SHSelfHostIndex

Sshwifty vs WebSSH

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?
Sshwifty Web-based SSH and Telnet client VS WE WebSSH SSH client running in a web browser via WebSockets
FeatureSshwiftyWebSSH
Deploy effortUnder-an-hour setupUnder-an-hour setup
Health score87 · Excellent41 · Fair
CategoryRemote Access & VPNRemote Access & VPN
LicenseAGPL-3.0MIT
LanguageJavaScriptPython
Setup difficultyEasyEasy
Min. RAM128 MB128 MB
Deploymentdocker, binarydocker, bare-metal
GitHub stars★ 3,127★ 5,144
First released20192017
ReplacesPuTTYPuTTY

What are Sshwifty and WebSSH?

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

WebSSH

WebSSH is a simple web application that provides an SSH client in the browser using Python, Tornado, and WebSockets. It supports password and public key authentication.

  • SSH in the browser
  • Public key and password auth
  • Full-screen terminal
  • Simple deployment

Sshwifty vs WebSSH: key differences

Sshwifty is written in JavaScript, while WebSSH is built with Python. Licensing differs — AGPL-3.0 for Sshwifty versus MIT for WebSSH. WebSSH is the more established project (first released 2017), while Sshwifty arrived in 2019.

Why pick each one

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)
Sshwifty details

Choose WebSSH if…

  • Released under the MIT license
  • Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
  • First-class Docker support for quick deployment
  • Mature project with 5.1k GitHub stars
WebSSH details

Frequently asked questions

Is Sshwifty or WebSSH better?

Neither is universally better. WebSSH has the larger community; both share a easy setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.

Are Sshwifty and WebSSH free and open-source?

Yes. Sshwifty is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and WebSSH under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Sshwifty and WebSSH with Docker?

Sshwifty: yes. WebSSH: yes.

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