just want to ssh into this than that I don't know why you wouldn't switch to tabby.

    PuTTY Icon
    Tabby icon
    • Almost everyone thinks Tabby is a great PuTTY alternative.

    • Tabby is Free and Open SourcePuTTY is also Free and Open Source
    • Tabby is CustomizablePuTTY is not according to our users
  2. PowerShell icon
     200 likes
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    PowerShell (including Windows PowerShell and PowerShell Core) is a task automation and configuration management framework from Microsoft, consisting of a command-line shell and associated scripting language built on the .NET Framework.

    68 PowerShell alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source (MIT)

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Snapcraft
     
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    5
    6
    Comments about PowerShell as an Alternative to PuTTY
    Top Positive Comment
    Guest
    3

    Since recently Microsoft has integrates OpenSSH in Windows 10 natively, so PowerShell (and Windows terminal) may now connect to SSH hosts from the command line, as you would do from LINUX or OS/X. PuTTY however has many more functions.

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    Top Negative Comment
    Guest
    11

    PuTTY is for remote terminal access, via SSH, Telnet, serial, etc.. Powershell is a shell for scripting not SSH or Telent access.

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
    Guest
    Negative
    0

    It's not a remote terminal access tool, it's a scripting language

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
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    3 of 5 comments
    PuTTY Icon
    PowerShell icon
    • This alternative is disputed. PowerShell is a legitimate PuTTY alternative, but it might have issues that some users think are important.

    • PowerShell is Free and Open SourcePuTTY is also Free and Open Source
  3. ZOC icon
     70 likes
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    ZOC is a powerful and well-established terminal emulator and telnet client, well known for its outstanding user interface with tabbed multi session support.

    72 ZOC alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Paid
    • Proprietary

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
     
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    8
    29
    Comments about ZOC as an Alternative to PuTTY
    Top Positive Comment
    hansolo1988
    3

    Just let me say one thing: Try managing 200 hosts for 10+ clients in the host directory of Putty and ZOC.

    Foworax J. Smith
    Positive
    0

    Much nicer user interface.

    grercl
    Positive
    0

    tabs, ease of use, very easy to customize

    Review by a new / low-activity user.
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    3 of 8 comments
    PuTTY Icon
    ZOC icon
    • Almost everyone thinks ZOC is a great PuTTY alternative.

    • ZOC is the most popular commercial alternative to PuTTY.

    • ZOC is Paid and ProprietaryPuTTY is Free and Open Source
  4.  4 likes
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    TinyShell is ideal for anyone who wants command line access to their server, but is limited by HTTP access. Furthermore TinyShell comes with a native MySQL command line client, that some say is even better than MySQL’s own command line interface.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Alerts

    • Discontinued

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
     
  5. Qonsole icon
     3 likes
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    "A Quake-like Console Emulator." Proudly under the MIT License.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Windows
     
  6. FireCMD icon
     15 likes
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    FireCMD command shell has features like recursive aliases, command substitution using files, HTML and CSS support, which makes it a next generation command shell. It also remembers command history and last working directory for next session.

    Cost / License

    • Paid
    • Proprietary

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Windows
     
  7. xs icon
     1 like
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    Simple alternative to ssh (<5% SLOCC) written from scratch in Go, with support for PQC KEMs (Post-Quantum Cryptography Key-Encapsulation Mechanisms).

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source (MIT)

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Android
    • BSD
    • Cygwin
    • FreeBSD
    • Termux
     
9 of 9 PuTTY alternatives