Comparison

a vs Ateam Go

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

Head to head
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.

About

Ateam Go

Features
Read full description

Ateam Go puts your AI coding agents in your pocket. Run coding agents on your own machine, then check in, start new work, and unblock them from your phone — a live board where every task is an agent working in a real terminal. WHAT YOU CAN DO • See every task at a glance: Needs You, In Progress, Review, Backlog, Done • Start a task with a prompt and pick the agent (Claude Code, Codex) • Watch the agent work in a live terminal — reading, editing, running tests in real time • Step in when it needs you: answer a question, approve a step, or send a nudge • Open a preview of a dev server running on your machine, right in your browser PRIVATE BY DESIGN Ateam Go connects to the ateam server on your own computer over Tailscale. WireGuard is the encryption and the auth boundary, so nothing is exposed to the public internet — your repos, your keys, and the agents all stay on your machine. The phone is just a secure window into it. JUST LOOKING? Tap "Try the demo" to explore the whole experience with sample data — no machine, no setup required. REQUIREMENTS Ateam Go is a companion to the Ateam desktop app. You'll need a computer (macOS or Linux) running the ateam server, with Tailscale on both your computer and your phone.

Screenshots

a4 screens
Ateam Go4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Ateam Go at weekly against a's monthly. a's advantage is chart position (#19 vs unranked). On price, ads, in-app purchases and device support 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

a ships an update monthly, Ateam Go weekly. The most recent releases landed on October 25, 2026 and October 24, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 9 level
a versus Ateam Go: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameteraAteam Go
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (562 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews78.4% of reviews—
Number of ratings562 — better—
Update frequencyMonthlyWeekly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaid—
Best chart rank#19 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS14.0 — better15.1
Further details — not scored
Size2.1 GB16 MB
Age rating+174+
DeveloperNicolas HolzschuchRiccardo Maria Pallaoro

Bugs and requests

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

Ateam Go

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

None

a

No in-app purchases

None

Ateam Go

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is a free?
a is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Ateam Go free?
Ateam Go is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do a or Ateam Go have ads?
Neither a nor Ateam Go shows ads.
Which is updated more often, a or Ateam Go?
a ships an update monthly, and Ateam Go weekly. Most recently, a was updated on October 25, 2026 and Ateam Go on October 24, 2026.

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