Your server, in the Finder.
SSHMount mounts any SSH/SFTP server as a native macOS volume and gives you a built-in SSH terminal — without macFUSE, kernel extensions, or anything to install outside the App Store.
What SSHMount does not ask you to install
Nothing to download from a third party.
Nothing loaded into the system.
Nothing to approve in System Settings.
Nothing to sign up for. Ever.
SSHMount is built on Apple's own File Provider framework, the same mechanism the system uses for cloud storage. It runs sandboxed, from the Mac App Store, and it never asks you to lower a security setting to get your files. If you are weighing this against FUSE, we wrote up what every macFUSE alternative actually costs you, including what changed on macOS 26.
Features
Mount a remote server as a drive on your Mac
Two things, done natively: SSH and SFTP servers mounted as volumes the Finder understands, and a terminal that opens onto the same host with the same host key checks. Everything below is implemented today.
Finder volumes, not a file transfer window
Your remote server appears in the Finder sidebar and behaves like a disk. Open a file straight from any app, drag folders in and out, use Quick Look, use the Open and Save dialogs. Subscribers get full read and write access: create, upload, rename, move and delete, folders included.
Directory listings are paginated 500 entries at a time from a consistent snapshot, so folders with tens of thousands of files stay navigable instead of stalling on a single huge read.
Host keys checked before your password leaves the Mac
SSHMount verifies the server's host key using libssh2's known_hosts implementation — hashed hostnames, wildcards and revoked markers behave the way OpenSSH behaves. The check happens after the handshake and before authentication, so you know who you are talking to before you hand over a password.
A mismatched key always stops the connection. The first time you connect, the app shows you the fingerprint and waits for you to accept it. Already trust some hosts? Import your existing ~/.ssh/known_hosts in one command.
A real SSH terminal, in native windows
Open interactive SSH sessions in native macOS windows that the system groups into native tabs. Run as many sessions against the same host as you need — one tailing a log, one doing the work. Nine built-in themes, custom background and text colours, and adjustable text size that resizes the remote PTY as you go.
Appearance belongs to the window, so you can colour production one way and staging another and never mix them up. Terminal sessions get exactly the same host key verification as mounted volumes, and reconnect automatically with exponential backoff when the network drops.
Writes that don't quietly overwrite someone else
Before overwriting a file, SSHMount checks whether the remote copy changed since the version your edit was based on. If it did, the write is refused and the system is asked to read the file again. Losing someone else's change in silence is worse than reporting a conflict.
Profiles are reorderable, favourites have their own section, and credentials live in the macOS Keychain — never in a plain file on disk. Light, Dark and System themes throughout.
Security
Nothing about this app phones home
This is the reason to pick SSHMount over a free shortcut, so it is not a footnote.
- No tracking. No data collection. No third-party analytics.SSHMount's privacy manifests declare exactly that, and Apple publishes them alongside the app.
- No servers of ours in the middle.Traffic goes from your Mac to your server and nowhere else. There is no relay, no cloud account, no sign-up. If our company disappeared tomorrow, your connections would still be between you and your machines.
- Credentials and private keys stay in the Keychain.In a shared access group that the app and its Finder extension can both read — never written to disk in the clear.
- Sandboxed, signed, and distributed through the Mac App Store.No installer from anywhere else, no package to trust, no security setting to lower.
- Host keys are verified, strictly.After the handshake, before authentication. A mismatch always aborts. The Finder extension has no interface of its own, so it refuses unknown hosts outright rather than guessing on your behalf — the app is what asks you, showing the fingerprint, before anything is trusted.
- And this website.No tracking cookies, no consent banner to dismiss, no third-party scripts watching you read.
Plans
Free and Pro
A free tier that never expires, and a subscription that lifts every limit.
Free
No subscription, no expiry
- One mounted volume at a time, read-only
- One terminal window at a time
- Full host key verification and Keychain storage
- All nine terminal themes, light and dark
SSHMount Pro
Monthly and yearly plans — the monthly plan starts with a 7-day free trial
- Mount as many servers as you like, at the same time
- Write, rename, move and delete from the Finder
- Open as many terminal windows as you like
- Everything in the free tier
Pricing is set per country by the App Store. Open the app's Store page to see the current price in your currency.
Subscriptions renew automatically unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Manage or cancel in App Store settings.
A subscription costs less than the afternoon you would spend rebuilding a macFUSE setup after a macOS update breaks it.
