electerm vs MobaXterm
electerm
electerm.org
MobaXterm
mobaxterm.mobatek.netSide by side
| Figure | electerm | MobaXterm |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | $5.75/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | Yes |
| Open source | Yes | — |
| Web | Yes | — |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | — |
| Linux | Yes | — |
| iOS | Yes | — |
| Android | Yes | — |
| API | Yes | — |
| Self-hosted | Yes | — |
| Plans published | 1 | 4 |
| Spec score · SSH Clients | 8.9 (#2) | 8.8 (#3) |
| Documentation | The GitHub wiki lists 50 documentation pages, including AI configuration, synchronization, batch operations, deep links and command-line usage. | The official manual contains extensive interface, protocol, settings, troubleshooting and FAQ sections. |
| File transfer | Zmodem and Trzsz transfers are supported and are compatible with tmux. | An SSH session can open a graphical SFTP browser for dragging and dropping files to and from a remote server. |
| License | electerm is free and open-source software released under the MIT License. | MobaXterm is proprietary freeware/commercial software; Mobatek retains ownership and third-party components have separate licenses. |
| Product purpose | electerm combines a terminal emulator, graphical SFTP file manager, and remote connection protocols in one application. | MobaXterm combines remote-access protocols, Unix commands and an X server in one Windows portable executable. |
| Protocols | The client supports SSH, SFTP, FTP, Telnet, serial port, RDP, VNC, and Spice sessions. | It supports remote sessions including SSH, Telnet, Rlogin, RDP, VNC, XDMCP, FTP, SFTP, Mosh, and Serial. |
| Support | The project provides GitHub issue reporting, discussions, documentation, and community translations. | The Home Edition license says Mobatek is not obligated to provide technical assistance or maintenance services. |
Plans
MobaXterm
- Professional Edition$69 a year
- Home EditionFree
- Professional Edition$69, paid once
- Professional Edition$69 a year
In their own words
electerm
electerm combines a terminal emulator, graphical SFTP file manager, and remote connection tools in free, open-source software under the MIT License. It supports SSH, SFTP, FTP, Telnet, serial, RDP, VNC, and Spice sessions, with both public-key and password authentication. Connection options include proxies, SSH tunneling, agent forwarding, port forwarding, X11 forwarding, and connection hopping. The SFTP manager lets users open remote files for editing. Its AI assistant supports OpenAI Chat Completions, OpenAI Responses, and Anthropic Messages formats for generating commands and scripts, creating bookmarks, and explaining things. Bookmarks, themes, and quick commands can sync through GitHub or Gitee secret gists, WebDAV, a custom server, or electerm cloud. Desktop builds cover Windows 7+, macOS 10.15+, and Linux across several processor architectures; mobile versions are available for Android, iOS, and HarmonyOS. The browser version works without installation and supports several remote protocols, but lacks local terminal, serial-port, and web-page features. In electerm online, credentials are stored on the server and SSH connections are proxied through it; the site provides no security guarantees.
MobaXterm
MobaXterm combines remote-computing tools and Unix commands in a Windows application. It supports remote sessions over SSH, Telnet, Rlogin, RDP, VNC, XDMCP, FTP, SFTP, Mosh, and Serial, among other listed protocols. Its embedded X server supports OpenGL and extensions for running remote graphical applications on Windows. An SSH session can open a graphical SFTP browser for transferring files between a computer and a remote server. The terminal includes Unix commands, and additional tools can be added through downloadable plugins or the MobApt package manager. The session manager can route connections through an SSH gateway before reaching an end server. MobaXterm is offered as a single executable that can run from a USB stick without admin rights. The Home Edition has limits of 12 sessions, 2 SSH tunnels, and 4 macros; its license does not obligate the maker to provide technical assistance or maintenance. Professional Edition costs $69 per user per year, with first-year updates and optional renewal. The maker, MobaXterm, was founded in 2008 and is headquartered in Toulouse, France.