Core Shell vs TermCOW
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Core Shell
This app provides a powerful terminal emulator and SSH client for efficient host management. It offers robust features like OpenSSH compatibility, automatic reconnection, and customizable themes. Premium features include unlimited connections and cross-device profile syncing.
- Full-featured terminal emulator
- OpenSSH compatible
- Keychain integration
- Advanced options editor
- Automatic reconnection
- Theming and color schemes
- Unlimited connections (premium)
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A full featured terminal with built-in OpenSSH support, it’s focused on managing and login to hosts efficiently. Don't waste your time; be productive. ## Features Full-featured Terminal • Compatible with Terminal.app, iTerm and xterm. • Supports ANSI 16 and 256 color palettes, as well as 24bit true color. • Passed cases of *vttest* – a strict VT100/VT220/VT420 terminal functionality test suite. OpenSSH Compatible • Everything in OpenSSH, certificates, proxy jump, etc. Keychain Integration • Tightly integrated with Keychain, don't have to enter passwords or passphrases repeatedly. • It's totally optionally, you can opt-in or opt-out at any time. Advanced Options Editor • A handy way to tune per-host advanced options. • For every ssh directives, there is a contextual help provides immediate information, no more googling. Automatic Reconnect • Always tries to restore your connections after network failure or waking up from background. Theming • Eight built-in color schemes: Basic, Dracula, Grass, Homebrew, Man Page, Novel, Ocean, Red Sands • Our color optimization ensure that colorful text always clearly visible. Premium Features (free for a limited time) • Unlimited number of connections • Sync profiles between all of your Mac computers and iOS devices • Prioritized customer support ------- We'd love to answer your questions or just hear what you think about Core Shell. Our Community: https://community.codinn.com/c/core-shell Use the community to request support or report bug. Discuss and explore Core Shell’s future with us by joining the community.
TermCOW
This app provides a stable SSH terminal experience for mobile devices, allowing users to connect to remote machines with features like pan and zoom for a desktop-class interface. It supports standard SSH protocols, SFTP, and secure credential storage.
- SSH with password and key authentication
- SFTP file transfer
- Encrypted credential vault
- Pan and zoom for stable terminal view
- Customizable multi-state shortcuts
- Port forwarding
- Jump host/bastion support
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TermCOW is an SSH terminal for developers, sysadmins, and anyone who wants to do their work anywhere. I originally built it so I could connect to my machine at home running AI coding agents in tmux from my phone. On a phone, it’s usually either tiny unreadable text to fit the whole terminal, or confusing text reflow, flashing, and wrapping when you zoom in. TermCOW uses pan and zoom instead of text reflow, so the terminal stays stable while you work. But if you like text reflow, TermCOW supports that too. All standard SSH features are free, including password/key auth, SFTP, and encrypted credential storage. Features • SSH with password and key auth • SFTP file transfer • Encrypted credential vault • Pan and zoom for a stable desktop-class terminal • Customizable multi-state shortcuts • Port forwarding • Jump host / bastion support • Back up settings to the TermCOW service • Premium jump host service for private IP access Clean, functional, minimal UI that stays out of your way while you do real work with a desktop-class terminal from your phone. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: TermCOW at 5.0 against Core Shell's 4.0. On price, ratings volume, ads and in-app purchases 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. Core Shell sells 2 one-off in-app purchases and TermCOW sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
TermCOW holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.0. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 2 and 3 respectively.
| Parameter | Core Shell | TermCOW |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.0 (2 ratings) | 5.0 (3 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 38.1% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 2 | 3 — better |
| Update frequency | — | Fortnightly |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Mac — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 16.1 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 49 MB | 149 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Codinn Technologies | Fynetiq LLC |
Customer experience
Core Shell
TermCOW
In-app purchases
Core Shell
- Premium (1-Year)3 variants$14.99
- Premium (4-Year)$44.99
TermCOW
- TermCOW Pro Upgrade$9.99









