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PuTTY

PuTTY is a free and open-source terminal emulator, serial console, and network file transfer application that supports protocols such as SSH (Secure Shell),…

  • Tools & Utilities
PuTTY is a free and open-source terminal emulator, serial console, and network file transfer application that supports protocols such as SSH (Secure Shell), Telnet, and SCP (Secure Copy). This entry packages it as a lightweight Docker container so you can open PuTTY's full graphical interface from any modern web browser, with no client-side download or setup required, or connect with any VNC (Virtual Network Computing) client, handy for homelabbers who want browser-based terminal and remote file-transfer access.

Platform availability

Available on 1 of 9 platforms

  • Unraid
  • TrueNAS (not listed)
  • Umbrel (not listed)
  • ZimaOS (not listed)
  • Proxmox (not listed)
  • Helm (not listed)
  • Mac (not listed)
  • Windows (not listed)
  • Linux (not listed)

Health score?A 0-100 score computed nightly from four factors: maintained (40%: recent commits and steady activity), popular (25%: GitHub stars, log scale), easy to install (20%: platforms, install notes, setup guides, Docker image) and light to run (15%: minimum RAM, ARM support). When the source code has been checked, a fifth factor, security check (20%: automated scan for committed secrets, unsafe desktop-app settings, known-vulnerable dependencies and project hygiene; any serious finding caps it at 20), is added. Factors without data are left out and the rest are rescaled.

64/100 Good

Maintained
100last commit 21 days ago
Popular
3133 GitHub stars
Easy to install
351 install platform, install notes, Docker image
Light to run
No data

Based on 3 of 4 factors.

Availability: platform listings confirmed today, links checked 13 days ago

GitHub stars
33
Open issues
0
Last commit
2026-09-22
Latest release
v26.09.1
License
MIT
Activity
declining

Checked 7 days ago - source: GitHub (jlesage/docker-putty)

Resources & Compatibility

ARM (e.g. Raspberry Pi) is supported.

Checked 14 days ago - source: Docker Hub image tags and published docs

First-install notes

  • Browser or VNC access After deploying the container, open PuTTY's full graphical interface from any modern web browser (no client-side download or setup required) or connect with any VNC client. The web interface also provides audio playback, clipboard sharing, and an integrated file manager and terminal for accessing the container's files and shell. source

Fetched 5 days ago - each note links to its source

Alternatives (12)

  • Bitvise SSH Client - SSH client for file transfer, terminal and tunneling.
  • ConnectBot - ConnectBot is a Secure Shell client for the Android platform.
  • KiTTY - KiTTY is an opensource terminal emulator, forked from PuTTY , that adds many extra features to the original software.
  • MobaXterm - MobaXterm is an enhanced terminal app that brings the advanced features of a Unix-like command-line to Windows.
  • OpenSSH - OpenSSH is a free version of the SSH connectivity tools that technical users rely on.
  • PowerShell - PowerShell is a Docker container with a pre-installed command-line shell and scripting environment for running PowerShell scripts and autom…
  • ReTerminal - ReTerminal is a sleek, Material 3-inspired terminal emulator designed as a modern alternative to the legacy Jackpal Terminal.
  • Tabby - Tabby is a self-hosted, open-source artificial intelligence (AI) coding assistant that provides an on-premises alternative to GitHub Copilo…
  • Termius - Termius is more than a mere SSH client – it’s a complete command-line solution that’s redefining remote access for sysadmins and network en…
  • Termux - Access a full Unix environment on Android without rooting.
  • ZOC - ZOC is a powerful and well-established terminal emulator and telnet client, well known for its outstanding user interface with tabbed multi…
  • mRemoteNG - mRemoteNG is a fork of mRemote , an open source, tabbed, multi-protocol, remote connections manager.

Checked 11 days ago - source: AlternativeTo

Common questions

How can I access the PuTTY GUI in the Docker container?

You can open the full graphical interface from any modern web browser without client-side installation, or connect with any VNC client.

Which port is used in the quick start example?

The quick start Docker command maps host port 5800 to container port 5800.

Where should the container's data be stored?

The quick start example mounts a host directory, such as /docker/appdata/putty, to /config inside the container as read/write.

What common PuTTY problems does the troubleshooting page cover?

It covers non-English filenames appearing as ?????? and idle SSH connections dropping.

How does PuTTY detect a redirected SSH connection?

PuTTY uses server host keys to identify servers. Once it knows a server's host key, it can detect if an attacker redirects the connection to another machine.

Answers sourced from github.com, help.dreamhost.com, putty.be

Community

Collected 8 days ago - public community threads