Comparison

Secure Terminal vs La Terminal

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

Head to head
About

Secure Terminal

This application provides secure remote access to servers via SSH and Telnet. It supports various authentication methods, terminal emulations, and file transfer protocols. Advanced features like SFTP and port forwarding are available through an in-app purchase.

Highlights
  • SSH & Telnet connection
  • Password & key authentication
  • SFTP file transfer
  • xterm-256color emulation
  • Key generation
  • Port forwarding
  • Customizable terminal
Features
Read full description

SSH Terminal to access multiple SSH server, with full support of "xterm-256color" emulation. Base Features: • SSH connection with password or key authentication: DSA, RSA, ECDSA, Ed25519 (OpenSSH format & Putty PPK) • SSH Agent • Key generation (RSA, ECDSA, Ed25519) • Support for FIDO key (iPhone NFC only) • Secure Enclave Key • Support for Mosh, Sixel, iTerm2 image, ZModem and Trzsz protocols • Connection params are safely stored on Keychain • Connection history & localization • Connection through SSH proxy • Connection with Telnet protocol • External keyboard support • Terminal colors customization • Multiple font size • Image background • User font choice (fixed width only) • Pointer/Mouse support PRO Features (require in-app purchase): • Upload/Download files through SFTP • Port forwarding • Local text editor • Store unlimited connections • Files plugin support • Shortcuts support • Commands snippet • Hosts Status Dashboard • SFTP Commander • XWindow (iPad only)

About

La Terminal

This app provides a mobile command center for AI coding agents and server management. It offers full SSH and Mosh support for resilient sessions, along with powerful resource monitoring and an AI-powered assistant for command generation.

Highlights
  • SSH and Mosh support
  • AI-powered command assistant
  • Command Search and workflow gallery
  • Resource monitoring and process explorer
  • Secure private key storage
  • iCloud sync for settings and keys
Features
Read full description

Welcome to La Terminal, your mobile command center for AI coding agents. Connect to OpenAI Codex, Claude Code, GitHub Copilot CLI, or OpenClaw from anywhere, with full SSH and Mosh support for resilient, always-on sessions. More than just a simple command-line shell, La Terminal provides a fully-native, first-class touch experience for command-line hackers on iPhone and iPad. Built on Open Source: From the original developer of Midnight Commander, the open source visual file manager for Linux, La Terminal provides a comprehensive Xterm/DEC VT terminal emulator experience based on the popular open source SwiftTerm library with powerful client amenities for serious command-line aficionados. Command Search: Use Command Search to quickly find the command you are looking for. Search your own command history and our comprehensive workflow gallery to find and execute commands. Create and edit your own workflows for a variety of tasks, including running frequently used commands, automating a series of commands, or just tracking down a complex command that might be difficult to recall. AI-powered assistant: Get help writing Linux, Mac, or Windows terminal commands using plain English, such as “extract the name property inside the article element from a json file” or “list the most CPU consuming Kubernetes pods”. Eye candy: La Terminal sports a fully themeable experience accented with beautifully captivating live-effect backgrounds powered by Metal Performance Shaders. Secure Enclave: Your private keys are stored in the secure enclave so your private key can never be found in plain text. Powerful status visualizations: La Terminal’s resource monitoring tools put powerful CPU and memory use visualizations, as well as a native process explorer, right at your fingertips. Resource monitoring visualizations are accessible from the top of any connected terminal, and process explorer tools provide multiple views into CPU, memory, and disk utilization. Thumbnail snapshots show previews of connected hosts along with system load over time in the active Terminals view. Network monitoring plots data traffic on a world map to help you understand the sources and targets of connections to and from your connected hosts. iCloud for everyone: La Terminal makes it easy to switch between your iPhone, iPad, and Mac by syncing your settings and keys over iCloud - like magic! Host platform aware: Whether you’re managing a dozen Linux VMs on AWS or Azure, logging into zsh on your Mac desktop, or configuring your latest IoT Raspberry Pi project via bash, La Terminal provides the most productive experience possible on a mobile device. La Terminal is even Windows-aware to ensure PowerShell power users can enjoy a delightful ssh experience, too. International support: La Terminal delivers extensive support for international terminals, including rendering internationalized output as well as support for internationalized input methods from native iOS dictation and international keyboards. La Terminal Pro features - Complete SFTP File Manager - Upload, download and navigate remote filesystems with our native SFTP client. - Files can be uploaded or downloaded to the local device via the iOS Files app, or copied between remote hosts. - Files app support - Access files on any configured La Terminal host using Apple’s Files app and other File Provider-enabled apps. - SSH Agent Forwarding - Use locally configured keys to authorize connections when SSHing between remote hosts. - All Live Backgrounds - Choose from our full library of GPU-accelerated Live Backgrounds to customize your terminal experience. Terms of Service: https://la-terminal.net/la-terminal/terms-of-service Privacy Policy: https://la-terminal.net/privacy-policy

