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naden
Free, open source, fast, secure desktop SSH client for macOS
naden — a fast, free, secure desktop SSH client for macOS with built-in terminal, SFTP browser, jump host support, AI chat assistant, and an encrypted credential vault.
I'm Charles, a solo dev — I built naden after using another well-known SSH client for a while. It got a lot right: the server organization was good, the vault settings were genuinely great. But its SFTP implementation kept getting in my way, and I was opinionated enough about how the whole thing should work that I just wanted to build my own. So I did or vibed coded it.
naden is a free, open-source, native desktop client (Tauri + Rust) for people who manage a lot of SSH connections and want that to feel like using a tool, not fighting one:
- Organized inventory — servers with names, tags, and groups instead of a flat config file you have to grep. - AI assistant, if you want it — bring-your-own-key chat panel (Anthropic, Gemini, OpenAI, or OpenRouter) with optional live terminal context. Off by default, your key stays local. - ⌘K everything — fuzzy search across servers, active sessions, snippets, and playbooks, tuned to stay under 100ms. - A real SFTP browser — dual-pane, drag-and-drop from Finder, etc. This was the actual itch I was scratching. - A real credential vault — AES-256-GCM, unlocked with a master password, derived at 600k PBKDF2 rounds. Your secrets never leave your machine — there's no cloud sync, no account, nothing to breach on my end because I never see them. - Jump hosts, tunnels, hooks, playbooks — the stuff you eventually need once you're past "just SSH into one box".
The design goal I kept coming back to was speed as a form of respect: app open to connected session in under 5 seconds, search that never makes you wait. If it feels slow, it's a bug, not a tradeoff.
It's free and open source (MIT) — code's on GitHub, PRs welcome. macOS only for now (Apple Silicon + Intel, universal binary); if there's real appetite for Windows/Linux I'd genuinely like to hear that here rather than guess.
Would love feedback, especially from anyone managing servers across multiple environments (staging/prod/client boxes) — what's the one thing in your current setup that still makes you wince? That's the stuff that'll shape what I build next.
Finally tried naden and the SFTP browser tucked right next to the terminal feels so natural, wish I'd had this months ago.
About naden on Product Hunt
“Free, open source, fast, secure desktop SSH client for macOS”
naden was submitted on Product Hunt and earned 0 upvotes and 2 comments, placing #102 on the daily leaderboard. naden — a fast, free, secure desktop SSH client for macOS with built-in terminal, SFTP browser, jump host support, AI chat assistant, and an encrypted credential vault.
naden was featured in Productivity (656.3k followers), Open Source (68.6k followers) and Developer Tools (515.9k followers) on Product Hunt. Together, these topics include over 236.3k products, making this a competitive space to launch in.
Who hunted naden?
naden was hunted by Adeniji Ayodipupo Charles. A “hunter” on Product Hunt is the community member who submits a product to the platform — uploading the images, the link, and tagging the makers behind it. Hunters typically write the first comment explaining why a product is worth attention, and their followers are notified the moment they post. Around 79% of featured launches on Product Hunt are self-hunted by their makers, but a well-known hunter still acts as a signal of quality to the rest of the community. See the full all-time top hunters leaderboard to discover who is shaping the Product Hunt ecosystem.
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Adeniji Ayodipupo Charles
Hey Product Hunt 👋
I'm Charles, a solo dev — I built naden after using another well-known SSH client for a while. It got a lot right: the server organization was good, the vault settings were genuinely great. But its SFTP implementation kept getting in my way, and I was opinionated enough about how the whole thing should work that I just wanted to build my own. So I did or vibed coded it.
naden is a free, open-source, native desktop client (Tauri + Rust) for people who manage a lot of SSH connections and want that to feel like using a tool, not fighting one:
- Organized inventory — servers with names, tags, and groups instead of a flat config file you have to grep.
- AI assistant, if you want it — bring-your-own-key chat panel (Anthropic, Gemini, OpenAI, or OpenRouter) with optional live terminal context. Off by default, your key stays local.
- ⌘K everything — fuzzy search across servers, active sessions, snippets, and playbooks, tuned to stay under 100ms.
- A real SFTP browser — dual-pane, drag-and-drop from Finder, etc. This was the actual itch I was scratching.
- A real credential vault — AES-256-GCM, unlocked with a master password, derived at 600k PBKDF2 rounds. Your secrets never leave your machine — there's no cloud sync, no account, nothing to breach on my end because I never see them.
- Jump hosts, tunnels, hooks, playbooks — the stuff you eventually need once you're past "just SSH into one box".
The design goal I kept coming back to was speed as a form of respect: app open to connected session in under 5 seconds, search that never makes you wait. If it feels slow, it's a bug, not a tradeoff.
It's free and open source (MIT) — code's on GitHub, PRs welcome. macOS only for now (Apple Silicon + Intel, universal binary); if there's real appetite for Windows/Linux I'd genuinely like to hear that here rather than guess.
Would love feedback, especially from anyone managing servers across multiple environments (staging/prod/client boxes) — what's the one thing in your current setup that still makes you wince? That's the stuff that'll shape what I build next.
Thanks for taking a look.