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PuTTY vs RXVT

Professional comparison and analysis to help you choose the right software solution for your needs.

PuTTY icon
PuTTY
RXVT icon
RXVT

PuTTY vs RXVT: The Verdict

Last updated: May 2026 · Comparison by Sugggest Editorial Team

Feature PuTTY RXVT
Sugggest Score — —
Category Network & Admin Os & Utilities
Pricing Open Source Free

Product Overview

PuTTY
PuTTY

Description: PuTTY is a popular open-source terminal emulator and SSH client for Windows. Developed by Simon Tatham, PuTTY provides a lightweight and versatile tool for connecting to remote servers using various network protocols, including SSH, Telnet, and Rlogin. It is widely used for secure and convenient command-line access to remote systems.

Type: software

Pricing: Open Source

RXVT
RXVT

Description: RXVT is a free and open-source terminal emulator for X Window System. It is highly configurable and features tabbed windows, unicode support, lightweight resource usage and customizability with plugins.

Type: software

Pricing: Free

Key Features Comparison

PuTTY
PuTTY Features
  • SSH client
  • Telnet client
  • Rlogin client
  • Raw socket connection
  • Serial port connection
  • Basic file transfer (SCP and SFTP)
  • Proxying for tunneling connections through HTTP proxies
  • Local terminal emulator (with VT100 and VT52 emulation)
  • Configurable keyboard shortcuts
  • Session logging
RXVT
RXVT Features
  • Tabbed interface
  • Unicode support
  • Lightweight resource usage
  • Extensible through plugins
  • Highly customizable

Pros & Cons Analysis

PuTTY
PuTTY
Pros
  • Free and open source
  • Lightweight and fast
  • Supports multiple network protocols
  • Available for Windows, with unofficial ports for other platforms
  • Highly configurable with many options
  • Actively developed and maintained
Cons
  • Official builds only for Windows
  • Limited file transfer capabilities compared to FTP/SFTP clients
  • Minimalist interface lacks some conveniences of other SSH clients
  • Lacks advanced SSH features like agent forwarding or port tunneling
  • No official support offered
RXVT
RXVT
Pros
  • Free and open source
  • Low memory footprint
  • Stable and mature codebase
  • Supports modern features like Unicode
  • Highly configurable
Cons
  • Dated interface compared to newer terminals
  • Limited default features
  • Configuration can be complex
  • Not installed by default on most systems

Pricing Comparison

PuTTY
PuTTY
  • Open Source
RXVT
RXVT
  • Free

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Learn More About Each Product

PuTTY
PuTTY
Reviews, pricing & alternatives →
RXVT
RXVT
Reviews, pricing & alternatives →

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