Mosh vs Teleport
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?
Mosh
Mobile shell with roaming and intermittent connectivity
VS
Teleport
Identity-aware access for infrastructure
| Feature | Mosh | Teleport |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Remote Access & VPN | Remote Access & VPN |
| License | GPL-3.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | C++ | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 64 MB | 1,024 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal, binary | docker, kubernetes, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 14,307 | ★ 20,780 |
| First released | 2012 | 2016 |
| Replaces | SSH | Cisco AnyConnect, AWS Systems Manager |
Why pick each one
Choose Mosh if…
- Released under the GPL-3.0 license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- Mature project with 14.3k GitHub stars
- Written in C++
Choose Teleport if…
- Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Kubernetes-ready with Helm charts available
- Mature project with 20.8k GitHub stars
Frequently asked questions
Is Mosh or Teleport better?
Neither is universally better. Teleport has the larger community, while Mosh is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Mosh and Teleport free and open-source?
Yes. Mosh is licensed under GPL-3.0 and Teleport under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Mosh and Teleport with Docker?
Mosh: check the project docs for container support. Teleport: yes.