Comparison of SSH servers
An SSH server is a software program which uses the Secure Shell protocol to accept connections from remote computers. SFTP/SCP file transfers and remote terminal connections are popular use cases for an SSH server.
01General
| Name | Developer | Initial release | Platform | Latest release | License | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Version | Date | |||||
| Apache MINA SSHD | Apache Software Foundation | 2009 | AIX | 2.16.0 | 23 August 2025 | Apache-2.0 |
| BSD | ||||||
| Linux | ||||||
| HP-UX | ||||||
| Java | ||||||
| macOS | ||||||
| Solaris | ||||||
| Windows | ||||||
| Bitvise SSH Server | Bitvise Limited | 2001 | Windows | 9.47 | 2025-09-02 | Proprietary |
| CopSSH | Itefix | 2003-08-12 | Cygwin | 7.21.1 | 2025-07-23 | Proprietary |
| Windows | ||||||
| CrushFTP Server | CrushFTP, LLC | 2003-01-01 | AIX | 11.3.7 | 2025-10-01 | Proprietary |
| BSD | ||||||
| Cygwin | ||||||
| Linux | ||||||
| HP-UX | ||||||
| Java | ||||||
| macOS | ||||||
| Solaris | ||||||
| Windows | ||||||
| Dropbear | Matt Johnston | 2003-04-06 | AIX | 2026.90 | 2026-05-03 | MIT |
| Android | ||||||
| BSD | ||||||
| Cygwin | ||||||
| Linux | ||||||
| HP-UX | ||||||
| macOS | ||||||
| Solaris | ||||||
| webOS | ||||||
| lsh | Niels Möller | 1999-05-23 | BSD | 2.1 | 2013-06-26 | GPL-2.0-or-later |
| Linux | ||||||
| Solaris | ||||||
| macOS | ||||||
| OpenSSH | The OpenBSD project | 1999-12-01 | AIX | 10.5 | 2026-08-11 | BSD |
| AmigaOS | ||||||
| Android | ||||||
| BSD | ||||||
| Cygwin | ||||||
| Linux | ||||||
| HP-UX | ||||||
| iOS | ||||||
| macOS | ||||||
| OpenVMS | ||||||
| Solaris | ||||||
| webOS | ||||||
| Windows | ||||||
| z/OS | ||||||
| Teleport | Gravitational | 2016-06-23 | 18.2.1 | 2025-09-13 | Apache-2.0 | |
| TinySSH | Jan Mojžíš | 2015-08-01 | BSD | 20250501 | 2025-05-01 | Public domain |
| Linux | ||||||
| macOS | ||||||
| wolfSSH | wolfSSL | 2016-07-20 | BSD | 1.5.0 | 2026-04-20 | GPL-3.0-or-later |
| Cygwin | ||||||
| Linux | ||||||
| macOS | ||||||
| Solaris | ||||||
| Windows | ||||||
02Platform
The operating systems or virtual machines the SSH servers are designed to run on without emulation; there are several possibilities:
- No indicates that it does not exist or was never released.
- Partial indicates that while it works, the server lacks important functionality compared to versions for other OSs but may still be under development.
- Beta indicates that while a version is fully functional and has been released, it is still in development (e.g. for stability).
- Yes indicates that it has been officially released in a fully functional, stable version.
- Dropped indicates that while the server works, new versions are no longer being released for the indicated OS; the number in parentheses is the last known stable version which was officially released for that OS.
- Included indicates that the server comes pre-packaged with or has been integrated into the operating system.
The list is not exhaustive, but rather reflects the most common platforms today.
| Name | macOS | Windows | Cygwin | BSD | Linux | Solaris | Java | OpenVMS | z/OS | AmigaOS | AIX | HP-UX | iOS | webOS | Android |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apache MINA SSHD | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | No |
| Bitvise SSH Server | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| CopSSH | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| CrushFTP Server | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | No |
| Dropbear | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
| lsh | Yes | No | No | Partial | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | Unknown |
| OpenSSH | Included | Optional | Included | Included | Included | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Included | Yes | Yes | Partial |
| TinySSH | Yes | Unknown | Unknown | Yes | Yes | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown |
| wolfSSH | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
03Features
| Name | SSH1 | SSH2 | Port forwarding | SFTP | SCP | IPv6 | OpenSSH authorized keys | Privilege separation | FIPS 140-2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apache MINA SSHD | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Unknown |
| Bitvise SSH Server | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| CopSSH | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Unknown |
| CrushFTP Server | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Unknown |
| Dropbear | No | Yes | Yes | Partial | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Unknown |
| Lsh | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown |
| OpenSSH | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| TinySSH | No | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Unknown | No |
| wolfSSH | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Comparison of SSH servers”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.
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