Best SSH Clients in 2026
Updated
In short: electerm is ranked #1 of 34 as of 4 October 2026, ahead of Termius and Royal TS. The best-ranked option with a free plan is Termius. The lowest first paid tier on this page is XPipe at $3.33/mo.
For connecting to remote systems, an SSH client’s protocol coverage and workflow tools can make a practical difference. The ranking opens with electerm, Tabby, XPipe, and Termius, with WindTerm and Tabby (formerly Terminus) also near the top. Compare supported platforms and protocols for your environment, then look at session management, port forwarding, and SFTP support for the tasks you handle. Team session sharing may matter when others need to work alongside you. Free-plan availability and paid-from pricing round out the comparison. WinSCP and MobaXterm are also among the first entries, giving you further options to weigh against your connection and collaboration needs.
34 SSH clients ranked on what their makers publish — plans and prices, free tiers, platforms and the facts on their own pages.
#1 electerm Top pick · 7.4 Free plan · Free
#2 Termius Runner-up · 7.4 Free plan · $10/mo
#3 Royal TS Also great · 7.3 Free plan · Free- Free plan AndroidiOSLinuxmacOSself-hostedWebWindows
- Free plan
- Yes
- Supported protocols
- SSH, SFTP, FTP, Telnet, serial, RDP, VNC, SPICE
- Supported platforms
- Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS, HarmonyOS
- SFTP support
- Yes
- Port forwarding
- Yes
RecognisedDocumentedFree planPlatforms - Free plan AndroidiOSLinuxmacOSWindows
- Free plan
- Yes
- Supported protocols
- SSH, SFTP, Telnet, Mosh, local terminal
- Supported platforms
- Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android, iPadOS
- SFTP support
- Yes
- Port forwarding
- Yes
RecognisedDocumentedFree planPlatforms$10/mofirst paid tier About TermiusVisit site - Free planFree trial AndroidextensioniOSmacOSWindows
- Free plan
- Yes
- Supported protocols
- SSH, Telnet, RS232, Raw, Rlogin, RDP, VNC, HTTP/HTTPS, FTP, SFTP, SCP
- Supported platforms
- Windows
- SFTP support
- Yes
- Port forwarding
- Yes
RecognisedDocumentedFree planPlatforms - Free plan LinuxmacOSWindows
- Free plan
- Yes
- Supported protocols
- SSH, SFTP
- Supported platforms
- Windows, macOS, Linux
- SFTP support
- Yes
- Port forwarding
- Yes
RecognisedDocumentedFree planPlatforms$3.33/mofirst paid tier About XPipeVisit site - Free plan LinuxmacOSWindows
- Free plan
- Yes
- Supported platforms
- Windows, macOS, Linux
RecognisedDocumentedFree planPlatforms - Free plan LinuxmacOSWindows
- Free plan
- Yes
- Supported protocols
- SSH, SFTP, SCP, Telnet, Raw TCP, Serial, XModem, YModem, ZModem
- Supported platforms
- Windows, macOS, Linux
- SFTP support
- Yes
- Port forwarding
- Yes
RecognisedDocumentedFree planPlatforms - Free planOpen source Windows
- Free plan
- Yes
- Supported protocols
- SSH, SFTP, SCP, FTP, FTPS, WebDAV, WebDAVS, S3
- Supported platforms
- Windows
- SFTP support
- Yes
- Port forwarding
- Yes
RecognisedDocumentedFree planPlatforms - Free plan LinuxWindows
- Free plan
- Yes
- Supported protocols
- SSH, SFTP, RDP, VNC, Telnet, FTP
- Supported platforms
- Linux; Windows via WSL
- SFTP support
- Yes
- Port forwarding
- Yes
RecognisedDocumentedFree planPlatforms - Free planFree trial Windows
- Free plan
- Yes
- Supported protocols
- SSH, SFTP, SCP, FTP, FTPS, Telnet, Rlogin, RSH, RDP, VNC, XDMCP, Mosh, Serial
- Supported platforms
- Windows
- SFTP support
- Yes
- Port forwarding
- Yes
RecognisedDocumentedFree planPlatforms - Free plan LinuxmacOSWindows
- Free plan
- Yes
- Supported protocols
- SSH, SFTP
- Supported platforms
- macOS, Windows, Linux
- SFTP support
- Yes
RecognisedDocumentedFree planPlatforms€9/mofirst paid tier About SecurSSHVisit site - Free planFree trial Windows
- Free plan
- Yes
- Supported protocols
- SSH1, SSH2, SFTP, TELNET, RLOGIN, SERIAL, RDP, FTP
- Supported platforms
- Windows 10/11; Windows Server 2012/2016/2019/2022
