Requirements aka what I was looking for
This is my own personal experience, a story about looking for and finding the best SSH client for my Android phone. My requirements were the following: I was looking for a free SSH client for Android 14 with agent forwarding. By agent forwarding, I mean that I want to be able to connect to a server, and from that server, I want to be able to connect to another server. For that, you need agent forwarding; otherwise, you will not be able to connect to another server.
There are not too many options
Surprisingly to me, there are not too many options. Based on the fact that Android is basically Linux, I was expecting many more SSH clients to be available than I actually found. I’m going to focus on the following three SSH clients: JuiceSSH, Termius, and finally ConnectBot, which is the client I decided on.
Comparison with JuiceSSH
JuiceSSH is really a good SSH client, and I still have it installed and use it as a backup. It has a free version that includes agent forwarding. Actually, the free version includes almost all the functionality of the pro version, which is great. It allows you to upload your SSH key(s) and define frequent connections. It also looks pretty good. The only problem with JuiceSSH is that it does not work. Well, it works until it doesn’t. The application is apparently not 100% compatible with new Androids and quite often it crashes. If you look at the JuiceSSH changelog, you will find that it ends in January 2021. I have been using JuiceSSH for many years, and it was a great SSH client, but with the most recent Android versions, it is really unstable, so I had to start looking for an alternative.
JuiceSSH
JuiceSSH
Comparison with Termius
Termius is a great app. From the first moment, you can see that the Termius team did a lot of work. But the free version does not include agent forwarding. I was actually considering buying the Pro version, and for that, you need to create an account, which comes with a personal vault that stores all your data, such as SSH keys and configured connections. It is a great security feature, but if you forget your vault password, then you will lose everything in the vault because there is no way to reset your vault password (by design). Don’t ask me how I know it. The app does not usually ask for the vault password (so it is easy to forget it), but if you want to, for example, upgrade your account, then it is necessary to use your vault password, and then problems may start. The other disappointment was talking to sales. I asked them if it was possible to get some discount, and no matter what arguments I used, the answer was always a quite strict no. I was so surprised that there is actually a 43% discount if you pay annually. To this day, I have no idea why the sales representative did not mention that. So at the end of the day, I found Termius too complicated with not that great customer service and decided to pass on Termius as it was already not satisfying my requirement to be a free SSH client.
Termius
Termius
Termius
Why ConnectBot is the best SSH client for Android
ConnectBot is not only free of charge, but it is also open source. It is exactly what I was hoping for! The good old spirit of Linux. ConnectBot supports agent forwarding and all other useful features such as uploading your SSH key(s) and defining frequently used connections. The only downside is its visual appearance. It is not as aesthetically pleasing as JuiceSSH or Termius. But I guess that it is not a big deal for people looking for an SSH client for Android. It is definitely not a big deal for me. Other than that, ConnectBot just works – well and reliably, and it is the reason why I decided to use it long-term. Kudos to all ConnectBot contributors, especially to the main developer Kenny Root, good work and thank you!
ConnectBot
ConnectBot
What is your favorite SSH client for Android?
Please let us know what is your favorite SSH client for Android.