Quick connect from the keyboard
Press Ctrl K (⌘ K on a Mac), type a few letters of a host name and press Enter. Or paste an address and LiteTerm connects to it.
Now on Windows, macOS and Linux
Your servers, one shortcut away.
LiteTerm is a small SSH client for Windows, macOS and Linux. The terminal, SFTP, port forwarding and your notes share one window, and your passwords stay in the OS keychain.
4.3 MB installer No account Windows 10+, macOS 11+, Linux
Search hosts or type user@host
prod-apiubuntu@10.0.4.12
prod-dbpostgres@10.0.4.20
prod-workerubuntu@10.0.4.31
staging-webdeploy@10.1.2.8
build-runnerci@10.0.9.3
bastionops@203.0.113.7:2222
nasadmin@192.168.1.50
01 · Features
One window for the whole SSH day.
Terminal, files, tunnels and the notes you keep about them. Nothing to sign in to.
Jump hosts, built in
Route through one bastion or a chain of them. ProxyJump lines in your ~/.ssh/config come along when you import.
SFTP in two panes
Browse, rename, upload and download with progress and cancel. Move files between this computer and a host, or between two hosts.
Port forwarding
Start and stop local forwards (-L) from a list. A forward can start by itself when its host connects.
Notes beside your servers
Write runbooks with tags, link a note to a host, and press Run on a code block to send it to that host’s terminal.
Secrets and host keys stay in their place
Passwords and key passphrases go to the Windows Credential Manager, the macOS Keychain or the Linux Secret Service, never into LiteTerm’s hosts database.
The first time you connect, you check the server’s fingerprint. If a saved key ever changes, LiteTerm refuses to connect.
Also in the box
- Auto-reconnect
- Find in terminal, with regex
- Snippets
- SSH agent: 1Password, Bitwarden, KeePassXC
- Import from ~/.ssh/config or a Termius export
- Light and dark themes
- Local terminal
02 · Platforms
Small installers for three systems.
LiteTerm uses the web view your system already has, so there is no browser to bundle and nothing large to download.
Windows
Windows 10 or later, 64-bit
- Updates itself from inside the app.
- Passwords go to the Windows Credential Manager.
- Signs in with the OpenSSH agent, 1Password, Bitwarden or KeePassXC.
macOS
BetamacOS 11 or later, Apple Silicon and Intel
- Not signed or notarized yet. On first launch choose Open Anyway in System Settings, Privacy & Security.
- Passwords go to the macOS Keychain.
- The update button opens the download page.
Linux
Betax86_64 with WebKitGTK 4.1, such as Ubuntu 22.04 or later
- Saving passwords needs a running Secret Service, such as GNOME Keyring or KWallet.
- Copy and paste in the terminal with Ctrl+Shift+C and Ctrl+Shift+V.
- The update button opens the download page.
The macOS and Linux builds are new and have had less testing than Windows. If one misbehaves, tell us on GitHub.
03 · Limits
What LiteTerm doesn’t do yet.
Better to read this before you install than to find out after.
SFTP moves files, not folders
Folder transfers and resuming an interrupted transfer are not built yet.
Local port forwards only
Forwarding supports
-L. There is no remote (-R) or dynamic (-D) forwarding.No agent forwarding, no Pageant
The OpenSSH agent, 1Password, Bitwarden and KeePassXC all work.
No cloud sync
Hosts live on the computer where you added them. Export and import moves them.
macOS and Linux are new
Those builds come from CI and have had far less testing than the Windows one.
Updates install themselves on Windows only
On macOS and Linux the update button opens the download page.
04 · FAQ
Questions before you install.
Is LiteTerm free?
Yes. There is no account, no subscription and no license key. The code is on GitHub.
Where are my passwords stored?
In your operating system’s keychain: the Windows Credential Manager, the macOS Keychain or the Secret Service on Linux. LiteTerm’s own database holds addresses, user names and settings, never passwords.
Does it sync between my computers?
No. Hosts stay on the computer where you saved them. Export and import moves them from one machine to another.
Can I bring my hosts from another app?
Yes. Import them from ~/.ssh/config (ProxyJump lines included), from a Termius export file or from a LiteTerm export. Your known_hosts file can come along too.
How does it check host keys?
On trust-on-first-use. The first time you connect, LiteTerm shows the fingerprint and asks you to trust it, for every hop of a jump chain. If a saved key later changes, the connection is refused.
Does it work with 1Password or an SSH agent?
Yes. Choose Agent as the sign-in method. LiteTerm reads keys from the OpenSSH agent (the Windows "OpenSSH Authentication Agent" service, or the SSH_AUTH_SOCK socket on macOS and Linux), which 1Password, Bitwarden and KeePassXC can also serve.
How do updates work?
On Windows, LiteTerm checks GitHub Releases, downloads the new installer and restarts itself. On macOS and Linux it tells you a new version exists and opens the download page.
Why does macOS say it cannot verify the app?
LiteTerm is not signed or notarized with an Apple Developer ID yet. Open System Settings, Privacy & Security, and choose Open Anyway, or run xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine /Applications/LiteTerm.app in a terminal.
Something else? Open an issue on GitHub.
Open your first connection in a minute.
Install LiteTerm, add a host, or press Ctrl K and paste an address.