GoTTY vs Shell In A Box
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted remote access & vpn options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Not the right match-up?
GoTTY
Share your terminal as a web application
VS
Shell In A Box
Web-based terminal emulator for remote shell access
| Feature | GoTTY | Shell In A Box |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Remote Access & VPN | Remote Access & VPN |
| License | MIT | GPL-2.0 |
| Language | Go | C |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 64 MB | 64 MB |
| Deployment | binary, docker | bare-metal, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 19,537 | ★ 3,088 |
| First released | 2015 | 2009 |
| Replaces | PuTTY | PuTTY |
Why pick each one
Choose GoTTY if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Mature project with 19.5k GitHub stars
Choose Shell In A Box if…
- Released under the GPL-2.0 license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- Active community (3.1k GitHub stars)
- Written in C
Frequently asked questions
Is GoTTY or Shell In A Box better?
Neither is universally better. GoTTY has the larger community; both share a easy setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are GoTTY and Shell In A Box free and open-source?
Yes. GoTTY is licensed under MIT and Shell In A Box under GPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run GoTTY and Shell In A Box with Docker?
GoTTY: yes. Shell In A Box: check the project docs for container support.