# Userscripts vs a

The clearest difference is monetization model: Userscripts at free against a's paid. a's advantage is rating (4.6 vs 4.3). On price, review sentiment, ratings volume and update cadence there is nothing between them.

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

a holds the better App Store score, 4.6 against 4.3. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 190 and 122 respectively. Written reviews split almost evenly too, at 78% and 78% positive.

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly monthly. Both last shipped on October 29, 2026.

## The numbers

| Metric | Userscripts | a |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | [4.3 (190 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/userscripts/id1463298887/reviews) | **[4.6 (122 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/a-shell-mini/id1543537943/reviews)** |
| Number of ratings | **190** | 122 |
| Positive reviews | **78.2% of reviews** | 78.0% of reviews |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | Monthly | Monthly |
| Monetization | **Free** | Paid |
| Best chart rank | **#16** | #29 |
| Size | 2 MB | 383 MB |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 | **14.0** |
| Devices | **iPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac** | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Age rating | 4+ | 17+ |
| Developer | [Justin Wasack](https://appshunter.io/developer/1463298886) | [Nicolas Holzschuch](https://appshunter.io/developer/1450994948) |

## What reviewers say

### Userscripts

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/userscripts/id1463298887)

**Currently charting:** #16 Top Free · Developer Tools (US App Store)

This open-source Safari extension allows you to run custom JavaScript and CSS code on any website. Enhance your browsing experience with personalized styling, automatic redirects, and ad-blocking.

**Highlights:** Run custom JavaScript, Inject custom CSS, Automatic page redirection, Website page manipulation, Custom ad-blocking, Open source, No user tracking

**Features:** Safari Extension, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases:** none

**What reviewers like**

- 🚀 Works well to inject CSS on iPad in Safari
- 👍 Best thing since sliced bread
- 💡 Allows you to do thousands of things that were previously desktop only
- 🔒 Very stable and works flawlessly with Safari
- 👍 Excellent Safari extension

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 Satisfactory to an extent, stops working sometimes
- 🐛 Broke until reinstall
- 🐛 Slowed my Safari down to a crawl
- 🐛 Unpredictable when it applies scripts, but still useful
- 🐛 It's been way too unpredictable for a while now

**Reported bugs**

- Failed to load user data
- Saying there's an error when trying to download something
- Won't work, keeps saying there's an issue and retry
- Disappeared from Safari preferences and won't return after troubleshooting

**Requested features**

- Add support for Safari Tech Preview
- Allow editing of userscripts from the browser extension popup
- Allow creation of a new script from the Safari Extension for the current site
- Allow specifying the order in which scripts should be loaded
- Add support for running scripts in normal mode, private mode or both


### a

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/a-shell-mini/id1543537943)

**Currently charting:** #29 Top Free · Developer Tools (US App Store)

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:** macOS Compatibility, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases:** none

**What reviewers like**

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

**What reviewers complain about**

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

**Reported bugs**

- 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

**Requested features**

- Option to use old keyboard buttons
- Add openssl support
- Add libx265 codec for ffmpeg
- Support telnet command
- Add possibility to compile from source


## Frequently asked questions

### Is Userscripts free?

Userscripts is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Is a free?

a is free to download, with no in-app purchases.

### Which has better reviews, Userscripts or a?

a is rated higher. Userscripts averages 4.3 out of 5 from 190 ratings, while a averages 4.6 from 122 ratings.

### Do Userscripts or a have ads?

Neither Userscripts nor a shows ads.

### Which is updated more often, Userscripts or a?

Userscripts ships an update monthly, and a monthly. Most recently, Userscripts was updated on October 29, 2026 and a on October 29, 2026.

### Which is more popular, Userscripts or a?

Userscripts currently peaks at #16 in the App Store charts, and a at #29. Chart position reflects recent download velocity rather than total install base.

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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.*