SHSelfHostIndex

Sshwifty vs WebSSH2

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 WebSSH2 Web-based SSH client using xterm.js and WebSockets
FeatureSshwiftyWebSSH2
Deploy effortUnder-an-hour setupUnder-an-hour setup
Health score87 · Excellent86 · Excellent
CategoryRemote Access & VPNRemote Access & VPN
LicenseAGPL-3.0Apache-2.0
LanguageJavaScriptTypeScript
Setup difficultyEasyEasy
Min. RAM128 MB128 MB
Deploymentdocker, binarydocker, source
GitHub stars★ 3,127★ 2,773
First released20192017
ReplacesPuTTYPuTTY

What are Sshwifty and WebSSH2?

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

WebSSH2

WebSSH2 is an open-source web SSH client built with xterm.js and WebSockets. It can be self-hosted to provide browser-based terminal access to SSH servers.

  • Browser SSH terminal
  • xterm.js frontend
  • WebSocket transport
  • Docker ready

Sshwifty vs WebSSH2: key differences

Sshwifty is written in JavaScript, while WebSSH2 is built with TypeScript. Licensing differs — AGPL-3.0 for Sshwifty versus Apache-2.0 for WebSSH2. WebSSH2 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 WebSSH2 if…

  • Released under the Apache-2.0 license
  • Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
  • First-class Docker support for quick deployment
  • Active community (2.8k GitHub stars)
WebSSH2 details

Frequently asked questions

Is Sshwifty or WebSSH2 better?

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

Are Sshwifty and WebSSH2 free and open-source?

Yes. Sshwifty is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and WebSSH2 under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Sshwifty and WebSSH2 with Docker?

Sshwifty: yes. WebSSH2: yes.

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