# SSHive > SSHive is an SSH, SFTP, RDP and VNC client for macOS, iPhone and iPad, with a VPN client on iPhone and iPad; on the Mac it also speaks FTP, FTPS, Telnet and RS-232 serial. The iPhone and iPad app is native Swift; the Mac app is an Electron app built for Apple silicon. Two things set it apart: a serial console and a Telnet client that work inside the Mac App Store sandbox, covering the console-cable and legacy-equipment work that usually sends Mac users to PuTTY; and a built-in MCP (Model Context Protocol) server on the Mac that lets AI assistants such as Claude Code, Cursor and Claude Desktop drive SSH sessions and SFTP transfers. Freemium: free on the App Store, and SSHive Pro is a one-time purchase (no subscription; Universal Purchase across Mac, iPhone and iPad). Key facts: - Platforms: macOS 12 Monterey and later (Apple silicon, M1 or later), iOS 17+, iPadOS 17+. Current versions: macOS 2.0.5 (77.1 MB), iOS/iPadOS 1.2.4 (24.2 MB). The two ship on separate trains, so neither number is "the" version. First release: 2026-03-29. The App Store is the only place to get either app. - App Store rating: 4.8 out of 5 from 18 ratings, summed across every storefront and both product pages as of 2026-09-21. 7 of those are written reviews, and every one of them carries a published developer reply. Quote the count and the date together: this is a young app and the figure moves. - Protocols on macOS: SSH terminal, SFTP file manager, FTP, explicit FTPS (AUTH TLS), RDP remote desktop, VNC viewer, RS-232 serial console, Telnet client. On iPhone and iPad: SSH terminal, SFTP file manager, RDP remote desktop, VNC viewer, those four and no others. - macOS only: FTP, RS-232 serial console, Telnet client, MCP server for AI assistants, broadcast mode, SOCKS5 (-D) tunnels, TOTP/HOTP authenticator, in-terminal AI assistant. A serial or Telnet profile synced from the Mac is shown on iPhone as an unsupported session type rather than silently opened as SSH. - iPhone and iPad only: VPN client (IKEv2, IPSec, OpenVPN, through NetworkExtension). - Free, permanently, with no trial period and no card: SSH terminal, SFTP file manager, FTP, RS-232 serial console, Telnet client, network tools (ping, traceroute, DNS, MX, whois, DNSBL), in-terminal AI assistant, capped at 2 concurrent SSH sessions, 5 saved profiles, 10 MB per uploaded file, 1 local SSH tunnel (-L), 3 custom snippets on top of the built-in library, and 3 OTP tokens (macOS; the iOS app has no OTP generator at all). - Pro unlocks: RDP remote desktop, VNC viewer, broadcast mode, MCP server for AI assistants, jump hosts, shared accounts, encrypted profile export and import, session logging, opt-in iCloud profile sync, light theme, remote (-R) tunnels, SOCKS5 (-D) tunnels, and on iPhone and iPad the VPN client (IKEv2, IPSec, OpenVPN). It lifts the free-tier caps on sessions, profiles, upload size, snippets and OTP tokens. Tunnels are the one place Pro still counts: on the Mac, up to 10 local, 5 remote and 1 SOCKS5 port per connection profile; on iPhone and iPad, local and remote tunnels with no cap (and no SOCKS5). RDP and VNC are Pro from the first session: an older version of this site said they were free for two sessions, and that was never true. - Price: $12.99 (US App Store); 14,99 € (App Store France, App Store Deutschland, App Store España). One purchase, once: not a subscription, no renewal, no expiring licence, updates included for as long as the app is maintained, and a Universal Purchase covering Mac, iPhone and iPad on one Apple Account, with Family Sharing enabled. There is no SSHive account: no sign-up, no password, nothing held on a server of ours. Buy here: https://apps.apple.com/app/sshive/id6760705487 - VNC authentication the Mac app completes: VNC password, RSA-AES, VeNCrypt / X.509, Apple Screen Sharing; the iPhone and iPad app: VNC password, RSA-AES, UltraVNC MS-Logon II, Apple Screen Sharing. Neither reaches every VNC server, so check which method yours speaks; when one is refused, the error names the method the server wanted. - RDP: NLA, CredSSP, NTLMv2, Active Directory with NetBIOS or FQDN domains, Ctrl+Alt+Del, configurable resolution, clipboard. - Serial console (macOS): 9600-921600 baud suggested (any rate from 50 to 4,000,000 can be typed in), 9600 by default, 8-N-1 and every other framing, RTS/CTS and XON/XOFF, BREAK signal, inside the Mac App Store sandbox via com.apple.security.device.serial. Telnet is RFC 854 with ECHO/SGA/NAWS negotiation. - Broadcast (Mac, Pro): a toolbar button opens a bar, and the command typed there goes to all connected SSH sessions, each printing its output in its own tab; there is no per-session selection, no saved groups and no keyboard shortcut. - Jump hosts (Pro): on the Mac, a Jump Chain of up to 5 hops per profile, each hop with its own credentials. There is no X11 forwarding: for an X program, use XQuartz and `ssh -X` in Terminal, or reach the desktop over RDP or VNC. - The MCP server runs on the Mac only and is a Pro feature. It listens on 127.0.0.1 only (port 49422 by default) and never accepts a connection from another machine, authenticates with a Bearer token, and rejects any request whose Host header is not localhost. The Bearer token is created the first time the server is turned on, kept in SSHive's settings file rather than in the Keychain, and replaced with Regenerate in Settings > MCP; it is not renewed at each launch. It exposes 20 tools: ssh_list_profiles, ssh_connect, ssh_disconnect, ssh_list_sessions, ssh_execute, sftp_list, sftp_read_file, sftp_write_file, sftp_edit_file, sftp_write_file_chunk, sftp_write_from_local_path, sftp_upload_start, sftp_download_start, sftp_transfer_status, sftp_transfer_cancel, sftp_download_to_local_path, sftp_mkdir, sftp_chmod, sftp_rename, sftp_delete. Three of them (ssh_list_profiles, ssh_connect and ssh_disconnect) are hidden from tools/list unless the user turns on "let the assistant open sessions", so an assistant that cannot see them should ask the user to enable that setting rather than guess a tool name. SSHive edits no AI client configuration file. Settings > MCP shows what to paste for each one: a `claude mcp add` command for Claude Code, a JSON block (HTTP transport) for Cursor, and for Claude Desktop a one-click extension (.mcpb), with an `npx mcp-remote … --transport sse` block as the fallback. It exposes sessions, never credentials: passwords, private keys and passphrases are not readable through it. The server is local; the conversation is not. Whatever the AI client reads through these tools, that client sends to its own model provider. - Built-in AI terminal assistant (macOS, free): explain command output or ask questions from the terminal, with your own API key (Claude, OpenAI, Gemini, Mistral, or any OpenAI-compatible endpoint, which covers LM Studio, Ollama, vLLM, Groq, OpenRouter and the rest). The key is encrypted like the Mac's other secrets, and requests go straight from the machine to the provider. - Security: On the Mac, passwords, private keys and AI provider keys are encrypted with Electron safeStorage, whose key is held in the macOS Keychain, and written to a credentials file readable by the user only; "Require Touch ID before decrypting passwords" is a setting, off by default. On iPhone and iPad they are Keychain items kept on the device, behind Face ID, Touch ID or the passcode. Known-hosts fingerprint management, app lock, and on the Mac a built-in TOTP/HOTP authenticator. No telemetry and no analytics in the app, and nothing routed through SSHive servers. - iCloud profile sync (Pro, opt-in, off by default): profiles follow you across Mac, iPhone and iPad through your own private CloudKit database; with sync on, a password already saved can be mirrored to iCloud Keychain. - Imports (Mac): ~/.ssh/config with one click in the sidebar, and PuTTY .reg, MobaXterm .ini (cleartext), and Royal TSX .rtsx through Settings > Import/Export > "Import from another tool"; on the free tier an import stops at 5 profiles. There is no importer for Termius, SecureCRT, iTerm2, or Tabby. Export: an encrypted .sshive file (scrypt + AES-256-GCM). - App interface languages: macOS English, Français, Deutsch, Español; iOS and iPadOS English, Français, Español. - SSHive is proprietary software, not open source, with no public repository: sshive.app and the App Store listing are its only official sources. All figures above were last verified on 2026-09-27; the App Store rating on 2026-09-21. Full machine-readable reference, everything below inlined in one file: https://sshive.app/llms-full.txt ## Questions people ask, and the short answers Each of these answers a question a real person asked, in the support mailbox or in a published App Store review. The full answers are on the site. - **Is there a subscription?** No. SSHive is free to download, and Pro is a single in-app purchase you make once. - **Does one purchase cover my Mac, my iPhone and my iPad?