Comparison
Telnety vs MobaXterm — every protocol, every platform
MobaXterm is a beloved Windows terminal that bundles dozens of Unix tools into a single download. Telnety carries the same 'one app, many protocols' philosophy to macOS and Linux too, with a smaller binary, an encrypted vault, and an MCP server for AI-assisted operations.
Where MobaXterm shines
- Bundled X11 server is genuinely useful when you have to forward GUI Unix apps to Windows — Telnety does not ship an X server.
- The Cygwin-based environment gives MobaXterm a built-in Unix shell, sed, awk, grep, and similar tools on Windows out of the box.
- Macro recorder and embedded text editor have been refined over many releases and are familiar to long-time MobaXterm users.
Feature comparison
All claims about MobaXterm reflect their public marketing and documentation. Where MobaXterm does better, we say so.
| Feature | Telnety | MobaXterm |
|---|---|---|
| Protocols | ||
| SSH | ||
| RDP | ||
| VNC | ||
| SFTP | ||
| Telnet | ||
| Serial console | ||
| X11 forwarding / X server | ||
| Tools | ||
| Built-in network tools | 36 curated tools | Cygwin tools + MobApt packages |
| Split panes | ||
| Macro recorder | Snippets + broadcast | |
| Embedded text editor | Remote-edit via SFTP pane | |
| Auto-discovery on local network | ||
| Security | ||
| Credential vault | AES-256-GCM + Argon2id | Master password protects sessions file |
| Biometric unlock | ||
| SSH agent built-in | ||
| Session recording (Asciicast v2) | ||
| Ed25519 signed release binaries | ||
| Productivity | ||
| Command palette (Ctrl+K) | ||
| MCP AI server | v1.1 preview | |
| Plugin ecosystem | v1.1 isolated-vm sandbox | MobApt packages |
| Import wizard | Reads .mxtsessions XML | Native sessions |
| Pricing | ||
| Home / personal use | Community free | Home Edition free |
| Professional use | Pro: $9.99 / month | Professional: $69 one-time per user (per public pricing) |
| Team management | Team tier with shared vault | Customer Portal + license server |
| License model | Subscription | Perpetual with 1-year updates |
| Cross-platform | ||
| Windows | ||
| macOS | ||
| Linux | ||
| Android | ||
| Privacy | ||
| Telemetry default | Off | Off (local-first) |
| Open export formats | JSON | .mxtsessions XML |
| Cloud sync | Optional per-workspace | |
Pricing, side by side
Public list prices for both products. Always confirm in your billing currency before committing.
Telnety
- All 6 protocols (SSH, RDP, VNC, SFTP, Telnet, Serial)
- 5 saved hosts
- Basic terminal tools
- 1 device activation
- Community forum support
Or $99.99/year billed yearly · billed in USD via Paddle
- Everything in Community
- Unlimited saved hosts
- All 36 built-in tools
- AES-256-GCM credential vault
- Session recording & playback
- MCP AI server (v1.1)
- Plugin ecosystem (v1.1)
- 3 device activations
- Priority email support
Yearly: $199.99/user/year billed annually
- Everything in Pro
- Shared vault with team roles
- SSO / SAML
- Audit logging
- Admin dashboard
- Custom plugin deployment
- Dedicated support with SLA
MobaXterm
- 12 sessions, 2 SSH tunnels, 4 macros (per MobaXterm public limits)
- All protocols
- Cygwin environment
- X11 server
Includes one year of updates; perpetual license afterwards
- Unlimited sessions, tunnels, macros
- Commercial use
- Custom branding
- Direct support
Importing from MobaXterm
MobaXterm stores sessions in an XML file (or in a master-password-protected vault). Telnety's import wizard reads exported .mxtsessions files and re-creates each session as a host in your Telnety host tree.
1. Export your MobaXterm sessions
In MobaXterm, go to Settings → Backup → Export sessions. Save the .mxtsessions file. If your vault uses a master password, MobaXterm will prompt you for it during export.
2. (Optional) Decrypt the vault
If you protected sessions with a master password, choose 'Export decrypted XML' so Telnety can read host metadata. Passwords themselves stay out of the export — Telnety will prompt you for them on first connect and store them in its own vault.
# The exported file is plain XML file MobaXterm-sessions.mxtsessions # MobaXterm-sessions.mxtsessions: XML 1.0 document3. Open Telnety's import wizard
In Telnety, go to File → Import → From MobaXterm. Pick the .mxtsessions file. Telnety reads each <Bookmark> element and proposes a matching Telnety host.
4. Map SSH keys
MobaXterm stores keys inside its session file or by reference to a path. Telnety will list each unique key reference and ask you to point at the OpenSSH-format key on disk.
# Convert MobaXterm-generated PuTTY keys to OpenSSH if needed puttygen mobaxterm-key.ppk -O private-openssh -o mobaxterm-key5. Confirm and import
Review the host tree. MobaXterm bookmarks nested in folders become Telnety host groups. Click Import — Telnety creates the entries and stores any provided credentials in the AES-256-GCM vault.
Why teams switch
“MobaXterm worked well on Windows; the problem was that half our team is on Macs now. Telnety gave us one client we can standardise on across the fleet.”
“We kept MobaXterm Pro for the macro recorder. Telnety's snippet manager plus broadcast mode covers ninety percent of what those macros did, with no licensing per machine.”
“The biometric unlock on the credential vault was the deciding factor for our security review. MobaXterm's master password was workable; Windows Hello was a hard requirement.”
Frequently asked questions
Quick answers to the questions teams ask when comparing MobaXterm and Telnety.
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