# Crestools vs Terminal Emulator Plus

The clearest difference is rating: Crestools at 4.2 against Terminal Emulator Plus's 1.0. Crestools also leads on ads (none vs shown) and ratings volume (31 vs 1). Terminal Emulator Plus's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 3) and iOS requirement (13.0 vs 16.0). On price and device support there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Crestools sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $19.99 per year. Terminal Emulator Plus asks for nothing beyond the download.

Crestools holds the better App Store score, 4.2 against 1.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Crestools has 31 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.

Crestools ships an update every 4 months, Terminal Emulator Plus every 8 months. The most recent releases landed on September 23, 2026 and October 5, 2026 respectively.

## The numbers

| Metric | Crestools | Terminal Emulator Plus |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | **[4.2 (31 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/crestools/id1343313629/reviews)** | [1.0 (1 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/terminal-emulator-plus/id1669565256/reviews) |
| Number of ratings | **31** | 1 |
| Positive reviews | 33.3% of reviews | — |
| In-app purchases | Yes | **No** |
| Ads | **No** | Yes |
| Update frequency | **Every 4 months** | Every 8 months |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | **Ad-supported** |
| Size | 34 MB | 16 MB |
| Requires iOS | 16.0 | **13.0** |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Mac | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Age rating | 4+ | +4 |
| Developer | [Mehdi Boulhalfa](https://appshunter.io/developer/1208169115) | [Dioneibys Blanco Grudas](https://appshunter.io/developer/1658652313) |

## What reviewers say

### Crestools

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/crestools/id1343313629)

This app helps developers and integrators manage Crestron devices via SSH or Telnet. It offers features like project grouping, file management, network scanning, and a built-in terminal for communication. Debug SimplWindows programs and share reports with ease.

**Highlights:** Project grouping for devices, SFTP file management, Network device discovery, SSH/Telnet terminal, Command reporting and sharing, SimplWindows program debugging, Cresnet device tree view

**In-app purchases (3)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Crestools One | $19.99 | per year |
| Crestools Pro | $22.99 | one-time |
| Crestools Pro macOS | $22.99 | one-time |


### Terminal Emulator Plus

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/terminal-emulator-plus/id1669565256)

This utility app provides access to various shell types for simplified terminal-optimized tasks. It features a friendly web front-end for quick functions like conversions and calculations.

**Highlights:** Access different shell types, Terminal-optimized tasks, PTY connection, Web front-end, Quick conversions, Quick math functions

**Features:** macOS Compatibility, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases:** none


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Crestools free?

Crestools is free to download, with in-app purchases available.

### Is Terminal Emulator Plus free?

Terminal Emulator Plus is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Which has better reviews, Crestools or Terminal Emulator Plus?

Crestools is rated higher. Crestools averages 4.2 out of 5 from 31 ratings, while Terminal Emulator Plus averages 1.0 from 1 ratings.

### Do Crestools or Terminal Emulator Plus have ads?

Terminal Emulator Plus shows ads; Crestools does not.

### Which is updated more often, Crestools or Terminal Emulator Plus?

Crestools ships an update every 4 months, and Terminal Emulator Plus every 8 months. Most recently, Crestools was updated on September 23, 2026 and Terminal Emulator Plus on October 5, 2026.

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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*