Comparison

Scriptable vs a

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

Head to head
About

Scriptable

Automate tasks on your device by writing custom scripts in JavaScript. Integrate with native iOS features like files, calendars, and reminders. Create personalized widgets for your Home Screen and interact with Siri.

Highlights
  • Write and run JavaScript
  • Create custom widgets
  • Siri Shortcuts integration
  • Access native iOS features
  • Schedule notifications
  • File management
  • Script gallery
Features
Read full description

Scriptable is an automation tool that enables you to write scripts that integrates with native features of iOS such as files, calendars, reminders, documents and much more. An extensive support for widgets enables you to write your own widgets using JavaScript and run the scripts on your Home Screen. Your widgets can show any data and be customised to look just the way you want. With Siri Shortcuts you can present images, tables and more in Siri as well as making Siri read out loud a text when you run a script from a Siri Shortcut. There's a growing gallery of scripts to get you started with Scriptable. Here’s a few examples of scripts you can create: - Ask Siri whether a web service is down. - Create a widget that shows data from your weather station. - Postpone the next event in your calendar half an hour. - Check what is currently on TV. - Manage a list of movies you would like to watch. - Upload files to an image optimizer and store a URL to the optimized image. - Receive a notification with the weather report every morning. - Create todos with prefilled data in your favorite todo app using URL schemes. Features include: - Write and run JavaScript. - Auto complete of variable names, functions, keywords and properties as you type. - Access lots of native iOS features from your JavaScript code, including managing files, calendars, reminders, contacts, photos, location, pasteboard, web views and more. - Create your own widgets. Your scripts run on the Home Screen without needing to open the app. - Siri Shortcuts enabling you to present images, tables, websites, HTML and more in Siri as well as making Siri read out loud a text. - Support for input and output parameters in Siri Shortcuts. - Easily schedule rich notifications to run your scripts periodically. - Work with files and directories from third party apps using File Bookmarks. - Synchronise scripts to all of your devices using iCloud Drive. - Scripts are stored as plain JavaScript files and can be browsed using the Files app. - Assign one of over 800 glyphs and a color to a script to easily identify it in your directory of scripts. - Run scripts directly on your Lock Screen and Home Screen using widgets. - Run a script by 3D touching the app icon. - Run a script from a share sheet and process the inputs. - Schedule notifications and run a script directly from a notification. - URL schemes enabling you to run scripts from other apps. - Support for x-callback-url enabling advanced integration with other apps that support x-callback-url. - Export and share scripts. - Example scripts helping you get started creating your own scripts. - Extensive documentation for all the native APIs you can use in your scripts. Available offline in the app and online on docs.scriptable.app. - View the documentation in a separate window on iPad. - Support for dark mode. - Customise the editor to your liking.

About

a

Run a full Unix-like terminal environment on your iOS device. Execute a wide range of commands, edit files, and even program using included interpreters and compilers. Supports multitasking and integration with Shortcuts.

Highlights
  • Local Unix terminal emulator
  • SSH client
  • File transfer (scp, curl)
  • Text editing (vim, ed)
  • Scripting languages (Python, Lua, Perl, JS)
  • C/C++ compiler
  • TeX distribution
Features
Read full description

a-Shell is a complete local terminal emulator, allowing to run most Unix commands on your iOS device. You can transfer files using scp and curl, edit them with vim and ed, process them using grep, awk and sed. You can work with git repositories using lg2.  Most commands are compiled for iOS native Arm64 format, making them fast and well integrated with the BSD Unix that powers iOS/iPadOS. a-Shell includes Python, Lua, Perl, JavaScript, C, C++ for programming and TeX (texlive 2025, with Tikz and LuaTeX) for text processing. 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 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 uses iOS 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. Compile your C or C++ programs to webAssembly using clang or clang++, and execute the resulting binary. A complete webAssembly SDK is included (WASI-libc). a-Shell is the complete version. If you need a smaller app, and you don't need a C compiler, a TeX engine, or numpy and matplotlib, there is a-Shell mini.

