Connection manager
Save every host with a name, user, port, identity file, and notes.
macOS · Apple Silicon
Your SSH connections,
one click away.
A lightweight, native macOS app that opens any saved host in Terminal — no cloud, no account, no keys stored.
Features
A thin launcher over the ssh you already have.
One-click connect
Opens a real Terminal.app session — your shell, scrollback, and dotfiles.
Copy the ssh command
Grab the full ssh user@host -p … -i … line for any host.
Instant ⌘K search
Live-filter across names, hostnames, users, and notes as you type.
Favorites & sorting
Star the hosts you use most; sort by name or most-recently connected.
SSH key browser
List your ~/.ssh/*.pub keys with fingerprints and one-click copy.
Dark / light mode
A themed UI that defaults to dark and remembers your choice.
Local-first SQLite
One local database. No cloud, no account, no tracking.
Privacy by design
Your keys never leave your Mac.
PikaSSH is a launcher, not a protocol re-implementation. It hands your existing ssh the connection details and gets out of the way.
- No private keys stored. Only the path to an identity file is referenced.
- Everything stays local. Your hosts live in a single SQLite file on your machine.
- No telemetry. No accounts, no analytics, no phone-home — ever.
Download
Get PikaSSH for macOS.
Download for macOSApple Silicon · macOS 12+ · signed & notarized
Not on the Mac App Store — PikaSSH opens real Terminal.app sessions and shells out to ssh, which the App Store sandbox forbids. It ships as a directly-downloaded, notarized app instead.
FAQ
Good to know.
Does it run on Intel Macs?
No — builds are Apple Silicon (arm64) only. On an Intel Mac the app won't launch.
Why isn't it on the Mac App Store?
The App Store sandbox forbids opening Terminal.app and running ssh/ssh-keygen, which is exactly what PikaSSH does. So it ships as a notarized direct download — a standard, fully-supported way to distribute a Mac app.
Will macOS warn me on first launch?
No. The app is signed with a Developer ID and notarized by Apple, so Gatekeeper opens it without warnings.
Where is my data stored?
In a single SQLite database under ~/Library/Application Support/PikaSSH/. It lives outside the app bundle, so it survives updates. Delete that folder to start fresh.
Is it free?
Yes — free and open source under the MIT license.
Is it safe?
PikaSSH never stores or reads your private keys; it only references an identity file's path and hands it to your system ssh. All data stays local and there's no network service or telemetry.