Overview
What is Plink?
Plink : A command line interface for the PuTTY backends that packs several options for SSH connections, such as dynamic port forwarding and compression
In depth
A closer look at Plink
Plink is a lightweight utility designed to provide you with a simple command line SSH, Telnet and Rlogin client. In other words, the utility allows you to connect to a specified port and acts as a command for the PuTTY backends.SSH, Telnet and Rlogin are three ways of doing the same thing: logging in to a multi-user computer from another computer, over a network. The idea of PuTTY and Plink is to act as a terminal and facilitate the communications – meaning the responses and commands between two machines – over the network. Therefore, you could be sitting at one PC and giving commands for others thanks to these protocols via the standard client and server principle.Unlike PuTTY which comes with a GUI that permits you to handle the communication, this app can be used with PowerShell or Command Line. At the same time, the application allows you to connect to a specific port and packs several options that can only be applied to an SSH connection, such as X11 forwarding, serial configuration, compression or Dynamic SOCKS-based port forwarding, for instance.It is important to note that the developer underlines that the use of the app is illegal in various countries where encrypted is outlawed.
Verdict
Should you download Plink?
Plink runs on
Windows 10/11
and is available under the
MIT License
license
— the installer is 533 KB.
We’ve catalogued it under
Networking.
✓
Verified clean. Every Plink build on SoftLookup is scanned for viruses, spyware, adware, trojans and backdoors. We re-test on every update.
Sponsored
At a glance
Plink specifications
- Last updated
- May 1, 2026
- License
- MIT License
- Operating system
- Windows 10/11
- File size
- 533 KB
- Price
- Free
- Page views
- 537
Help fellow users decide. Share your experience with Plink.