Screenshots

Scriptable4 screens
a4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: a at none against Scriptable's 3. a also leads on review sentiment (79% vs 69%). Scriptable's advantage is update cadence (every 4 days vs monthly) and ratings volume (3.8K vs 553). On price, rating, ads and chart position 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. Scriptable sells 3 one-off in-app purchases. 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 Scriptable against 4.6 for a. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Scriptable has 3.8K ratings behind it against 553, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 69% of Scriptable's written reviews are positive against 79% of a's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Scriptable ships an update every 4 days, a monthly. The most recent releases landed on October 1, 2026 and September 29, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 6 level
Scriptable versus a: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterScriptablea
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (3.8K ratings) — better4.6 (553 ratings)
Positive reviews69.2% of reviews78.6% of reviews — better
Number of ratings3.8K — better553
Update frequencyEvery 4 days — betterMonthly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases — betterPaid
Best chart rank#16 — better#19
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.514.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size28 MB1.9 GB
Age rating17+17+
DeveloperSimon B. StøvringNicolas Holzschuch

Customer experience

Scriptable

All ratings3,819 ratings
Positive92.0%
Neutral2.4%
Negative5.6%
Written reviews529 reviews
Positive69.2%
Neutral8.9%
Negative21.9%

a

All ratings553 ratings
Positive88.1%
Neutral4.5%
Negative7.4%
Written reviews294 reviews
Positive78.6%
Neutral10.2%
Negative11.2%

User reviews

Scriptable

From 3.8K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Amazing usage of Application Programming Interface (API)
  • 🚀 Scriptable + AI lets create micro apps
  • 👍 Whoah, Wow, Nice
  • 👍 Awesome app, Helpful app
  • 🚀 Unrivaled Functionality

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Force closes, Crashes immediately, Cannot Use - Always Crashes
  • 🐛 Scripts don't work, Stopped working, Self Deleting
  • 🐛 Incompatible with iOS 18, Widgets become white, Doesn't work on iOS 17.4
  • 🐛 Bugs, So many bugs, Kept freezing
  • 🐛 Default access to iCloud, Misspelled word, Selecting text is difficult

a

From 553 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Powerful terminal with Linux commands
  • 👍 Useful for programming and development
  • 🔒 Secure and reliable
  • 💡 Impressive capabilities for an iOS app
  • 👍 Helpful documentation and developer support

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Occasional crashes and bugs
  • 🔍 Limited customization options
  • 🔍 Missing some basic terminal features
  • 🔍 Compatibility issues with certain packages

Bugs and requests

Scriptable

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • Scripts say need '(' at end when already there
  • Reminders scheduling crashes when changing date/time
  • Reminders Due Today has variable scope issues
  • setInterval is not set
  • Accessing Contacts and ContactsContainer causes blank widget

Requested features

6 requests
  • Add HTML support
  • Add Apple Watch support
  • Improve documentation with examples
  • Add ability to access files from other apps
  • Add ability to require other scripts
Show 1 more
  • Integrate with GitHub/repository managers

a

Reported bugs

3 issues
  • Toolbar buttons not accessible in portrait mode on some devices
  • Pasting from clipboard can insert unexpected characters
  • Sourcing certain script files causes crashes

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add support for package managers like Homebrew or APT
  • Implement more advanced shell features like job control and better tab completion
  • Integrate Git for version control
  • Allow installing additional packages and libraries
  • Improve clipboard and file management integration

In-app purchases

3 purchases

Scriptable

One-time3
  • Small Tip$0.99
  • Medium Tip$2.99
  • Large Tip$4.99
None

a

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Scriptable free?
Scriptable 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, Scriptable or a?
Scriptable is rated higher. Scriptable averages 4.7 out of 5 from 3.8K ratings, while a averages 4.6 from 553 ratings.
Do Scriptable or a have ads?
Neither Scriptable nor a shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Scriptable or a?
Scriptable ships an update every 4 days, and a monthly. Most recently, Scriptable was updated on October 1, 2026 and a on September 29, 2026.
Which is more popular, Scriptable or a?
Scriptable currently peaks at #16 in the App Store charts, and a at #19. Chart position reflects recent download velocity rather than total install base.

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