Best SSH Clients in 2026

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.

34ranked
12free plans on this page
$3.33/molowest paid tier
4 Oct 2026last checked
#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
  1. 1 7.4
    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
  2. 2 7.4
    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
  3. 3 7.3
    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
  4. 4 7.2
    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
  5. 5 7.1
    Free plan LinuxmacOSWindows
    Free plan
    Yes
    Supported platforms
    Windows, macOS, Linux
    RecognisedDocumentedFree planPlatforms
  6. 6 7.0
    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
  7. 7 7.0
    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
  8. 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
  9. 9 6.9
    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
  10. 10 6.9
    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
  11. 11 6.9
    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 planPlatforms
  12. 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
  13. 13 6.4
    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
  14. 14 6.1
    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
  15. 15 5.9
    WindowsmacOSLinux
    Free plan
    Yes
    Supported protocols
    SSH, SFTP
    Supported platforms
    macOS, Linux, Windows 11
    SFTP support
    Yes
    Port forwarding
    Yes
    RecognisedDocumentedFree planPlatforms
  16. 16 5.9
    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
  17. 17 5.9
    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
  18. 18 5.9
    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
  19. iOS
    Supported protocols
    SSH, Mosh, SFTP, SCP
    Supported platforms
    iOS, iPadOS
    SFTP support
    Yes
    Port forwarding
    Yes
    RecognisedDocumentedFree planPlatforms
  20. 20 5.8
    macOSiOS
    Free plan
    Yes
    Supported protocols
    SSH/OpenSSH, SFTP, serial
    Supported platforms
    macOS, iOS, iPadOS
    SFTP support
    Yes
    Port forwarding
    No
    RecognisedDocumentedFree planPlatforms
  21. 21 5.8
    WindowsmacOSLinux
    Supported protocols
    SSH, SFTP, Windows Remote Desktop
    Supported platforms
    Windows, macOS, Linux
    SFTP support
    Yes
    RecognisedDocumentedFree planPlatforms
  22. macOSiOS
    Free plan
    Yes
    Supported protocols
    SSH, SFTP
    Supported platforms
    iPhone, iPad, Mac
    SFTP support
    Yes
    Port forwarding
    Yes
    RecognisedDocumentedFree planPlatforms
  23. Windows
    Free plan
    Yes
    Supported protocols
    SSH, Telnet, SCP, SFTP
    Supported platforms
    Windows
    SFTP support
    Yes
    RecognisedDocumentedFree planPlatforms
  24. 24 5.8
    Windows
    Free plan
    Yes
    Supported platforms
    windows
    RecognisedDocumentedFree planPlatforms
  25. 25 5.8
    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.

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