Best Putty Alternatives for SSH Clients for Windows

Putty.exe is undoubtedly one of the most efficient and best secure shell clients for Windows. This SSH client helps you to manage a lot of things. This starts from managing cisco routers and ends with logging into your cloud or VPS server. However, the command line of Putty isn’t so easy for new network engineers. Nevertheless, Putty is the industrial standard for controlling SSH clients that stands out.

Today, we are here with some alternatives to the Putty that gives you extra features for managing servers over SSH. So, let’s directly jump into these alternatives of Putty.

Best Putty Alternatives for SSH Clients of Windows

Here, we will describe the 5 best Putty alternatives for SSH clients for Windows, along with their features.

#1 KiTTY

KiTTY is the best competitor of Putty client. Several add-ons make it equivalent or somehow comparable to the original one. It has some great peculiarities in its toolbox that can surely help you to manage servers over SSH. So, let’s have a quick view of the salient- features in the KiTTY.

1. In KiTTY, you’ll get session filtering options.
2. KiTTY is portable, which means no installation is required.
3. You can access pre-defined shortcut commands with the help of right-click menu.
4. KiTTY has only a few automated scripts/action options after login, along with character/line delays, CR/LF timeouts, translations, and waits for specific variables.
5. It has automatic passwords/commands.
6. Further, it gives to the ability to Run Local Scripts on Remote Devices or Remote Systems.
7. It is clubbed with Clipboard printing as well as the Binary Compression feature. 
8. Most importantly, you get the service of Autosave. By this, you don’t need to save every now and then. Further, this feature assures you for no loss of data due to any reason of system shut down. This feature saves your session with the help of the Windows Registry.
9. It also helps in managing Hyperlinks/URL’s in a session like Undrlinking Links or to choose which browser would be suitable for opening the links, and further, it facilitates Regular Expressions, i.e., Regex. 

Bonus feature: It has a lightweight chat server and Text Editor

#2 mRemoteNG

mRemote NG is a multi-tabbed, multi-protocol, open-source, remote connection management software that was separated from mRemote. Let’s look over some notable features of mRemoteNG.

1. It provides VNC and RDP support (Remote Desktop and Terminal Servers) 
2. Its services further include Raw Socket connection, Telnet connection, HTTP/HTTPS, SSH
3. mRemoteNG also supports Citrix Independent Computer Architecture (ICA)
4. rLogin availability.

#3 Xshell 6

Another great Putty alternative for connecting to SSH1, SSH2, Telnet, rLogin, and SFTP, including serial connections also. However, the price tag with which the Xshell 6 lists is about $99 for an annual subscription. But, you will get freebies like a free license for school or home use only. Some notable features of the Xshell 6 are mentioned below:

1. It allows dynamic port forwarding.
2. This also facilitates PKCS #11 support
3. It also gives the authority for searching web text.
4. You have an audio alarm as well as audio bells option in Xshell 6
5. Python Scripting, VB, and Javascript are also some of the salient features of Xshell 6.
6. Xshell 6 is also equipped with Highlight Sets.
7. It also provides features like Tabbed Environment. This means you can connect a number of sessions within the same window using multiple tabs.
8. Further, you enjoy the advantage of Custom Keyboard and Key Mappings.  
9. Xshell 6 expands its services by providing Dual Font Support for ASCII as well as Non-ASCII Characters.
10. It cares for your privacy as well, providing password encryption for saved sessions.

#4 Bitvise SSH Client

Another great Putty Alternative, the Bitvise SSH client is supported almost in all versions of the Windows system, and servers include a lengthy list of various features. The features of this SSH Client has a comprehensive tool for SSH connection management. So, now have a look at its notable features that attract most of the new network engineers.

1. Xterm, BVTerm, and vt100 Terminal Emulation features
2. It gives you Single Sign-On (SSO) support using NTLM and SSPI authentication.
3. Bitvise SSH Client supports DSA, RSA, and ECDSA Public Key authentication.
4. Further, it includes .NET SSH Library.
5. It has the Remote Admin Features.
6. If you want, then it allows you to Obfuscated SSH w/ an Optional Keyword.
7. Via HTTP proxy or Socks, it allows you for Dynamic Port Forwarding.
8. It also supports DSA, RSA, and ECDSA Public Key Auth. 

#5 PuttyTray

There was a time when the PuttyTray tool got massive popularity because of its additional functionality. However, as of now, this service quality is not being maintained as much anymore and is the main reason for the downfall. Yet, we have mentioned the name here just for reference. So, if you wish to download it, then you can proceed and enjoy the PuttyTray features. Here, we have listed some of the salient features: –

1. It has customizable icons.
2. If a bell signal is received, then it blinking a tray icon.
3. Portable that means no need for complicated installation
4. The best part is its support for Android ADB.
5. Allows minimized operation in the system tray
6. URL Hyperlinking

Well, that’s all we have for you on the top 5 best alternatives for SSH clients for Windows. We hope this guide helped you. For more updates, you may subscribe to our YouTube Channel. Don’t miss out on our Gaming Guides, Windows Guides, Social Media Guides, iPhone, and Android Guides to know more.