Konsole vs MobaXterm
Konsole
konsole.kde.org
MobaXterm
mobaxterm.mobatek.netSide by side
| Figure | Konsole | MobaXterm |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | $5.75/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | Yes |
| Open source | — | — |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | — |
| Linux | Yes | — |
| Plans published | 1 | 4 |
| Spec score · Terminal apps | 8.7 (#4) | 8.9 (#3) |
| Spec score · Terminal Emulators | 8.5 (#9) | 8.6 (#4) |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Headquarters | Berlin, Germany | Toulouse, France |
| License | Konsole is listed under the GPL-2.0+ license. | MobaXterm is proprietary freeware/commercial software; Mobatek retains ownership and third-party components have separate licenses. |
| Maker | KDE describes itself as an international community that has built and distributed free, open-source software since 1996. | Mobatek is a Toulouse, France software company serving worldwide customers since 2008. |
| Purpose | Konsole runs a command shell and provides a command-line interface for directly controlling a computer. | MobaXterm combines remote computing tools and Unix commands in a Windows application for programmers, webmasters, IT administrators, and others handling remote jobs. |
| Support | The page links to the Konsole Handbook, KDE Forum, bug reporting, and a developer mailing list. | The Home Edition license says Mobatek is not obligated to provide technical assistance or maintenance services. |
| Supported platforms | Linux,Windows,macOS | Windows |
Plans
MobaXterm
- Professional Edition$69 a year
- Home EditionFree
- Professional Edition$69, paid once
- Professional Edition$69 a year
In their own words
Konsole
Konsole is a terminal emulator for running a command shell and controlling a computer through a text-based command line. It is listed for Linux, Windows, and macOS and is free and open source under GPL-2.0+. Tabs and multiple profiles organize sessions; profiles can also automate common commands, including SSH connections to another machine. A tab can be split into left-right or top-bottom views, and its layout can be saved to a file. Konsole supports bookmarks, searching, and saving output or scrollback as a text or HTML file. Monitoring can notify users about silence, activity, a shell prompt, or a finished process. With shell integration enabled, it distinguishes prompts, input, and output and provides visual hints for commands that resulted in errors. A D-Bus interface allows software to control Konsole windows and sessions. Linux installation options include application stores, distribution package managers, and Flathub. The project links to Windows and macOS platform pages, including nightly installers for Windows and macOS ARM and Intel; those builds are intended for testing and come from the latest development branch.
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.