Cardea
SSH bastion server with access control, session recording, and optional TPM-backed key protection.
- Remote Access
- Go
- EUPL-1.2
- Docker
- Actively maintained
GitHub stats
- GitHub stars
- 36
- Forks
- 2
- Open issues
- 1
- Commits, last 12 months
- 215
- Last commit
- Oct 1, 2026
- Latest release
- v1.9.2Sep 2, 2026
- Created
- Oct 7, 2025
Data from the GitHub API, refreshed daily.
About Cardea
SSH bastion server with access control, session recording, and optional TPM-backed key protection. Cardea is open source under the EUPL-1.2 license and written mainly in Go, so you can read the code, run it on your own hardware and keep full control of your data.
The project has 36 stars and 2 forks on GitHub, with 215 commits over the last year. It ships a Docker image, which makes it a good fit for a small VPS or a home server running Docker Compose.
Topics
- audit
- bastion
- firewall
- networking
- security
- ssh
- tpm
Repository preview
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What is Cardea?
Cardea is a free, open-source app you can host on your own server, listed in our Remote Access category. SSH bastion server with access control, session recording, and optional TPM-backed key protection. The source code lives at github.com/hectorm/cardea, where it has 36 stars.
Is Cardea free and open source?
Yes. Cardea is open-source software released under the EUPL-1.2 license, so you can self-host it at no cost. You only pay for the server it runs on, and some projects also offer an optional paid cloud plan.
Can I run Cardea with Docker?
Yes. Cardea provides a Docker image, so you can run it on any Linux server with Docker and Docker Compose installed. The project README lists the image name and the environment variables to set.
What are the best alternatives to Cardea?
Popular open-source alternatives to Cardea include Puter, Pangolin and Termix.
Is Cardea actively maintained?
The most recent commit to Cardea was on Oct 1, 2026 with 215 commits in the past twelve months. The latest release is v1.9.2, published Sep 2, 2026. Check the open issues on GitHub to gauge how quickly maintainers respond.