Tabby alternative
A Tabby alternative that arrives assembled.
Tabby is open source, and its plugin ecosystem lets you build almost anything. Ravelon takes the opposite bet: one opinionated app where the vault, the file browser, the tunnels, the snippets and the sync were designed together and are supported as one product.
Tabby is an open-source, highly extensible terminal with SSH support. This page is written and maintained by Ravelon, and Tabby is a trademark of its owner.
Ravelon and Tabby, side by side
| Compared | Ravelon | Tabby |
|---|---|---|
| Licence | Commercial, bought once. | Open source, free. |
| Price | Free on one device. Pro is EUR 19.90 once, Self Hosted EUR 99.90 once. | No charge. |
| Credential storage | AES-256-GCM vault on your device. Sync moves only encrypted data. | Config file with optional encryption. |
| Sync | End-to-end encrypted, hosted by us or by you. | Self-hosted config sync. |
| SFTP browser | Built in, on the same connection. | Built in for SSH tabs. |
| Extensibility | Themes and full keymap rebinding. | Plugin API, its main strength. |
| Support | Paid product with a support address. | Issue tracker and community. |
Tabby column last reviewed 2026-08
Why people look
Four reasons people look for a Tabby alternative
01
Plugins are your responsibility
A setup built from community plugins is only as maintained as its least maintained part, and an update can break the piece you rely on most. Ravelon ships one app, and its parts are versioned and signed together.
02
Credentials want a real vault
Ravelon encrypts hosts, keys and passwords with AES-256-GCM on your device. The key is protected by the operating system by default, and you can put a master passphrase in front of it.
03
Sync you can host yourself
Ravelon Pro syncs the encrypted vault through Ravelon Cloud. The Self Hosted licence runs the same sync server in your own infrastructure with Docker, so nothing leaves your network at all.
04
Someone to ask
Open source gives you the code. A paid product gives you an address. If a sync problem blocks your team on a Tuesday morning, that difference matters more than a feature list.
What is encrypted, and where
The vault is encrypted on the desktop before anything is synchronized. Authorized devices receive the encrypted copy and open it locally. The interface never reads a password or a private key, it only knows whether credentials are available. A new desktop has to be approved in the browser before it can reach your account.
- AES-256-GCM, key protected by the OS or a passphrase
- Device pairing approved in the browser
- The sync server never receives the key
- Vault writes finish before the old file is replaced
Make it yours without a plugin
Seven themes are built in, light and dark, and one theme covers the interface, the terminal panes and the file browser at once. System mode keeps a separate choice for light and dark. Every shortcut is rebindable and stored with a neutral modifier that resolves to Command on macOS and Control elsewhere, so one keymap syncs across machines and still feels native on each.
A .ravelon-theme file takes your own palette to the next machine.
The other side
Where Tabby is the better pick
If you want to read and change the code, write a plugin for a protocol nobody else supports, or simply cannot spend money on a tool, Tabby is a good project and the honest answer is to use it.
Ravelon is not open source. If that is a requirement rather than a preference, this comparison ends here, and we would rather you knew that on the first page than in week three.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Is Ravelon open source?
No. The desktop app and the sync server are commercial. The Self Hosted licence lets you run the sync server yourself, which covers the data-residency reason people usually ask this question for, but it is not the same as open source.
Can I try it before paying?
Yes. The desktop app is free on one device, including the encrypted vault, terminal, SFTP, tunnels and the assistant. Only sync across devices is paid.
What happens to my data if Ravelon disappears?
The vault is a local file on your machine and the app keeps working without the cloud. Hosts can also be exported back to an OpenSSH config, which every other client reads.
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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