BranchShell SecureCRT alternative without yearly renewals
SecureCRT is a powerful, scriptable terminal for network engineers, sold with one year of updates and a renewal after that, while graphical file transfer lives in SecureFX, a second product. BranchShell puts SFTP, port forwarding, mosh and a SQL client in one app, with updates that never need renewing.
No account. No card. No renewal. macOS, Windows and Linux.
SecureCRT charges again for next year's updates. BranchShell never does.
Once its first year of updates runs out, every new version of SecureCRT costs another payment. BranchShell is $20 once for 2 computers, with updates delivered inside the app and nothing to renew.
$20 once for 2 computers, updates forever
$119 with one year of updates; another year of updates is $48
BranchShell and SecureCRT compared
What each client is built with, what it costs and what it does in the app. Facts about the other client come from its own website and may change.
| Feature | BranchShell | SecureCRT |
|---|---|---|
| Licence | Better: Pay once: $20 for 2 computers, no renewal | Worse: $119 with one year of updates; another year of updates is $48 |
| Platforms | Worse: macOS, Windows, Linux | Better: Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS |
| Built with | Rust, drawn on the GPU | Native |
| Account to use it | None | Licence key |
| Hosts, keys and passwords | Encrypted vault on your computer | Session database with a configuration passphrase |
| Port forwarding | Local, remote and dynamic rules, one switch each | Local, remote and dynamic, per session |
| SFTP | Better: Two panes, sudo paths, S3 and R2 buckets | Worse: Command-line SFTP tab; graphical in SecureFX, sold separately |
| Split terminals | Up to four panes per workspace | Tab groups side by side |
| Mosh | Better: Yes | Worse: No |
| Snippets | Offered as you type, sorted by Laya | Button bar and Command Manager |
| Databases and SQL | Better: Fourteen engines through SSH, with a SQL client | Worse: No |
| Link to a Git client | Better: Hosts and forwards in the BranchBay tray | Worse: No |
The better side The worse side No colour: the same on both
Why developers pick BranchShell over SecureCRT
Updates without a renewal
$20 once for 2 computers. Every update arrives inside the app and the licence never asks for maintenance.
SFTP in the same app
Two panes, this computer and a host, with right-click actions, sudo-elevated paths and S3 and R2 buckets. No second product to buy.
Mosh for bad links
Mosh hosts survive a change of network or a sleeping laptop, next to your SSH sessions in the same tabs.
Made for developers' servers
Database connections through your hosts, a SQL client and a link to BranchBay that opens a host or a forward from the repository it belongs to.
What SecureCRT does that BranchShell does not
- Python and VBScript scripting with the session API
- Telnet, rlogin and raw connections, plus RDP on Windows
- Deep emulation of VT, Xterm, Wyse and other terminals
- X.509 smart card sign-in
If one of these is part of your day, keep SecureCRT. The rest of the time, BranchShell does the job from one vault, for one payment.
Does BranchShell need a yearly maintenance renewal?
Does BranchShell have a graphical SFTP browser?
Can I try BranchShell before leaving SecureCRT?
What does BranchShell cost?
Try it next to SecureCRT.
Import your SSH config and connect to the hosts you already have. Nothing to sign up for, nothing to renew and nothing to uninstall until you are sure.