Screenshots

Secure Terminal4 screens
La Terminal4 screens

Verdict

The call

Secure Terminal and La Terminal both sit at 4.5 stars, but that hides the real split: 86% of Secure Terminal's written reviews are positive against 66% of La Terminal's. Secure Terminal also leads on iOS requirement (16.6 vs 18.6). La Terminal's advantage is chart position (#113 vs unranked). 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Secure Terminal sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and La Terminal sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

La Terminal holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.5. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 63 and 104 respectively. Written reviews complicate that: 86% of Secure Terminal's written reviews are positive against 66% of La Terminal's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 26, 2026 and October 27, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 8 level
Secure Terminal versus La Terminal: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSecure TerminalLa Terminal
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.5 (63 ratings)4.7 (104 ratings) — better
Positive reviews85.9% of reviews — better66.0% of reviews
Number of ratings63104 — better
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeksEvery 3 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank—#113 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, Vision Pro — better
Requires iOS16.6 — better18.6
Further details — not scored
Size196 MB85 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperFilippo MaguoloXibbon, Inc

Customer experience

Secure Terminal

All ratings63 ratings
Positive88.9%
Neutral1.6%
Negative9.5%
Written reviews78 reviews
Positive85.9%
Neutral2.6%
Negative11.5%

La Terminal

All ratings104 ratings
Positive93.3%
Neutral1.0%
Negative5.8%
Written reviews50 reviews
Positive66.0%
Neutral14.0%
Negative20.0%

User reviews

Secure Terminal

From 63 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 User-friendly interface
  • 💰 Great value, one-time purchase
  • 🆓 Free version is very capable
  • 🚀 Fast and stable performance
  • 💻 Works across multiple Apple devices

Room to improve

  • 🐛 UI/UX could be better
  • ❓ Lack of clear documentation
  • 🐌 Some features are slow
  • 🚫 Cannot log in without password
  • 🖱️ UI elements not always intuitive

La Terminal

From 104 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Best SSH client on iOS/iPadOS
  • 👍 Great UI and design
  • 💡 Innovative features like session keep alive
  • ✨ Nerd font support for icons
  • ✅ SFTP server works well

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Laggy performance for some users
  • 🐛 File transfer corrupts uploads
  • 🐛 Connection silently dies after app switch
  • 🐛 Keyboard doesn't hide on sessions page
  • 🐛 Blurry fonts on Vision Pro

Bugs and requests

Secure Terminal

Reported bugs

14 issues
  • SFTP cannot be opened when using a proxy server to connect to SSH
  • Backspace clears the entire line, hiding the current working directory
  • App crashes during docker compose pull with ZSH and ohmyzsh
  • FaceID authenticates only once per app execution
  • File transfer adds single quotes to the beginning and end of filenames
Show 9 more
  • Password input is case-insensitive, causing login failures
  • Background mode loses connections within ~30 seconds
  • Slide-up toolbar covers the bottom line of text when using an external keyboard
  • Pro features not working after app was offloaded/reloaded
  • App crashes frequently
  • Cannot log in to remote servers without a password
  • External keyboard shortcuts sometimes stop working
  • Background color change not working
  • Cannot insert copied password into Linux terminal

