There is a free Home Edition, which caps how many sessions you can save, and a paid Professional Edition. Tempest's free plan has no session limit; Pro adds the advanced protocols, unlimited sync and the AI agent.

Does MobaXterm run on macOS or Linux?

No — it is a Windows application. That is the most common reason people compare the two.

Does Tempest include an X server?

No. It does X11 forwarding to an X server you run yourself. If a bundled X server is why you use MobaXterm, keep it for that job.

What replaces MobaXterm's local bash terminal?

Local shell sessions run whatever shell the machine has — PowerShell, cmd, or a WSL distribution — as saved connections in the same list. There is no bundled Cygwin environment.

Can I bring my sessions across?

Yes. MobaXterm's own Export sessions produces a .mxtsessions file that imports directly, with names, hosts, ports and usernames.

Comparison

Tempest vs MobaXterm, row by row

MobaXterm is the most feature-dense Windows terminal ever shipped — an X server, a local bash, a dozen protocols and a plugin system in one portable executable. That density is exactly what makes the comparison interesting, because half of it is Windows-shaped by design.

Download Tempest See pricing

Free plan available — trying it costs nothing.

Tempest on desktop and mobile with the same synced session list

Tempest vs MobaXterm

MobaXterm 25.x against Tempest, on everything a working day touches.

	Tempest	MobaXterm
Platforms	Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS, Web	Windows only
Saved sessions in the free tier	Unlimited	Capped in the free Home Edition
Tabs & split panes	Yes — grid workspace	Yes
SSH, Telnet, Serial	Yes	Yes, plus Rlogin
SFTP	Browser plus editor, attached to the session	Yes, alongside the session
FTP, S3, WebDAV	Yes, in the same file browser	FTP and FTPS
RDP & VNC	Yes	Yes
Kubernetes	Cluster browser, pod shells and logs, node shells	Not built in
RCON (game servers)	Source RCON and BattlEye	No
Bundled X server	No — X11 forwarding to your own	Yes, and it is very good
Local Unix shell on Windows	Local shell sessions; no Cygwin layer	Cygwin-based bash
Session sync across machines	Zero-knowledge E2E encrypted	Portable ini, copied by hand
Mobile apps	Android & iOS with the same list	None
Hardware keys (FIDO2)	Yes	Via external agent
Post-quantum key exchange	Yes	No
AI assistance	Built-in agent with reviewed tool calls	None

Compared against MobaXterm 25.x's documented feature set. The X server and the Cygwin shell have no equivalent here, and that is a deliberate scope decision rather than a gap we are working on.

The case for switching

Everything MobaXterm ties to one PC

The portable executable is a genuine strength right up to the moment you have two computers.

The session list lives in an ini file you copy around. Here it is encrypted, synced, and on your phone. How E2EE sync works

Your Mac and Linux colleagues get the same client rather than improvising.

Kubernetes clusters, game-server consoles and zero-trust access platforms are connection types, not plugins to hunt down. Zero-trust access guide

The case for staying

The X server is not a feature we are hiding

If you run graphical Linux applications on a Windows desktop every day, MobaXterm's bundled X server is the reason, and nothing here replaces it.

Tempest forwards X11 to an X server you already run — XQuartz, VcXsrv, WSLg. It does not ship one. Agent & X11 forwarding

The Cygwin local shell has no equivalent either; on Windows, use WSL and connect to it as a local shell.

One Windows machine, a portable stick, no sync requirement — MobaXterm is hard to beat there.

Migration

The session list moves in one file

MobaXterm exports its sessions natively, and that export is a supported import here.

Export .mxtsessions, import, review the parsed hosts, done. Import MobaXterm sessions

Credentials are not in the export file — you re-enter each once, then they sync everywhere.

Run both side by side for a fortnight; the free plan has no session cap to work around.

A host list in Tempest rebuilt from a MobaXterm export

Frequently asked questions

Is MobaXterm free?: There is a free Home Edition, which caps how many sessions you can save, and a paid Professional Edition. Tempest's free plan has no session limit; Pro adds the advanced protocols, unlimited sync and the AI agent.
Does MobaXterm run on macOS or Linux?: No — it is a Windows application. That is the most common reason people compare the two.
Does Tempest include an X server?: No. It does X11 forwarding to an X server you run yourself. If a bundled X server is why you use MobaXterm, keep it for that job.
What replaces MobaXterm's local bash terminal?: Local shell sessions run whatever shell the machine has — PowerShell, cmd, or a WSL distribution — as saved connections in the same list. There is no bundled Cygwin environment.
Can I bring my sessions across?: Yes. MobaXterm's own Export sessions produces a .mxtsessions file that imports directly, with names, hosts, ports and usernames. Import MobaXterm sessions

Keep exploring

MobaXterm alternative overview Import MobaXterm sessions Tempest vs Xshell Tempest vs PuTTY SSH client for Windows

Keep the toolbox. Lose the one-PC problem.

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