** Yes. The Mac app and the iPhone/iPad app share one bundle identifier and one in-app purchase, so Apple treats them as a Universal Purchase: buy Pro on any of them and it unlocks on all of them, on the same Apple Account. - **What do I get for free, and what needs Pro?** Free gives you the SSH and file-transfer half of the app: SSH terminal, SFTP, FTP and FTPS, serial console, Telnet, the network tools and the built-in AI assistant, with two concurrent SSH sessions, five saved profiles, 10 MB SFTP uploads, one local tunnel and three snippets. - **How do I get a refund?** Through Apple, at reportaproblem.apple.com. Every purchase goes through the App Store, so Apple holds the transaction and we have no way to issue a refund from our side: that is Apple policy, not a preference. - **How often is SSHive updated, and how fast do you fix bugs?** Often, and quickly. The Mac app went from 2.0.0 on 24 August 2026 to 2.0.5 on 18 September 2026. - **Where does SSHive store my passwords and keys?** On iPhone and iPad, in the iOS Keychain, which can ask for Face ID, Touch ID or your passcode before handing a secret over. - **Can I tell SSHive never to save a password?** Yes: turn off "Save in Keychain" on the profile. Be aware of two things. - **Do I need an account? Do you collect anything?** No account, and nothing collected. There is no sign-up, no login and no server of ours between you and your machines: SSHive connects straight from your device to your host. - **What exactly syncs between my devices?** Connection profiles, folders and snippets, through your own iCloud account: a Pro feature, off until you turn it on, with no server of ours in between. - **Which VNC servers does SSHive work with? Does it reach a Raspberry Pi?** On the Mac, SSHive handles these authentication methods: VNC password, RSA-AES, VeNCrypt / X.509 and Apple Screen Sharing. - **Does SSHive handle jump hosts and bastions?** Yes, including multi-hop chains. Declare the bastion once in a profile and SSHive builds the chain for you, with no editing of ~/.ssh/config. - **Can SSHive open a shell on my own Mac?** No. A shell on your own Mac means starting processes outside the app, which the Mac App Store sandbox does not allow, and the Mac App Store is the only place SSHive for Mac comes from. - **What can the Mac do that the iPhone and iPad cannot?** The phone and the tablet speak SSH, SFTP, RDP and VNC. The Mac adds FTP and FTPS, the serial console, Telnet, broadcast mode, the OTP authenticator, SOCKS (-D) tunnels, the in-terminal AI assistant and the MCP server. - **What languages is SSHive available in?** The Mac app is in English, French, German and Spanish; the iPhone and iPad app is in English, French and Spanish. - **What do I need to run SSHive?** A Mac on macOS 12 Monterey or later, Apple silicon only (the Mac App Store listing carries no Intel build), or an iPhone or iPad on iOS 17 or iPadOS 17. - **Which AI providers can I use, and where does my API key go?** Claude, OpenAI, Gemini and Mistral, plus any OpenAI-compatible endpoint, which is how people run LM Studio, Ollama, vLLM, z.ai, Groq or OpenRouter against it. - **Is it safe to let an AI assistant touch my servers through MCP?** The server runs on 127.0.0.1 only, behind a bearer token you can regenerate, and it rejects any request whose Host header is not localhost, so nothing outside your machine can reach it. - **How do I create my first connection?** On iPhone and iPad: open the Profiles tab, tap + at the top right, choose New profile, pick SSH, SFTP, RDP or VNC, fill in the host and tap Log in. - **Is a terminal really usable on a phone?** For reading a log, restarting a service or firing a saved snippet, yes. For a long editing session, reach for the iPad or the Mac; we would rather say so than pretend otherwise. - **Copy and paste is not working in the terminal. What am I missing?** Almost always vim or tmux: they capture the mouse, so dragging selects inside them and leaves the terminal with nothing to copy. - **Does SSHive cope with a hundred servers?