Comparison

Textastic Code Editor vs a

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

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.

Highlights
  • 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
Features
Read full description

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/

About

a

Run Unix commands locally on your iOS device with a powerful terminal emulator. Supports file transfer, editing, scripting with Python and Lua, and network utilities. Integrates with Shortcuts and supports multiple windows for multitasking.

Highlights
  • Local Unix terminal emulator
  • SSH client
  • File transfer (scp, curl)
  • Text editing (vim, ed)
  • Scripting (Python, Lua, JavaScript)
  • Network utilities (nslookup, ping)
  • Shortcuts integration
  • Multi-window support
Features
Read full description

a-Shell mini is a complete local terminal emulator, allowing to run most Unix commands on you iOS device. You can transfer files using scp and curl, edit them with vim and ed, process them using grep, awk and sed. Work with git repositories using lg2. Most commands are compiled for iOS native Arm64 format, making them fast and well integrated with iOS underlying BSD Unix. a-Shell mini includes Python, Lua, JavaScript and webAssembly for programming and scripting. It also includes native ffmpeg and convert for fast image and video conversion. There are also multiple network utilities: nslookup, ping, whois, ifconfig... Type help for help, help -l to get the full list of commands. a-Shell mini can be controlled from Shortcuts: run commands in order, process files in a-Shell, get the results as text or files, transfer files to other apps... a-Shell mini uses iPadOS 13+ “multiple windows” ability, so you can run multiple shells at the same time, with different commands, in different directories. You can edit a file in one window with vim and process it in the other with python. a-Shell mini is a minimalist terminal, designed to have a very small footprint (less than 250 MB). If you need more commands, please consider a-Shell, which has more Python packages, more JavaScript modules, Perl, make, a C and C++ compiler and TeX.

Screenshots

Textastic Code Editor4 screens
a4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: a at none against Textastic Code Editor's 3. a also leads on review sentiment (78% vs 69%) and iOS requirement (14.0 vs 16.0). Textastic Code Editor's advantage is ratings volume (2.5K vs 119) and chart position (#17 vs #58). On price, rating, update cadence and ads 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Textastic Code Editor sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. a asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.7 for Textastic Code Editor against 4.6 for a. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Textastic Code Editor has 2.5K ratings behind it against 119, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 69% of Textastic Code Editor's written reviews are positive against 78% of a's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 23, 2026 and September 21, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 5 level
Textastic Code Editor versus a: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterTextastic Code Editora
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (2.5K ratings) — better4.6 (119 ratings)
Positive reviews68.9% of reviews77.8% of reviews — better
Number of ratings2.5K — better119
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeksEvery 2 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationSubscriptionPaid — better
Best chart rank#17 — better#58
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS16.014.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size26 MB373 MB
Age rating4+17+
DeveloperAlexander BlachNicolas Holzschuch

Customer experience

Textastic Code Editor

All ratings2,510 ratings
Positive93.2%
Neutral1.6%
Negative5.2%
Written reviews599 reviews
Positive68.9%
Neutral8.7%
Negative22.4%

a

All ratings119 ratings
Positive89.9%
Neutral2.5%
Negative7.6%
Written reviews90 reviews
Positive77.8%
Neutral5.6%
Negative16.7%

User reviews

Textastic Code Editor

From 2.5K App Store ratings

What 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)

a

From 119 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Great app for shortcuts
  • 🚀 Efficient and functional
  • 💡 Useful for IT tasks
  • ✨ Free and awesome
  • 💻 Good for remote server connection

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Font size not adjustable
  • 🐛 Keyboard icons too large
  • 🐛 App deletes itself
  • 🐛 Rotating screen scrambles display
  • 🐛 Pasting text shows strange characters

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

a

Reported bugs

12 issues
  • Keyboard icons comically large
  • App deletes itself
  • Rotating iPhone/iPad scrambles display
  • Pasting text results in strange characters
  • App only uses half of the screen when editing files
Show 7 more
  • Command not found errors for all commands
  • App crashes on launch after update
  • Cannot get own absolute path
  • Cannot execute own programs
  • App messes up .txt file association
  • Trouble selecting characters to copy and paste
  • No module named requests in shortcuts

Requested features

8 requests
  • Option to use old keyboard buttons
  • Add openssl support
  • Add libx265 codec for ffmpeg
  • Support telnet command
  • Add possibility to compile from source
Show 3 more
  • Make Ubuntu default
  • Add expansion of keys (e.g., echo {a..z})
  • Adjustable font size

In-app purchases

3 purchases

Textastic Code Editor

Subscriptions2
  • Textastic Pro (Monthly)7 Days trial$2.991 Month
  • Textastic Pro (Yearly)7 Days trial$19.991 Year
One-time1
  • Textastic Pro (One-Time)$69.99
None

a

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Textastic Code Editor free?
Textastic Code Editor is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is a free?
a is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Textastic Code Editor or a?
Textastic Code Editor is rated higher. Textastic Code Editor averages 4.7 out of 5 from 2.5K ratings, while a averages 4.6 from 119 ratings.
Do Textastic Code Editor or a have ads?
Neither Textastic Code Editor nor a shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Textastic Code Editor or a?
Textastic Code Editor ships an update every 2 weeks, and a every 2 weeks. Most recently, Textastic Code Editor was updated on September 23, 2026 and a on September 21, 2026.
Which is more popular, Textastic Code Editor or a?
Textastic Code Editor currently peaks at #17 in the App Store charts, and a at #58. Chart position reflects recent download velocity rather than total install base.

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