MQTT Terminal Pro vs Shell Keyboard
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
MQTT Terminal Pro
This application allows for testing the MQTT pub/sub protocol. Connect to an MQTT broker to send and receive messages, enabling control of IoT devices and monitoring of sensors. It offers features for custom buttons, timed commands, and data monitoring in ASCII or HEX.
- Save broker list
- Separate subscribe/publish panels
- Customizable publish buttons
- Monitor data as ASCII or HEX
- Auto-send commands at intervals
- Send log files
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INTRODUCTION: - MQTT Terminal is used for testing pub/sub protocol with MQTT - Simply create a MQTT connection with broker and test MQTT messaging - With this app, You can control any MQTT enabled IoT devices and monitor sensors with pub/sub protocol. FEATURES: - Save broker list - Separate panels for subscribe and publish data - Custom your own buttons for frequent publishing of same data. - Monitoring receiving data as ASCII or HEX. - Publish Data as ASCII or HEX. - Auto send commands at timed interval - Selection for \r \n at the end of sending data. - Send Log file of Subscribed and Published data. - Keep Screen on/off option.
Shell Keyboard
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Shell Keyboard adds the keys a terminal actually needs — the ones iOS's default keyboard leaves out. Working over SSH or in a local shell needs Ctrl, Esc, Tab, arrow keys, and function keys, none of which exist on the standard iOS keyboard. Shell Keyboard is a custom keyboard built specifically for terminal apps like Blink, Termius, Prompt, a-Shell and iSH — it sends the exact ASCII control codes and ANSI/VT escape sequences your terminal expects, the same bytes a physical keyboard would send. NEW ON IPAD: A REAL KEYBOARD Choose a 60% or 75% layout, the compact keyboards terminal users already type on. The 75% layout puts Esc, F1–F12, a number row, Caps Lock, Home, End, Page Up, Page Down and inverted-T arrow keys on one screen, and Shift types the symbol printed on each key, just like a physical keyboard. The 60% layout keeps the function keys, navigation and arrows one fn press away. iPad opens in the 75% layout; the original ShellKey layout is one tap away in Settings. WHAT'S INCLUDED • A dedicated terminal layer: Ctrl, Alt, Esc, Tab, arrow keys, Home/End/PgUp/PgDn, and the punctuation a shell prompt uses constantly • Ctrl and Alt as proper modifiers — latch one for a single keypress, or double-tap to lock it on, like a hardware keyboard • A full function-key layer: tap fn and the top row becomes F1 through F12, while every other row stays exactly where it was • Arrow keys that match the app you're in — Normal for shells, Application for vim, tmux, less and htop, or Move the Cursor for ordinary text fields • Return or Enter: long-press the Return key to switch between a carriage return and a line feed • A plain QWERTY layer and a complete symbols layer, for ordinary text — hostnames, paths, commit messages — without leaving the keyboard • Seven themes — Shell, Ember, Glacier, Dusk, Moss, Void (pure black) and High Contrast — each in light and dark, and an Appearance option to keep the keyboard light or dark everywhere • On iPad, 60% and 75% layouts (75% by default), described above • A searchable reference inside the app, listing every key alongside the exact escape sequence and hex bytes it sends • Every key emits the exact byte sequence a real terminal expects SETTINGS LIVE IN THE KEYBOARD Touch and hold the key with the small gear (or tap the gear key on the iPad's 60% and 75% layouts) for Haptic feedback, Theme, Appearance and, on iPad, Layout. They live in the keyboard itself because, without Full Access, iOS keeps a keyboard and its app apart, and Shell Keyboard never asks for Full Access. BUILT FOR PRIVACY Shell Keyboard never asks for Full Access. It cannot reach the network. It never reads, stores, or transmits anything you type — every key it sends is decided from the key you tapped, and nothing else. No analytics, no crash reporting, no account. GOOD TO KNOW In a terminal or editor running inside a web browser — code-server, Jupyter and the like — the keys that send a multi-character escape sequence don't get through: the arrow keys, F1 through F12, Home, End, Page Up, Page Down, Shift+Tab and Alt combinations. Everything that sends a single byte works there normally, including every Ctrl combination, Esc, Tab, Return and ordinary typing. Web pages listen for key press events and iOS only lets a keyboard extension insert text, so this is an iOS limitation that applies to every third-party keyboard, not something an app can work around. WHO IT'S FOR Anyone who SSHes from an iPhone or iPad — sysadmins, developers, and anyone tired of missing Ctrl+C.
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Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Shell Keyboard at none against MQTT Terminal Pro's 1. Shell Keyboard also leads on ads (none vs shown) and update cadence (fortnightly vs every 6 months). MQTT Terminal Pro's advantage is device support (4 vs 2) and iOS requirement (10.0 vs 16.0). On price 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
MQTT Terminal Pro costs $0.99 and Shell Keyboard $0.99 up front. MQTT Terminal Pro sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Shell Keyboard asks for nothing beyond the download.
MQTT Terminal Pro ships an update every 6 months, Shell Keyboard fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 7, 2026 and October 17, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | MQTT Terminal Pro | Shell Keyboard |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $0.99 | $0.99 |
| Rating | 5.0 (2 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 75.0% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 2 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 6 months | Fortnightly — better |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | — |
| Best chart rank | #182 | #1 — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 10.0 — better | 16.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 28 MB | 3 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Gopi Gadhiya | Nguyen Nguyen |
In-app purchases
MQTT Terminal Pro
- Remove Ads$3.99
Shell Keyboard
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is MQTT Terminal Pro free?
Is Shell Keyboard free?
Do MQTT Terminal Pro or Shell Keyboard have ads?
Which is updated more often, MQTT Terminal Pro or Shell Keyboard?
Which is more popular, MQTT Terminal Pro or Shell Keyboard?
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