- SFTP support
- Yes
- Port forwarding
- Yes
RecognisedDocumentedFree planPlatformsFree About XftpVisit site - Free plan Windows
- Free plan
- Yes
- Supported protocols
- SSH v2, SFTP v3/v4/v6, SOCKS4, SOCKS4A, SOCKS5, HTTP CONNECT, FTP-to-SFTP bridge, VT-100, xterm, bvterm
- Supported platforms
- Windows desktop and server editions, x86 and x64
- SFTP support
- Yes
- Port forwarding
- Yes
RecognisedDocumentedFree planPlatforms - Free trial LinuxmacOSself-hostedWebWindows
- Supported protocols
- SSH v2, SFTP, SCP, TCP tunneling
- Supported platforms
- Windows, macOS, Linux, AIX, Solaris, and other Unix platforms
- SFTP support
- Yes
- Port forwarding
- Yes
RecognisedDocumentedFree planPlatforms - LinuxWeb
- Free plan
- Yes
- Supported protocols
- SSH, Telnet, Rlogin, SUPDUP, raw, serial, SFTP, SCP
- Supported platforms
- Windows and Unix
- SFTP support
- Yes
- Port forwarding
- Yes
RecognisedDocumentedFree planPlatforms - WindowsmacOSLinux
- Free plan
- Yes
- Supported protocols
- SSH, SFTP
- Supported platforms
- macOS, Linux, Windows 11
- SFTP support
- Yes
- Port forwarding
- Yes
RecognisedDocumentedFree planPlatforms - WindowsmacOSLinux
- Supported protocols
- SSH 2, SFTP, SCP
- Supported platforms
- Linux, macOS, Cygwin (Windows), and other Unix systems
- SFTP support
- Yes
- Port forwarding
- Yes
RecognisedDocumentedFree planPlatforms - WindowsmacOSLinux
- Supported protocols
- SSH, SFTP, serial, Zmodem, FTP, SMB, WebDAV, S3, Alibaba OSS, Huawei OBS, Tencent COS
- Supported platforms
- Windows, macOS, Linux
- SFTP support
- Yes
- Port forwarding
- Yes
RecognisedDocumentedFree planPlatforms - WindowsmacOSLinux
- Free plan
- No
- Supported protocols
- SSH1, SSH2, Telnet, Telnet/TLS, serial, RDP, SFTP, SCP, FTPS, HTTPS, FTP, HTTP, Xmodem, Ymodem, Zmodem, Kermit, and TFTP
- Supported platforms
- Windows, macOS, Linux
- SFTP support
- Yes
- Port forwarding
- Yes
RecognisedDocumentedFree planPlatforms - iOS
- Supported protocols
- SSH, Mosh, SFTP, SCP
- Supported platforms
- iOS, iPadOS
- SFTP support
- Yes
- Port forwarding
- Yes
RecognisedDocumentedFree planPlatforms - macOSiOS
- Free plan
- Yes
- Supported protocols
- SSH/OpenSSH, SFTP, serial
- Supported platforms
- macOS, iOS, iPadOS
- SFTP support
- Yes
- Port forwarding
- No
RecognisedDocumentedFree planPlatforms - WindowsmacOSLinux
- Supported protocols
- SSH, SFTP, Windows Remote Desktop
- Supported platforms
- Windows, macOS, Linux
- SFTP support
- Yes
RecognisedDocumentedFree planPlatforms - macOSiOS
- Free plan
- Yes
- Supported protocols
- SSH, SFTP
- Supported platforms
- iPhone, iPad, Mac
- SFTP support
- Yes
- Port forwarding
- Yes
RecognisedDocumentedFree planPlatforms - Windows
- Free plan
- Yes
- Supported protocols
- SSH, Telnet, SCP, SFTP
- Supported platforms
- Windows
- SFTP support
- Yes
RecognisedDocumentedFree planPlatforms - Windows
- Free plan
- Yes
- Supported platforms
- windows
RecognisedDocumentedFree planPlatforms - Windows
- Free plan
- Yes
- Supported protocols
- SSH1, SSH2, SFTP, TELNET, RLOGIN, SERIAL, RDP
- Supported platforms
- Windows 10/11; Windows Server 2012/2016/2019/2022
- SFTP support
- Yes
- Port forwarding
- Yes
RecognisedDocumentedFree planPlatforms
Is your app on this list?
Numbered spots on this list can be sponsored. They are labelled, and the editorial order and scores never change for payment.
Questions about this list
Which SSH client is ranked first on Everything Xiaomi?
electerm is ranked #1 of 34 with a score of 7.4. Termius is second and Royal TS third.
How many of these have a free plan?
12 of the 25 on this page publish a free plan on their own pricing pages.
Which is the cheapest paid option?
On this page, XPipe has the lowest first paid tier we found: $3.33/mo.
How is this list ranked?
Ranked on what each maker publishes: documentation depth, a free tier and the platforms it runs on. Paid placements never change a rank.
































