PuTTY alternative
A PuTTY alternative with the rest of the job included.
PuTTY opens a session and gets out of the way, and it has done that reliably for a quarter of a century. What it does not do is hold your hosts, move your files, keep your tunnels or follow you to a second machine. Ravelon does those, on Windows, macOS and Linux.
PuTTY is the free, minimal SSH and telnet client that has shipped since 1999. This page is written and maintained by Ravelon, and PuTTY is a trademark of its owner.
Ravelon and PuTTY, side by side
| Compared | Ravelon | PuTTY |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free on one device. Pro is EUR 19.90 once, Self Hosted EUR 99.90 once. | Free and open source (MIT). |
| Platforms | Windows, macOS and Linux. A native iPhone and iPad app is in development. | Windows, with Unix ports. |
| Tabs and split panes | Both, with saved layouts. | One session per window. |
| File transfer | SFTP browser on the same connection. | Separate tools: pscp and psftp. |
| Saved connections | AES-256-GCM vault on your device. Sync moves only encrypted data. | Registry entries, not encrypted. |
| Sync between machines | End-to-end encrypted, hosted by us or by you. | Copy the registry key yourself. |
| Serial and telnet | Not included. | Included. |
PuTTY column last reviewed 2026-08
Why people look
Four reasons people look for a PuTTY alternative
01
One window per server
Four servers means four PuTTY windows on the taskbar. Ravelon puts them in tabs and split panes in one window, keeps scrollback and the running command in place when you rearrange them, and can reopen a whole named layout later.
02
Files need a second program
PuTTY hands file transfer to pscp, psftp or WinSCP, which means a second authentication and a second window. In Ravelon the file browser opens from the session you are already in.
03
Sessions live in the registry
Saved PuTTY sessions sit in the Windows registry, unencrypted and awkward to move. Ravelon keeps hosts, keys and passwords in an AES-256-GCM vault and can sync that vault to your other devices without the server ever holding the key.
04
Tunnels get retyped
A forward you set up in a PuTTY profile is fine until you need it from another machine. Ravelon stores local, reverse and SOCKS5 forwards as rules on the host, and shows how many connections are running through each one.
Import the hosts you already have
If you keep an OpenSSH config alongside PuTTY, Ravelon reads it in one pass with the identity files those entries reference. From there you can group hosts, give them an icon and a colour, and find any of them from the command palette.
- SSH config import including identities
- Groups, colours and host icons
- Command palette across hosts, tabs and snippets
- Jump hosts, each pinning its own key
The commands you keep retyping
Save a command once with a clear name, tags and placeholders. Find it later on the snippets page or in the palette and paste it into the active terminal. A snippet is pasted, not executed, so you read it once more before you press Enter.
Pasted, never executed. The last look is still yours.
The other side
Where PuTTY is the better pick
PuTTY is free, open source, about as small as software gets, and it runs from a memory stick on a locked-down machine. For a serial console, a telnet device or one rare jump onto a box you touch twice a year, that is exactly right and Ravelon is more than you need.
It also has serial and telnet support that Ravelon does not. If your work includes switches and appliances on a console cable, keep PuTTY for those.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Can Ravelon read my PuTTY sessions?
Not directly. Ravelon imports OpenSSH config files, which is the format most tools can export to. Exporting your PuTTY sessions to that format once is the usual path.
Does Ravelon support .ppk keys?
Ravelon works with keys in OpenSSH format. PuTTYgen converts a .ppk file to that format in one step, and the converted key goes into the encrypted vault.
Is there a free version?
Yes. The desktop app is free on one device with the local encrypted vault, terminal, SFTP and tunnels. You only pay if you want your hosts synced to more devices.
Try it first
Keep both for a week.
The desktop app is free on one device, including the encrypted vault, terminal, SFTP and the assistant. Import your ssh config and see whether the day goes better.
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