Transit vs MTPuTTY
MTPuTTY solved PuTTY's tab problem. Investigation is the other problem — and Transit imports your MTPuTTY server list to get you there in minutes.
The short version
- Choose Transit when
- you've outgrown a tab wrapper — you want one modern terminal with session groups, split panes, and an AI that investigates live network sessions under a per-command approval gate, with your MTPuTTY server list imported in one click.
- Choose MTPuTTY when
- you want to keep plain PuTTY as the engine and just need tabs, a server tree, and login automation on top — free, portable, and familiar, for home and enterprise alike.
What is MTPuTTY?
MTPuTTY (Multi-Tabbed PuTTY), from TTY PLUS, is the classic answer to PuTTY's most famous gap: it wraps any number of PuTTY windows in one tabbed interface with a server tree down the side. It auto-imports your existing PuTTY sessions, adds login automation — auto-typed passwords, post-login scripts, even typing a script into several tabs at once — and it's freeware for home and enterprise alike, with a portable no-install build. PuTTY itself isn't bundled; MTPuTTY drives the copy you already have.
What is Transit?
Transit is a network engineer's investigation workspace — a professional SSH and serial terminal and a full API client, with an investigation-only AI. You connect to the switches, routers, and firewalls you SSH into and the controllers you reach over API the way you always have — the AI investigates alongside you. It reads the same output you see, proposes read-only diagnostics, and explains what it finds. It can investigate your network; it can't change your gear.
Investigation-only is architecture, not a promise. The AI has exactly five abilities — list open sessions, read redacted scrollback, propose a command, propose a read-only API call (GET), ask you a question — and everything it proposes must pass a gate (aper-vendor permit listfor commands, GET-only for API calls) and your explicit click before it runs. Always both, never either. Device output is redacted before any model sees it, and the AI has no code path to your credentials. Transit AI Software Inc. completed aSOC 2 Type I examinationin July 2026, and the safety architecture ispatent pending.
The terminal and API client are a free download — multi-session tabs, split-screen tiling, serial console support, a local OS shell, built-in SFTP file transfer, syntax highlighting, quick copy/paste, session export, andone-click importof your existing SecureCRT, MTPuTTY, MobaXterm, ssh_config, or CSV inventory (and your Postman collections) — no account required. The AI is the subscription, when you want it.
Transit vs MTPuTTY at a glance
| Capability | MTPuTTY | Transit |
|---|---|---|
| Price & license of the terminal | Freeware — free for home and enterprise use (PuTTY itself is MIT open source, installed separately)[1] | Free download, no account required; the AI is the subscription |
| Platforms | Distributed for Windows only (installer or portable); requires PuTTY 0.61+ on the machine[1] | macOS (Apple Silicon), Windows, Linux (.deb — Ubuntu 24.04+/Debian 13+) |
| Tabs & session management | Yesthe point of the product — unlimited PuTTY instances in tabs plus a server tree; auto-imports existing PuTTY sessions[2] | Yesmulti-session tabs, groups, split panes; scrollback survives tab switches |
| Serial / console access | Partialnot advertised by MTPuTTY itself; sessions are PuTTY sessions, and PuTTY supports serial[3] | YesUSB-to-serial console sessions alongside SSH — with a Send Break button and auto-reconnect on cable replug |
| Local terminal (local shell) | Not offereddoes not advertise a local-shell session type as of August 2026 — it manages PuTTY sessions in tabs[2] | Yesopen a local OS shell — zsh, bash, fish, PowerShell, cmd, WSL, or a Python/Node REPL — as a tab beside your remote sessions; GPU-accelerated rendering; the AI is structurally blind to it |
| Split-screen tiling | Not offereddoes not advertise a split-pane grid as of August 2026 — sessions open as tabs under a server tree[2] | Yessplit any tab into a resizable grid, nested to any depth; drag a tab into a pane to tile it; SSH, serial console, and local shells share one layout |
| File transfer (SFTP) | Not offereddoes not advertise file transfer as of August 2026 — it wraps PuTTY terminal sessions (transfer means PuTTY's separate psftp/pscp)[2] | Yesbuilt-in SecureFX-style dual-pane SFTP over the same inventory, credentials, and host-key trust — drag-and-drop with a live transfer queue; free, and off-limits to the AI |
| Packet capture & analysis | Not offereddoes not advertise packet capture as of August 2026 — it's a tab manager around PuTTY terminal sessions[2] | Yescapture from a local NIC (no driver — Transit drives the OS's own tcpdump/pktmon) or open any pcap — a filterable per-packet explorer plus computed findings (retransmits, zero-window stalls, DNS failures, TLS alerts) with one-click evidence; free, and the AI reads the analysis, never the payload |
| NetBox inventory sync | Not offeredno CMDB/IPAM integration — server list is managed by hand (product page checked, August 2026)[2] | Yesone-click sync from NetBox — a reviewed New / Changed / Stale diff against your inventory, applied atomically; sites become groups, platforms become vendors, and nothing is ever written back to NetBox |
| Login automation | Yesauto-login (including auto-typed passwords), post-login scripts, type a script into several tabs at once[2] | Partialbroadcast input bar and named button-bar macros; no stored auto-typed passwords — credentials live in your OS keychain and are used only to authenticate |
| Bulk session import & export | Yesserver-tree import/export commands (XML config on disk)[4] | Yesone-click import of MTPuTTY's exported server list — entries backed by PuTTY registry sessions are skipped and listed in the import notes |
| AI in the terminal | Not offereddoes not advertise AI features (as of July 2026 — product, FAQ, changelog, and getting-started pages checked)[2] | Yesan investigation-only network AI assistant that works your live sessions |
| Human approval on every AI command | n/a — no AI[2] | Yeseach proposed command passes a per-vendor permit list AND your explicit click — always both |
| Network-vendor awareness | Not offeredgeneral-purpose tab wrapper over PuTTY[2] | Yesdefault-deny permit lists for Junos, Cisco IOS/IOS-XE/NX-OS/IOS-XR, Arista EOS, PAN-OS — plus bring-your-own-policy |
| Where AI data goes | n/a — no AI; configuration is a local XML file[1] | device output is redacted before any model sees it; credentials stay in your OS keychain; no training on your data |
✓ offered ·◐ partial ·— not offered / not what the tool is for. Bracketed numbers link to theMTPuTTY page each claim was checked against; the full source list with dates is at the bottom of this page.
