Comparison
Telnety vs Royal TS — modern, cross-platform remote access
Royal TS has been the connection manager of choice for many Windows-and-macOS shops for over a decade. Telnety extends the same idea to Linux and Android, ships a lighter binary, and adds an MCP server for AI-assisted operations.
Where Royal TS shines
- Royal TS's document model is genuinely thoughtful: connections live in encrypted documents you can store anywhere — Dropbox, a file share, or a Git repo.
- Mature secure gateway and credential management features make Royal TS comfortable in regulated environments.
- First-class integration with Royal Server and Royal Passwords for organisations that already use the Royal product family.
Feature comparison
All claims about Royal TS reflect their public marketing and documentation. Where Royal TS does better, we say so.
| Feature | Telnety | Royal TS |
|---|---|---|
| Protocols | ||
| SSH | ||
| RDP | ||
| VNC | ||
| SFTP | ||
| Telnet | ||
| Serial console | ||
| Web (embedded browser) tabs | Planned (v1.2) | |
| Tools | ||
| Built-in network tools | 36 curated tools | Tasks, dynamic credentials, command tasks |
| Split panes | ||
| Broadcast input | ||
| Document-based storage | JSON workspace export | Royal TS document (.rtsz) |
| Dynamic / placeholder values | Snippets with variables | |
| Security | ||
| Credential vault | AES-256-GCM + Argon2id | Encrypted document with master password or KeePass integration |
| Biometric unlock | ||
| Secure gateway / jump host chains | Multi-hop SSH jump hosts | Royal Server / SSH gateways |
| Audit logs (Team tier) | ||
| Ed25519 signed releases | ||
| Productivity | ||
| Command palette (Ctrl+K) | ||
| MCP AI server | v1.1 preview | |
| Plugin ecosystem | v1.1 isolated-vm sandbox | Royal Apps marketplace |
| Import wizard | Reads .rtsz documents | Native |
| Pricing | ||
| Free tier | Community: 5 hosts, all 6 protocols | Royal TS Lite: 10 connections, 10 credentials |
| Personal | Pro: $9.99 / month | Personal Lifetime: $35 one-time per user (per Royal Apps public pricing) |
| Team / commercial | Team: $19.99 / user / month | Commercial seats; volume tiers |
| Recurring vs perpetual | Subscription | Perpetual licenses with optional updates |
| Cross-platform | ||
| Windows | ||
| macOS | ||
| Linux | ||
| Android | ||
| iOS / iPadOS | Planned (v1.1) | |
| Privacy | ||
| Telemetry default | Off | Off |
| Cloud sync | Optional | Bring-your-own (Dropbox, OneDrive, Git, Royal Server) |
| Open export formats | JSON | .rtsz / XML |
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
Royal TS
- 10 connections, 10 credentials (per Royal Apps public limits)
- All protocols
- Local document storage
- Community forum support
- Unlimited connections and credentials
- Non-commercial use
- Free major version upgrades for first year
- Cross-platform (Windows and macOS)
- Commercial use
- Volume licensing
- Royal Server integration
- Priority support
Importing from Royal TS
Royal TS connections live in encrypted .rtsz documents. Telnety's import wizard opens those documents (with the master password) and re-creates each connection as a host in your Telnety workspace, preserving folder structure.
1. Locate your Royal TS document
Royal TS workspaces are .rtsz (encrypted) or .rtxz (compressed) files. They are usually in your Documents folder or a synced location like OneDrive or Dropbox.
%USERPROFILE%\Documents\*.rtsz # Windows ~/Documents/*.rtsz # macOS2. Open Telnety's import wizard
In Telnety, go to File → Import → From Royal TS. Pick your .rtsz file. Telnety will prompt for the document password and decrypt the file in memory; nothing is written to disk.
3. Map credentials and gateways
Royal TS supports KeePass integration and dynamic credentials. Telnety will list each unique credential reference and ask whether to import the value (into the Telnety vault) or leave it as a prompt-on-connect.
4. Map jump hosts
Royal TS secure gateways become Telnety jump hosts. The import wizard chains them in the order Royal TS used so the first connection uses the same path.
# Telnety jump host chain example Local -> bastion.example.com:22 (jump host) -> app-server-01.internal:22 (destination)5. Confirm and import
Review the proposed host tree, preserving Royal TS folders as Telnety groups. Click Import — credentials land in the AES-256-GCM vault and the original .rtsz file is left untouched.
Why teams switch
“We have used Royal TS for a decade. The reason we switched was Linux — a quarter of our engineers are on Ubuntu now and Royal TS does not run there. Telnety closed that gap.”
“The .rtsz import preserved every folder and every credential reference. We finished the migration in an afternoon and never looked back.”
“Royal TS taught us to expect a thoughtful product. Telnety meets the bar on the day-to-day workflows and adds the AI integration that finally feels useful in a terminal.”
Frequently asked questions
Quick answers to the questions teams ask when comparing Royal TS and Telnety.
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