GoTTY vs Sshwifty
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted remote access & vpn options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | GoTTY | Sshwifty |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 27 · At risk | 87 · Excellent |
| Category | Remote Access & VPN | Remote Access & VPN |
| License | MIT | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | Go | JavaScript |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 64 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | binary, docker | docker, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 19,554 | ★ 3,127 |
| First released | 2015 | 2019 |
| Replaces | PuTTY | PuTTY |
What are GoTTY and Sshwifty?
GoTTY
GoTTY is a simple command-line tool that turns any CLI program into a web application accessible from a browser. It is useful for sharing terminal sessions and remote access.
- CLI programs as web apps
- Single binary
- Read-only or interactive mode
- Basic auth support
Sshwifty
Sshwifty is a self-hosted web SSH and Telnet client that lets you connect to remote machines from a browser. It is written in Go and Vue and deploys easily as a container.
- Browser-based SSH and Telnet
- No client install
- Lightweight Go binary
- Optional shared credentials
GoTTY vs Sshwifty: key differences
GoTTY is written in Go, while Sshwifty is built with JavaScript. Licensing differs — MIT for GoTTY versus AGPL-3.0 for Sshwifty. GoTTY is the lighter option, starting around 64 MB of RAM against 128 MB for Sshwifty. GoTTY is the more established project (first released 2015), while Sshwifty arrived in 2019. GoTTY has the considerably larger community, at 19,554 GitHub stars versus 3,127.
Why pick each one
Choose GoTTY if…
- Instant terminal sharing
- Single small binary
- No dependencies
Watch out for
- Upstream largely unmaintained
- Security needs careful setup
Choose Sshwifty if…
- Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (3.1k GitHub stars)
Frequently asked questions
Is GoTTY or Sshwifty 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 Sshwifty free and open-source?
Yes. GoTTY is licensed under MIT and Sshwifty under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run GoTTY and Sshwifty with Docker?
GoTTY: yes. Sshwifty: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, GoTTY or Sshwifty?
GoTTY has the smaller minimum footprint at 64 MB of RAM, compared to about 128 MB for Sshwifty. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.