The Best Free PuTTY AlternativesTop Terminal Emulators & SSH Clients like PuTTY

The best free alternative to PuTTY is KiTTY, which is also Open Source. If that doesn't suit you, our users have ranked more than 100 alternatives to PuTTY and loads of them is free so hopefully you can find a suitable replacement. Other interesting free alternatives to PuTTY are OpenSSH, MobaXterm, Tabby and Termux.

filter to find the best alternatives

PuTTY alternatives are mainly Terminal Emulators, but if you're looking for SSH Clients or Shells you can filter on that. Other popular filters include Mac, Linux, iPhone, Windows, iPad, Android and Google Chrome. These are just examples - use the filter bar below to find more specific alternatives to PuTTY.
Copy a direct link to this comment to your clipboard
PuTTY alternatives page was last updated

Alternatives list

  1. KiTTY icon
     190 likes

    KiTTY is an opensource terminal emulator, forked from PuTTY , that adds many extra features to the original software.

    105 KiTTY alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Alerts

    • Discontinued

    Platforms

    • Windows
     
    |
    4
  2. OpenSSH icon
     391 likes

    OpenSSH is a free version of the SSH connectivity tools that technical users rely on. OpenSSH encrypts all traffic (including passwords) to effectively eliminate eavesdropping, connection hijacking, and other attacks.

    61 OpenSSH alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • iPhone
    • BSD
    • Cygwin
    • Haiku
     
    |
    10
  3. MobaXterm icon
     229 likes

    MobaXterm is an enhanced terminal app that brings the advanced features of a Unix-like command-line to Windows. It takes the power of Cygwin and wraps it in a sleek, visual interface that's super easy to use, lightweight and portable.

    124 MobaXterm alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Freemium
    • Proprietary

    Platforms

    • Windows
     
    |
    3
  4. Tabby icon
     129 likes

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

    115 Tabby alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source (MIT)

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
     
    |
    1
  5. Termux icon
     120 likes

    Experience a powerful Unix terminal on Android without the need for rooting. Customize with packages via Apt, run command-line tools, SSH, and program in C, Python, and more. Enjoy a full Unix environment with bash, zsh, mouse support, and external display compatibility.

    113 Termux alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Android
    • Android Tablet
    • F-Droid
    • zsh
    • GNU Bourne Again SHell
     
  6. mRemoteNG icon
     228 likes

    Manage remote connections efficiently with this open-source tool, featuring a tabbed interface supporting RDP, VNC, SSH, Telnet, HTTP, and more protocols, without any ads.

    90 mRemoteNG alternatives

    Cost / License

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Windows
     
    |
    2
  7. Termius icon
     38 likes

    Termius is more than a mere SSH client – it’s a complete command-line solution that’s redefining remote access for sysadmins and network engineers. Securely access Linux or IoT devices and quickly fix issues from the comfort of your couch via laptop or phone.

    63 Termius alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Freemium
    • Proprietary

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Android
    • iPhone
    • Chrome OS
    • iPad
    • Flathub
     
    |
    1
  8. ReTerminal icon
     20 likes

    ReTerminal is a sleek, Material 3-inspired terminal emulator designed as a modern alternative to the legacy Jackpal Terminal. Built on Termux's robust TerminalView.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source (MIT)

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Android
    • Android Tablet
    • F-Droid
     
  9. PowerShell icon
     201 likes

    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.

    70 PowerShell alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source (MIT)

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Snapcraft
     
    |
    6
  10. SSH client for file transfer, terminal and tunneling.

    65 Bitvise SSH Client alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free Personal
    • Proprietary

    Platforms

    • Windows
     
    |
    2
  11. ConnectBot icon
     103 likes

    ConnectBot is a Secure Shell client for the Android platform. Its ultimate goal is to create a secure connection through which you can use a shell on a remote machine and transfer files back and forth to your phone.

    48 ConnectBot alternatives

    Cost / License

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Android
    • F-Droid
     
12 of 98 PuTTY alternatives