Where MTPuTTY wins
- Free for home AND enterprise — no license conversation needed, ever.↗
- Keeps PuTTY itself as the engine — if your org has blessed PuTTY specifically, MTPuTTY adds tabs without changing the trust story.↗
- Login automation that PuTTY alone doesn't have: auto-login, post-login scripts, and typing a script into several tabs simultaneously.↗
- A portable, no-install option for locked-down machines.↗
Where Transit wins
- One coherent app instead of a wrapper orchestrating PuTTY windows — tabs, groups, split panes, serial, syntax highlighting, and import are all native.
- The investigation half of the job: an AI that reads the live session, proposes read-only diagnostics, and explains the output.
- Structural safety on production gear: per-vendor permit lists AND a human click on every AI-proposed command — and no passwords stored for auto-typing.
- Cross-platform: the same terminal on macOS, Windows, and Linux.
- Investigations end in a written summary for the ticket or the escalation.
Migrating from MTPuTTY
Export your server list from MTPuTTY (an XML file) and point Transit'simport wizard at it — hosts, ports, usernames, and your tree structure come across as groups. One honest nuance: MTPuTTY entries that merely reference PuTTY saved sessions (which live in the Windows Registry) carry no host details in the export, so those are skipped and listed in the import notes; bring them across with an ssh_config or a CSV instead. Passwords are never read from the file — including MTPuTTY's encrypted password fields. You enroll credentials once, into your OS keychain.
The upgrade isn't really the tabs — MTPuTTY solved tabs years ago. It's what happens inside them: an AI that reads the session you're staring at, proposes the next read-only diagnostic, and explains the output, with a per-vendor permit list and your click standing between every suggestion and the wire.
Frequently asked questions
Can Transit import my MTPuTTY servers?
Yes — export your server list from MTPuTTY (Server → Export, an XML file) and point Transit's import wizard at it. Hosts, ports, usernames, and your tree structure come across as groups. One documented nuance: MTPuTTY entries that just point at PuTTY saved sessions in the Windows Registry carry no host details in the export, so those are skipped and listed in the import notes — bring them across via an ssh_config or CSV instead. Passwords are never read from the file.
Do I have to give up PuTTY?
Not on Transit's account. MTPuTTY requires PuTTY installed to work at all; Transit replaces the pair with one app, but plenty of engineers keep PuTTY around for locked-down boxes and legacy protocols. The free-terminal claim means trying Transit costs nothing but the import.
Can Transit's AI change my devices?
No. The AI has exactly six abilities — list open sessions, read redacted scrollback, propose a command, propose a read-only API call (GET), query an open packet capture (analysis only — never wire payload), ask a question — and every proposed command must pass a default-deny per-vendor permit list AND your explicit click. Config and write verbs are blocked. It investigates; it can't change your gear.
MTPuTTY can auto-type my passwords into several tabs. Why doesn't Transit?
Deliberately. Stored auto-typed passwords are convenient and also exactly what a security review flags first. In Transit, credentials are enrolled once into your OS keychain (macOS Keychain, Windows Credential Manager, Linux Secret Service) and are used only to authenticate — the UI can't read them back, and neither can the AI. Broadcast input covers the multi-tab workflow without replaying secrets in cleartext.
Try it yourself
The terminal is free. Really.
Download Transit and use it as your everyday SSH and serial client at no cost — no account, no trial clock. Add the investigation-only AI when you want it.
Free download · macOS · Windows · Linux · No account required
MTPuTTY is published by TTY PLUS (© 2011–2026 TTY PLUS). PuTTY is copyright 1997–2026 Simon Tatham and contributors, released under the MIT licence. Transit AI Software Inc. is not affiliated with, sponsored by, or endorsed by TTY PLUS or the PuTTY project; the names are used only to identify the software being compared.
Comparison last verified July 20, 2026. Product capabilities, packaging, and pricing change — every MTPuTTY claim on this page was checked againstMTPuTTY's own public pages on the dates below:
- TTY PLUS — MTPuTTY product page — checked July 20, 2026
- MTPuTTY FAQ (free for home and enterprise; XML config location) — checked July 20, 2026
- MTPuTTY changelog (tree import/export commands; PuTTY session auto-import) — checked July 20, 2026
- PuTTY FAQ (serial support A.1.1 — sessions in MTPuTTY are PuTTY sessions) — checked July 20, 2026
Spotted something out of date or plain wrong?Report an inaccuracy and we'll fix it fast. Transit™ is a product of Transit AI Software Inc.