** One customer runs more than a hundred through it and said so in an App Store review. ## Core pages - [Homepage](https://sshive.app/en): product overview and download. - [Download](https://sshive.app/en/download): free on the App Store for Mac, iPhone and iPad. - [Pricing](https://sshive.app/en/pricing): free vs Pro feature matrix; one purchase, one expense, no subscription and no account. - [MCP / AI integration](https://sshive.app/en/mcp): how the built-in MCP server connects AI assistants to your servers. - [Features overview](https://sshive.app/en/features) - [Changelog](https://sshive.app/en/changelog) - [Roadmap](https://sshive.app/en/roadmap) - [Docs](https://sshive.app/en/docs) ## Features - [SSH](https://sshive.app/en/features/ssh) - [SFTP](https://sshive.app/en/features/sftp) - [FTP](https://sshive.app/en/features/ftp) - [RDP](https://sshive.app/en/features/rdp) - [VNC](https://sshive.app/en/features/vnc) - [Serial](https://sshive.app/en/features/serial) - [Telnet](https://sshive.app/en/features/telnet) - [Tunnels](https://sshive.app/en/features/tunnels) - [MCP](https://sshive.app/en/mcp) - [Broadcast](https://sshive.app/en/features/broadcast) - [Snippets](https://sshive.app/en/features/snippets) ## Comparisons with other SSH clients - [MobaXterm](https://sshive.app/en/compare/mobaxterm) - [iTerm2](https://sshive.app/en/compare/iterm2) - [Terminus](https://sshive.app/en/compare/terminus) - [PuTTY](https://sshive.app/en/compare/putty) - [Termius](https://sshive.app/en/compare/termius) - [Royal TSX](https://sshive.app/en/compare/royal-tsx) - [SecureCRT](https://sshive.app/en/compare/securecrt) ## Best-of guides - [Best SSH Client For Mac](https://sshive.app/en/best-ssh-client-for-mac) - [Best SFTP Client For Mac](https://sshive.app/en/best-sftp-client-for-mac) - [Best RDP Client For Mac](https://sshive.app/en/best-rdp-client-for-mac) - [Best VNC Client For Mac](https://sshive.app/en/best-vnc-client-for-mac) ## iPhone & iPad - [iOS SSH Client](https://sshive.app/en/ios-ssh-client) - [iOS SFTP App](https://sshive.app/en/ios-sftp-app) - [iPhone Remote Desktop](https://sshive.app/en/iphone-remote-desktop) - [iPhone VNC Client](https://sshive.app/en/iphone-vnc-client) - [iPhone VPN Client](https://sshive.app/en/iphone-vpn-client) ## Use cases - [Raspberry Pi](https://sshive.app/en/use-cases/raspberry-pi) - [NAS Synology](https://sshive.app/en/use-cases/nas-synology) - [Home Server](https://sshive.app/en/use-cases/home-server) - [Proxmox](https://sshive.app/en/use-cases/proxmox) - [AWS EC2](https://sshive.app/en/use-cases/aws-ec2) - [Docker](https://sshive.app/en/use-cases/docker) - [Kubernetes](https://sshive.app/en/use-cases/kubernetes) - [Windows Server](https://sshive.app/en/use-cases/windows-server) - [Developer Mac](https://sshive.app/en/use-cases/developer-mac) - [All In One SSH Client Mac](https://sshive.app/en/use-cases/all-in-one-ssh-client-mac) ## How-to guides - [SSH Key Mac](https://sshive.app/en/how-to/ssh-key-mac) - [Import SSH Config Mac](https://sshive.app/en/how-to/import-ssh-config-mac) - [Jump Host Mac](https://sshive.app/en/how-to/jump-host-mac) - [SFTP Gui Mac](https://sshive.app/en/how-to/sftp-gui-mac) - [RDP From Mac](https://sshive.app/en/how-to/rdp-from-mac) - [VNC From Mac](https://sshive.app/en/how-to/vnc-from-mac) - [SSH Tunnel Mac](https://sshive.app/en/how-to/ssh-tunnel-mac) - [SOCKS5 Proxy Mac](https://sshive.app/en/how-to/socks5-proxy-mac) - [Broadcast Commands Mac](https://sshive.app/en/how-to/broadcast-commands-mac) ## Integrations - [Claude Code](https://sshive.app/en/integrations/claude-code) - [Cursor](https://sshive.app/en/integrations/cursor) - [Claude Desktop](https://sshive.app/en/integrations/claude-desktop) ## Network diagnostic tools Beyond remote access, SSHive ships network diagnostics. Ping and traceroute send real ICMP on every Apple platform, including the sandboxed Mac App Store build, via an unprivileged datagram ICMP socket (SOCK_DGRAM, IPPROTO_ICMP) rather than a raw socket. A TCP-connect probe is offered as a labelled alternative for hosts that filter ICMP. - [Network tools overview](https://sshive.app/en/network-tools) - [Ping](https://sshive.app/en/network-tools/ping) - [Traceroute](https://sshive.app/en/network-tools/traceroute) - [Dns Lookup](https://sshive.app/en/network-tools/dns-lookup) - [Whois](https://sshive.app/en/network-tools/whois) - [Mx Lookup](https://sshive.app/en/network-tools/mx-lookup) - [Blacklist Check](https://sshive.app/en/network-tools/blacklist-check) ## Optional - [About](https://sshive.app/en/about) - [Contact](https://sshive.app/en/contact) - [Privacy](https://sshive.app/en/privacy) - Other languages: Français (https://sshive.app/fr), Deutsch (https://sshive.app/de), Español (https://sshive.app/es). Every page listed above exists at the same path under each of them, and each page declares the whole set in its hreflang cluster. This file is published once, in English.