SSHive vs other Mac SSH clients: Termius, iTerm2, Royal TSX and more
There is no single best SSH client for a Mac, only the one that fits how you work. The seven tools compared here fall into three groups: terminals that also reach servers (iTerm2, Tabby), connection managers with their own business model (Termius on subscription, Royal TSX and SecureCRT on licenses), and two Windows classics that people moving to a Mac go looking for (MobaXterm, PuTTY). Each comparison says what the other tool does better, who should keep it, what it costs over time and how to move your sessions across. SSHive is free for SSH and SFTP on Mac, iPhone and iPad; a one-time Pro purchase at $12.99 adds RDP and VNC on all three, plus broadcast and an MCP server for AI clients on the Mac.
How to read the table
“Yes” means the feature is built in, as the vendor's own documentation shows or, for Tabby, its published source code. “No” means it is missing. “Partial” means it exists with a real limit, such as a plugin, an unofficial port, a workaround or only part of the job; the cell itself or the comparison page names that limit. Features were checked against each vendor's own site or code repository on September 24, 2026, and prices on September 22, 2026. SSHive is developed by NetMeSafe, which also publishes this site, so read the columns with that in mind.
| Feature | SSHive | MobaXterm | iTerm2 | Tabby | PuTTY | Termius | Royal TSX | SecureCRT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SSH Terminal | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| SFTP File Manager | Yes | Yes | No | Partial | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| RDP Client | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | Yes | No |
| VNC Client | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | Yes | No |
| SSH Tunnels | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Broadcast Mode | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| MCP / AI Integration | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| macOS app | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Partial | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Keychain Integration | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | Partial | No |
| Mac App Store | Yes | No | No | No | No | Yes | No | No |
| Price | Free / Pro (one-time) | Free / paid Pro | Free | Free | Free | $10/month, billed annually | €49 excl. VAT | $119 |
Competitor prices checked on September 22, 2026.