Requested features

19 requests
  • Allow adding more than one connection in free version
  • Improve UI/UX for better intuitiveness
  • Provide clear documentation for Port Forwarding
  • Add ability to format/prettify command snippets in clipboard/saved commands
  • Keep theme full dark and add plain simple b&w icon
Show 14 more
  • Make password input case-sensitive
  • Fix FaceID authentication to be more robust
  • Allow login to servers without passwords
  • Add option to place connection shortcuts on the main screen
  • Support background mode for persistent connections
  • Improve handling of symbolic links
  • Add Agent SSH functionality
  • Allow storage of multiple named keys
  • Make app protected by FaceID/TouchID on launch
  • Access iOS password manager for SSH keys
  • Remove bottom keyboard bar
  • Improve handling of external keyboard shortcuts
  • Add a way to cancel connections more clearly
  • Make the main screen less blank and improve 'connect' button placement for single-handed use

La Terminal

Reported bugs

23 issues
  • Stuck in "keys" dialog on first use (Vision Pro)
  • Nerd symbols do not display well
  • Session keep alive technology stopped working well
  • File transfer corrupts uploads
  • Connection silently dies after app switch, folders appear empty
Show 18 more
  • Korean language is de-composed
  • No character support for 2-character-wide characters
  • App crashes reproducible on iOS 18.1 when loading SSH key from file
  • Keyboard will not hide on sessions page, tab bar unreachable
  • Lot of lag when typing, making app unusable
  • Blurry fonts compared to other SSH apps
  • Unable to open more than two SSH sessions
  • Clicking on terminal pastes clipboard content
  • Cannot get anything to connect using Vision Pro initially (PolicyDenied)
  • VisionOS local network access issues
  • App sometimes crashes when scrolling to appearance section of a connection
  • Can’t change default port number
  • Text is clipped entirely on the four rounded corners
  • Cannot figure out how to highlight text and paste
  • Need to put login/password for every individual host
  • Need to use ed25519 SSH key
  • Sneaky processes uploaded to server without permission/explanation
  • Monitoring bug: typing doesn't input after dismissing charts

Requested features

34 requests
  • Add English option
  • Ability to change text size easily
  • Support for ed25519 SSH keys
  • Option to turn off rendering bright colors as bold fonts
  • Ban the soft keyboard from ever appearing again
Show 29 more
  • Open a second session with a host
  • Customization for monitoring (exclude/hide mount points)
  • Ability to highlight text and paste easily
  • One spot for passwords (accounts/group menu)
  • Support for 2-character-wide characters
  • Ability to change font
  • Disable mouse reporting option
  • Fix file transfer corruption
  • Improve session keep alive technology
  • Fix connection dying after app switch
  • Fix keyboard not hiding on sessions page
  • Fix blurry fonts
  • Support more than two windows
  • Fix pasting on click
  • Remove black bars on Vision Pro windows
  • Add margin to terminal windows
  • Fix text clipping at rounded corners
  • Fix laggy performance
  • Make scrolling work with Neovim
  • Fix VisionOS local network access issues
  • Allow changing default port number
  • Fix native session persistence
  • Fix tmux option to attach to existing session
  • Improve handling of network glitches
  • Fix Korean language de-composition
  • Fix tutorials not working
  • Fix settings buttons
  • Add dark mode option
  • Advanced analytics dashboard

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Secure Terminal

One-time1
  • PRO FEATURE$4.99
3 purchases

La Terminal

Subscriptions2
  • La Terminal Pro Monthly$4.991 Month
  • La Terminal Pro Yearly$19.991 Year
One-time1
  • La Terminal Pro Lifetime$99.99

Questions

Is Secure Terminal free?
Secure Terminal is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is La Terminal free?
La Terminal is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Secure Terminal or La Terminal?
La Terminal is rated higher. Secure Terminal averages 4.5 out of 5 from 63 ratings, while La Terminal averages 4.7 from 104 ratings.
Do Secure Terminal or La Terminal have ads?
Neither Secure Terminal nor La Terminal shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Secure Terminal or La Terminal?
Secure Terminal ships an update every 3 weeks, and La Terminal every 3 weeks. Most recently, Secure Terminal was updated on October 26, 2026 and La Terminal on October 27, 2026.

Other comparisons