Textastic Code Editor vs iSH Shell
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Textastic Code Editor
A powerful text and code editor for mobile devices, offering syntax highlighting for over 80 languages, code completion, and formatting tools. It allows connection to various servers and cloud storage for seamless file management and editing.
- Syntax highlighting for 80+ languages
- SFTP, FTP, WebDAV, and Dropbox client
- Built-in SSH terminal
- Code completion and formatting
- External keyboard and trackpad support
- Split View and Slide Over multitasking
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Textastic is a comprehensive and versatile text and code editor for iPad and iPhone. It supports syntax highlighting for more than 80 programming and markup languages. Connect to SFTP, FTP, and WebDAV servers or to your Dropbox account. Use the built-in SSH terminal to work directly on your server. Features: - Syntax highlighting for more than 80 languages, including HTML, JavaScript, CSS, C++, Swift, Objective-C, Rust, XML, Markdown, PHP, Perl, Python, Ruby, Lua, YAML, JSON, SQL, shell scripts, and many more (full list available on the website) - Compatible with Sublime Text 3 and TextMate 1 syntax definitions and themes - Code completion for HTML, CSS, JavaScript, C, Objective-C, and PHP - SFTP (SSH), FTP, FTPS (FTP over SSL), WebDAV, and Dropbox clients - SSH terminal connections - Code formatter for HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and JSON - Git repositories from the Git client app Working Copy can be opened as external folders in Textastic - Emmet support - JavaScript console - iCloud Drive file synchronization - WebDAV server for easy file transfer between Textastic and your Mac or PC over Wi-Fi - Symbol list for quick navigation within a file - Full support for external keyboards, trackpads, and mice - Configurable keyboard shortcuts - Additional keys above the virtual keyboard for frequently used programming characters - Cursor navigation wheel for easy text selection - Move the cursor using swipe gestures - Split View and Slide Over multitasking on iPad - Open multiple files in tabs - Multiple windows on iPadOS - Dark Mode support - Support for common text encodings such as UTF-8, UTF-16, and ISO-8859-1 - Support for different tab widths and soft tabs (spaces instead of tabs) - Custom fonts - Find and Replace, including regular expression search - Find in multiple files - File information such as character and word counts - Local and remote web preview for HTML and Markdown files Pricing: Textastic requires a monthly or yearly subscription or a one-time purchase. Each subscription includes a 7-day free trial with full access to all features. Privacy Policy: https://www.textasticapp.com/privacy.html Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
iSH Shell
Experience a Linux-like command-line environment directly on your iOS device. This application allows you to perform common Linux operations such as editing, moving, and manipulating files using familiar commands.
- Linux-like shell environment
- File editing with sed and cat
- File manipulation
- Command-line operations
- Pocket Linux experience
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A Linux-like shell on iOS. You can edit files with sed and cat, move them around, and more! https://github.com/ish-app/ish/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: iSH Shell at none against Textastic Code Editor's 3. iSH Shell also leads on review sentiment (80% vs 69%) and iOS requirement (11.0 vs 16.0). On price, rating, ratings volume and update cadence there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Textastic Code Editor sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. iSH Shell asks for nothing beyond the download.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.7 for Textastic Code Editor against 4.7 for iSH Shell. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 2.5K and 1.2K respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 69% of Textastic Code Editor's written reviews are positive against 80% of iSH Shell's.
Textastic Code Editor ships an update every 2 weeks, iSH Shell every 3 weeks. Both last shipped on September 29, 2026.
| Parameter | Textastic Code Editor | iSH Shell |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.7 (2.5K ratings) | 4.7 (1.2K ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 68.9% of reviews | 80.3% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 2.5K — better | 1.2K |
| Update frequency | Every 2 weeks — better | Every 3 weeks |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Subscription | Free — better |
| Best chart rank | #10 — better | #17 |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 16.0 | 11.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 26 MB | 6 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 17+ |
| Developer | Alexander Blach | Theodore Dubois |
Customer experience
Textastic Code Editor
iSH Shell
User reviews
Textastic Code Editor
From 2.5K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Highly performant
- 👍 Versatile and feature-rich
- 💡 Excellent integration with other apps (e.g. Working Copy)
- 👍 Customizable and intuitive UI
- 👍 Reliable and stable
Room to improve
- 🐛 Occasional crashes or freezes
- 🔒 Restrictive paywall for basic functionality
- 👎 Confusing file management and upload/download workflow
- 👎 Lack of modern code editing features (e.g. auto-indent, code folding)
iSH Shell
From 1.2K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Excellent Linux environment
- 👍 Great for SSH and network utilities
- 💡 Allows running Linux apps on iOS
- 🔒 Secure and sandboxed
- 👍 Customizable and flexible
Room to improve
- 🐛 Crashes and freezes
- 🔋 Battery intensive
- ⚠️ Limited functionality compared to full Linux
- ⚠️ Outdated packages and dependencies
Bugs and requests
Textastic Code Editor
Reported bugs
3 issues- Issues with SSH/SFTP connectivity and authentication
- Problems with handling large files or files with certain extensions
- Inconsistent text selection and editing behavior
Requested features
4 requests- Add support for more cloud storage providers (e.g. Google Drive, OneDrive)
- Implement a more seamless remote file editing and syncing workflow
- Improve code editing features like code folding, multi-cursor support, and code beautification
- Add a built-in terminal or ability to run code directly within the app
iSH Shell
Reported bugs
3 issues- Cursor focus issues
- Incompatibility with certain commands and packages
- Mounting issues with iOS file system
Requested features
4 requests- Add support for more Linux distributions
- Improve performance and stability
- Implement GUI support
- Add shortcuts and automation features
In-app purchases
Textastic Code Editor
- Textastic Pro (Monthly)7 Days trial$2.991 Month
- Textastic Pro (Yearly)7 Days trial$19.991 Year
- Textastic Pro (One-Time)$69.99
iSH Shell
No in-app purchases
