Secure Shell or SSH is a trusted and popular remote connection protocol. And, you can use it to establish a link between your computer and servers network components such as switches and routers. What’s the advantage of using SSH for your computer and its operating system?
SSH protocol encrypts data in traffic, and it works for both sent and received sessions. If you are a regular Linux user, IT professional, network administrator, or anybody else, then SSH clients are a must-have. If you are looking for reliable Linux SSH clients, we have listed the top ones here.
Go through them and review those clients to find the best match for your regular use. All the SSH clients mentioned below are available as both free and paid versions. Let’s get started.
PuTTY
This SSH client was previously available for Windows OS. Later, this free and open-source SSH client became available for Linux and macOS systems. PuTTY is one of the best and most popular Linux SSH clients because of its user-friendly UI and neat design.
This SSH client provides 2 options to establish a secure remote connection between different devices. Either use Telnet or Rlogin technology to connect to a remote network with PuTTY. Additionally, PuTTY makes use of SFTP protocols and a dedicated avenue so that you can serially connect switches and routers securely.
Let’s review the key specifications of PuTTY:
- PuTTY offers support for both 64-bit and 32-bit computer architectures
- It is the best GUI SSH client for SSH
- This client supports both SSH1 and SSH2 protocols
- Users can easily save session logging, configurations, and proxy settings on PuTTY
- Get support for SSH, SFTP, Telnet, Rlogin, Serail, and more technologies with PuTTY
OpenSSH
OpenSSH is another in-demand SSH client for Linux. This free tool assists users in remote login with SSH protocols and keeps their traffic data safe and secure. Most Linux and Windows administrators opt for OpenSSH for an ease-breeze remote connection and management.
What is the best SSH client for Linux? Well, you can consider OpenSSH as one of the best choices due to the following reasons:
- OpenSSH alone replaces technologies such as Telnet, Rlogin, and other traditional ones.
- This SSH client is entirely free and open-source in nature
- Supports X11 forwarding
- OpenSSH is suitable for Linux and Windows devices
- In addition, it utilises strong authentication protocols
- So you can get encrypted data over the secure SSH tunnel between the client and the server for SCP and SFTP or between different clients
- You need not use external proxies while connecting to SSH servers through OpenSSH
- Moreover, OpenSSH comes with strong cryptography
However, there are certain risks while trusting OpenSSH. It doesn’t allow any provision, oversight process, terminations, and policies for SSH keys. Compromised keys might lead to illegitimate access. SSH keys have never been changed, as well. If you are looking for more secure Linux SSH clients, then continue reading.
SolarWinds PuTTY
Get a web-based free terminal emulator for secure remote connections with SolarWinds PuTTY. Initiate remote sessions and hold multiple ones with SolarWinds PuTTY. Among all other recommendable SSH clients for Linux, SolarWinds PuTTY is a lightweight and portable choice.
Users need not install it. Simply extract the archive, and you will be able to run the executable file. And, the SSH client will run automatically on your system. You can even open the SSH client and run it if the file remains in your Pendrive or other external media.
Take a look at the features of SolarWinds PuTTY as one of the top-notch Linux SSH clients:
- No typical installation is required for SolarWinds PuTTY
- Managing multiple remote sessions is easy with the help of the integrated tabbed interface
- You can automate all scripts under use once a connection gets successfully established
- Additionally, it’s easy to save private keys and credentials to any session for a seamless login
- Your saved sessions can be found under the Windows search integration
SolarWinds PuTTY is one of the most recommended Linux SSH clients though there are some restraints. Beginners might find this Linux SSH client GUI complicated.
Remmina
We have got another free and open-source Linux SSH client for you. Remmina is a fast and stable SSH client for regular Linux users. The best part of Remmina is that this SSH client is available in more than 50 distributions and 67 languages.
In addition to this, Remmina is one of those Linux SSH clients that works perfectly with POSIX-based computers. Get familiar with multiple protocols via Remmina’s intuitive user interface. As a foundation, Remmina uses free RDP. Apart from that, Remmina supports SPICE, X2GO, XDMCP, NX, and VNC protocols.
The following points are the key features supported by the Remmina interface:
- You can minimise the window of Remmina
- Modify auto-fit window
- Grab keyboard
- Toggle fullscreen mode
- A show-and-hide toolbar
- Toggle scaled mode
- Switch tab pages
Access files remotely and securely with Remmina. Moreover, this SSH client is written in C language and published under GNU General Public Licence Version 2.
Hyper
Are you looking for an SSH client Linux command line-based tool? Then, Hyper should be in your top choices. This is an open-source SSH client. Moreover, it is ideal for command-line interface users.
Here’s why you should select Hyper among other Linux SSH clients:
- Hyper supports Linux, macOS, and Windows operating systems
- This client offers a stable and swift remote connection
- The interface works with command lines
- You can use Hyper for different Linux distributions such as Debian, Fedora, and more
- This client supports SFTP protocols
On the other hand, this client offers an Electron-based terminal. For your information, it is built on TypeScript languages such as CSS, HTML, and JavaScript. Hyper is licensed under MIT.
Terminus
This open-source SSH client is written in Python and is a professional choice for remote access and organisation. Over 24000 engineers rely on Terminus for solid reasons. Here are a few features of Terminus that you should concentrate on:
- Terminus offers a command-line interface for cross-platform
- Additionally, the terminal can auto-type to complete what you intend to type
- Adding snippets to the terminal is so easy
- Users can upload and download files via SFTP protocol while using Terminus
- Terminus is supported in EMAC and vim for Android and iOS systems
Additionally, Terminus makes use of the integrated Telnet and SFTP clients. Get secure cross-device sync through Terminus, one of the leading command-line-based Linux SSH clients.
KiTTY
If you are searching for the best GUI SSH client for Linux, then you can consider KiTTY. This open-source, free, and GPU-accelerated SSH client is perfect for your Linux system. On the other hand, this SSH client can handle macOS systems. KiTTY is written using both C and Python programming languages.
However, you can notice the following features supported by KiTTY:
- It offers hyperlink clicks
- Get mouse support and copy-paste buffers on KiTTY
- You can enter Unicode characters input sorted by code, name, and or how frequently you use it
- Switch between multiple sessions with the help of tiling of numerous tabs and windows
- True colour and text formatting features are available on KiTTY
What is the Best SSH Client for Linux?
You can select any of the above-mentioned Linux SSH clients according to your technical requirements. If you are after straightforward SSH hosting, then PuTTY and OpenSSH are decent choices.
In case you want a command-line SSH client, then you can opt for KiTTY, Terminus, or Hyper. PuTTY and KiTTY are the most suitable choices if you intend to use SSH clients for a media centre or home server.
