ConchshellConchshell for macOS
Version 2.17.1 · Apple silicon and Intel, macOS 12 Monterey or later. A terminal, a file manager and a remote desktop — one window.
Download for macOS
First launch on a Mac
On a Mac with Apple silicon (M1 or later), Conchshell opens on the first launch; macOS only asks whether to open an app downloaded from the internet. The Intel build is not notarised yet, so on an Intel Mac, macOS refuses the first launch. On macOS 13 Ventura and later, open System Settings → Privacy & Security; on macOS 12 Monterey, System Preferences → Security & Privacy → General. Scroll to the message naming Conchshell and press Open Anyway. Once is enough — later launches and updates go straight through.
Apple silicon or Intel?
Apple menu → About This Mac. A chip named Apple M-something takes the Apple silicon build; a line reading Intel takes the other. The Apple silicon build is native arm64, so Rosetta is not involved, and auto-update keeps you on the architecture you started with.
Verify what you downloaded
Auto-update checks a detached signature and refuses a build that does not match it. A file you download by hand is not checked for you, so compare its SHA-256 against the published list:
Install with Homebrew
On a Mac with Homebrew, which picks the Apple silicon or Intel build for you:
If Conchshell is already in Applications from the .dmg, add --adopt after --cask. Conchshell keeps updating itself; brew upgrade --cask --greedy conchshell updates it through Homebrew instead. For the first launch on an Intel Mac, see “First launch on a Mac”.
What it needs
What you get on a Mac
Questions people actually ask
Is it really free on macOS?
Yes, apart from one feature: syncing saved connections between your own machines, $19 once. One build, no tiers and no account — the sync licence is a key entered in that same build.
Does it run natively on Apple silicon?
Yes. The Apple silicon .dmg is a native arm64 build rather than a translated x86 one, and Rosetta is not required.
Why does macOS say it cannot check the app for malicious software?
Because the Intel build is not notarised yet; the Apple silicon build opens without that message. On macOS 13 Ventura and later, open System Settings → Privacy & Security; on macOS 12 Monterey, System Preferences → Security & Privacy → General. Find the message naming Conchshell and press Open Anyway. That is needed once, on the first launch.
Can it do RDP without a second application?
Yes. RDP is part of the same application, in the free build, on every platform. On a Mac each session opens in a window of its own, and its tab in the main window brings it back or ends it.
Does it handle FTPS as well as SFTP?
Yes — both, in the same dual-panel file manager, alongside SSH and RDP.
Do I have to retype my connections?
No. Hosts in ~/.ssh/config are offered on the first screen, Bitvise .tlp profiles import too, and connections, folders, profiles and settings import from a JSON bundle. Key files are referenced where they already sit on disk rather than copied into the application.
Does it need Homebrew or the command line tools?
No. It is an ordinary .dmg — open it and drag the application to Applications. Homebrew is an option if you already use it, not a requirement.
The same application, elsewhere
One codebase. The phones are where the feature set differs: on Android, iPhone and iPad there is no local terminal, no ssh-agent, no key files and no split panes — a key reaches a phone inside the vault, linked from a computer with Sync. On iPhone and iPad the app also holds no Sync licence; it links to a computer that has one.