Introducing electerm: A Free Cross‑Platform Terminal, SSH, and SFTP Client

Programmers often rely on terminal connection tools to manage Linux servers; the author, using Windows, sought a free, multi‑OS solution that combines SSH connectivity with built‑in file transfer.

While browsing GitHub, they discovered electerm, an open‑source client built on electron, ssh2, node‑pty, xterm, and antd, which has gathered over 5.4K stars.

Key Features of electerm

Supports Linux, macOS, and Windows.

Multi‑language interface.

Quick command shortcuts.

Batch command execution across one or all terminals.

Integrated SSH/SFTP client (similar to Xshell).

Global hotkeys for window visibility.

In‑place editing of remote and local files.

Public‑key + password authentication.

Sync bookmarks, themes, and quick commands to GitHub/Gitee via secret gists.

Installation is straightforward: download the appropriate installer from the GitHub releases page (e.g., electerm-1.19.5-win-x64-installer.exe ) and run it; a portable zip version is also available.

After launching, the default UI is in English; users can switch to Chinese in the settings and restart the application.

SSH Connection Setup

Create a new SSH session by providing host IP, username, password, and port; optional fields include title, description, local/remote start directories, post‑connection scripts, script delay, and encoding.

The session appears in the bookmarks list, and clicking it opens the terminal where commands can be executed.

Split‑Screen and Batch Execution

Electerm allows left/right or top/bottom split‑screen; pressing ctrl+/ toggles the split view. Enabling the batch‑input switch lets users enter multiple commands to run simultaneously across selected terminals.

SFTP File Transfer

The built‑in SFTP pane shows local files on the left and remote files on the right; users can upload by right‑clicking or dragging files to the remote pane, and download similarly.

Additional Settings

Beyond basic functionality, electerm offers theme customization, GitHub/Gitee synchronization, transfer history, and other UI tweaks.

Conclusion

Electerm provides a solid, free, open‑source, cross‑platform terminal experience with SSH and SFTP capabilities, suitable for daily server management despite being relatively young.