SHSelfHostIndex

WebSSH 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?
WE WebSSH SSH client running in a web browser via WebSockets VS WE WebSSH2 Web-based SSH client using xterm.js and WebSockets
FeatureWebSSHWebSSH2
CategoryRemote Access & VPNRemote Access & VPN
LicenseMITApache-2.0
LanguagePythonTypeScript
Setup difficultyEasyEasy
Min. RAM128 MB128 MB
Deploymentdocker, bare-metaldocker, source
GitHub stars★ 5,135★ 2,766
First released20172017
ReplacesPuTTYPuTTY

Why pick each one

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

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 WebSSH or WebSSH2 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 WebSSH and WebSSH2 free and open-source?

Yes. WebSSH is licensed under MIT and WebSSH2 under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run WebSSH and WebSSH2 with Docker?

WebSSH: yes. WebSSH2: yes.

Related comparisons