How it compares
SSHMount does less than most of these on purpose: SSH and SFTP only, natively, with nothing to install outside the App Store. Here is what each one does, stated plainly.
| Product | What it does | Scope | Licensing model |
|---|---|---|---|
| SSHMount | Mounts SSH/SFTP servers as Finder volumes through Apple's File Provider framework. No kernel extension, no system extension to approve. Includes a built-in SSH terminal. | SSH and SFTP only | Free tier plus a subscription, from the Mac App Store |
| sshfs + macFUSE | Mounts SSH servers as a volume through FUSE. Requires installing macFUSE — a system extension you approve by hand in System Settings. The sshfs project was archived by its maintainers. | SSH and SFTP | Free |
| Mountain Duck | Mounts remote storage as a volume on your Mac. | Many cloud and remote protocols | Perpetual licence |
| ExpanDrive | Mounts remote storage as a volume on your Mac. | Many cloud and remote protocols | Annual subscription |
| Transmit | An excellent file transfer client — it moves files in its own window rather than mounting the server as a system volume. | Many protocols | — |
Questions people actually ask
Do I need macFUSE or any kernel extension?
No. SSHMount uses Apple's File Provider framework, the same one macOS uses for cloud storage providers. There is nothing to install outside the App Store, no system extension to approve in System Settings, and no restart. That is also why it keeps working after macOS updates that break FUSE-based tools.
Does it work with SSH keys?
Yes. SSHMount authenticates with a password or with an SSH private key. Keys are stored in the macOS Keychain in a shared access group, so both the app and the Finder extension can use them, and they are never written to disk in the clear. You can also import the hosts you already trust from your existing ~/.ssh/known_hosts file.
Does it work with two-factor authentication on my server?
Not yet. SSHMount currently authenticates with a password or an SSH private key. Servers that require keyboard-interactive authentication — which is how most MFA setups and some password-only configurations work — are not supported in this version. Support for keyboard-interactive authentication is planned. If your server accepts key-based authentication, that path works today.
Does my data pass through your servers?
Never. SSHMount opens an SSH connection from your Mac directly to the server you configured. There is no relay, no proxy, no cloud account and no server of ours anywhere in the path. The app declares no tracking and no data collection at all — Apple shows those declarations on the App Store product page.
Can I use it with more than one server?
Yes. Save as many server profiles as you like, in any tier, and reorder them or mark them as favourites. The free tier keeps one volume mounted at a time and one terminal window open at a time; SSHMount Pro removes both limits, so you can mount as many servers as you need at once.
What happens if I cancel my subscription?
Pro features stay active until the end of the period you already paid for. After that, SSHMount goes back to the free tier: one mounted volume at a time, read-only, and one terminal window. Nothing is deleted — your server profiles, favourites and trusted hosts stay exactly where they are, and your files on the server are untouched. Subscribe again at any time and the limits lift again. You cancel in App Store settings, like any other Apple subscription.
Does it run on Intel Macs?
Yes. SSHMount ships as a universal binary for both Apple silicon and Intel Macs, from a single App Store download.
Which version of macOS do I need?
macOS 13 Ventura or later. SSHMount deliberately avoids newer-only APIs, so it runs the same way on Ventura as on the latest release.
Is this an sshfs replacement?
For mounting SSH servers on a Mac, yes — and without macFUSE. sshfs was archived by its maintainers, and on macOS it needs macFUSE, which means installing a system extension and approving it in System Settings. SSHMount does the same job through Apple's own File Provider framework, sandboxed, from the App Store. It is narrower on purpose: SSH and SFTP only, done natively. Our guide to macFUSE alternatives compares every option honestly, ours included.
Where does the volume appear?
In the Finder sidebar, and on disk under ~/Library/CloudStorage/, which is where macOS puts File Provider volumes. Any app that uses the standard Open and Save dialogs can reach it.
Can I keep files available offline?
Not in this version. Files are fetched from the server when you open them. Offline pinning is on the roadmap, and this page will say so plainly when it ships — not before.
Do you offer a trial?
Yes: the monthly plan starts with a 7-day free trial, handled by the App Store. And the free tier is not time-limited — you can keep one server mounted read-only for as long as you like without paying anything.
Your files are already there. Open them.
Stop copying folders back and forth. Mount the server, work in the Finder, keep a terminal open next to it.