What is swell-ssh?

SwellSSH is a free, open-source SSH client for Windows 10 and Windows 11. SSH (Secure Shell) is a standard way to log into remote computers and servers over a network using an encrypted connection. Most developers and system administrators use it to manage servers without a physical display attached. SwellSSH gives that experience a modern Windows-native look and feel, built with Microsoft's WinUI 3 framework and GPU-accelerated rendering so the terminal window stays fast and smooth even with heavy output. The app supports both password and public-key authentication. Passwords are stored using Windows DPAPI, a built-in Windows encryption system that ties the stored data to your user account, meaning the credential files can be backed up safely but cannot be decrypted by anyone else on the machine. You can open multiple SSH sessions at once, each in its own tab, and organize connections into named groups so large server inventories stay manageable. The terminal itself handles the standard ANSI escape sequences that command-line programs use to display color, bold text, and cursor positioning. It keeps a scrollback history of 1000 lines by default, and you can copy text by dragging with the left mouse button and paste with a right-click. There are three cursor styles (block, underline, and vertical bar), eight built-in color themes including popular options like Dracula, Nord, and Catppuccin Mocha, and a Mica or Acrylic translucent window background that follows the Windows system theme. SwellSSH ships as a single EXE with no installer required: download the ZIP for your CPU architecture (x64 or ARM64), unzip it anywhere, and run the executable. A built-in updater checks for new releases and can apply them silently. When you close the window, the app can minimize to the system tray instead of disconnecting, keeping background sessions alive. The project is MIT-licensed and runs on .NET 10. It is currently Windows-only.