When comparing PuTTY vs SecureCRT, the Slant community recommends PuTTY for most people. In the question“What are the best SSH clients for Windows?” PuTTY is ranked 4th while SecureCRT is ranked 10th.
Specs
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro Free
Pro De facto standard client for SSH, Telnet and Rlogin on Windows
PuTTY is one of the oldest and most popular clients. It has earned the trust of a great number of users over a long period by being reliable, offering useful features and helpful support. It got into the 15 Essential Open Source Tools for Windows Admins list by InfoWorld.
Pro Can be used on any Windows computer, even without admin rights
Pro Source code available
Full source available. Compile and modify it yourself.
Pro Lightweight and portable
Doesn't require much resources (memory and hard-disk). Can even be run on a system by just downloading without install.
Pro VT220 emulation
Some of us still need actual VT220 emulation to log into OpenVMS machines. SecureCRT does a superior job at it.
Pro Buttons bar
SecureCRT while not free has the ability to make common commands in to button for faster command processing. Commands like: exit, clear, :wq!, ls -lha and the etc.
Pro Scriptable via Python API
Has a Python API to control most aspects of the terminal and sessions. Scripts can be bound to buttons, menu items, and keyboard shortcuts.
Pro Puts emphasis on security
SecureCRT has strong data encryption and secure authentication through the support of password and public keys.
Cons
Con Only one session per window
Cannot open a second session in the same window (you need multiple windows).
Con Can not save passwords
Anyway, you can use "PuTTYgen" to generate a key pair, then use "Pageant" to do a password-less SSH remote login.
Con Lacks features
It is JUST an SSH client. There are many other options with built in X-servers, Multitabbing, etc.
Con Ugly design, too simple
Looks very dated. Does the basic functions very well, but not much more.
Con No global settings
If you want to change a setting for all your connections, you'd have to do it individually.
Con Organizing sessions
Does not have features for organizing session connections (like folders). If you have 5-10 connections that's fine. But if there are 30-50 connections - that becomes a nightmare.
Con Tedious logging/tracing
Its tedious to set up logging and tracing (e.g. for serial connections).
Con No login scripting
Con Not free
Paid product. Some nice additional Cygwin type features and server version are integrated, but for most users the feature set probably does add enough value for a paid only client.