ShaderMania vs Blink Shell, Build & Code
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
ShaderMania
Create, edit, and share Metal shaders with a live coding environment and real-time preview. Explore a database of public and tutorial shaders, connect nodes to build complex effects, and export your creations. A physical keyboard is recommended for optimal use.
- Live coding of Metal fragment shaders
- Real-time preview and playback
- Node-based shader creation
- Public shader database
- Tutorial shaders with video links
- Export shader output to PNG
- Syntax checking and error display
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Create, edit, render, share, and learn Metal shaders with ShaderMania for iPad. ShaderMania is a visual Metal shader editor for iPadOS. Write fragment shaders with realtime preview and playback, organize shaders and images as nodes, connect shader inputs, expose parameters as sliders, and export rendered images. ShaderMania also includes a public shader library with examples and tutorial shaders, including links to explanation videos where available. ShaderMania is free to use. Optional tips are available if you want to support development. A physical keyboard is recommended for coding shaders on iPad. Features • Live Metal fragment shader editing with realtime preview and playback. • Visual node graph for shader and image nodes. • Connect shader nodes to build reusable shader chains. • Named shader input slots declared directly in shader source code. • Parameter annotations for sliders and live UI controls. • Realtime syntax checking, compiler errors, and warnings. • Render to custom resolutions and export PNG images. • Undo and redo for common node graph edits. Shader Library • Browse public shader examples and tutorial shaders. • Add shaders from the library to your own projects. • Upload useful, inspectable shader work to the public library.
Blink Shell, Build & Code
Transform your iOS device into a powerful terminal for coding and development. Leverage Mosh and SSH for stable, fast connections. Integrate with VS Code and manage your entire development workflow from your pocket.
- Mosh and SSH connections
- VS Code integration (Blink Code)
- Remote runtime creation (Blink Build)
- Full SSH toolset
- Hardware keyboard support
- External display support
- SFTP transfers
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Do Blink! Transform your iOS device into a pro-grade terminal. Blink is the first professional, desktop-grade terminal for iOS that leverages the support of Mosh and SSH. Thus, we can guarantee stable connections, crazy-fast speeds, and full configurations. It can and should be your all-day-long tool. **Start your 14-day free trial now!** But, Blink is much more. Now with Blink Code and Blink Build**, your entire development workflow fits in your pocket. What the Blink community is saying: “In some ways, I prefer my iPad / Blink / Digital Ocean setup to coding on my Mac“ - TheVerge "I have tried a number of terminals on iOS and this is really The One." - Twit.tv “Connections still come up when I get back to a client project after a weekend off.“ - The Sweet Setup “The way to use VS Code on the iPad” - programminglife.io What our users love the most from Blink Shell: - Mosh connections that even survive a device reboot. - Most complete SSH implementation on iOS. - Code command for VS Code integration. - Blazingly fast terminal and SFTP transfers. - Includes Pragmata Pro with ligatures. Blink Shell has a fully loaded SSH toolset: - SSH with PKI support: DSA, RSA, ECDSA & ED25519 keys. - Support for Secure Enclave Keys and Certificates. - Port forwarding with local, remote & dynamic tunnel support. - SOCKS5 proxy for a private VPN. - Agent Forwarding. - Complete SSH Config file support. - ControlMaster and pooled connections. - Files.app integration for SFTP remote hosts. - SFTP with copy-on-change. Blink has been the leading developer tool in the AppStore for +5 years, so there is a lot more: - External Display support. - Legendary Hardware Keyboard support, even remap shortcuts and keyboard codes. - Local & iCloud Blink Shell folders for Files.app access across devices. - Host sync over iCloud. - Link-files from other applications and work with them in Blink. - Cool themes and fonts, and install your own! - Smart Keys on SW Keyboard to navigate with touch. - FaceCam command to create tutorials and streams. - Bell notifications. - Supports multiple windows and multiple tabs. - Network & UNIX CLI tools, check our docs for more information. Blink Code integrates with VS Code: - Code on local projects, or seamlessly on remote machines. - Fully-loaded code editor. - A coding experience fitted to your device, that connects to VS Code for web, GitHub Codespaces, GitPod or your own VS Code server. Blink Build (Requires a $7.99/month subscription) Creates remote runtimes that can be accessed on all your devices. You can use Build in your day-to-day workflows whether you need to do development, DevOps or just play around with new tooling. Participate in our community, and don’t forget to leave us your feedback and your feature(s) requests. Enjoy! http://blink.sh http://twitter.com/blinkshell http://GitHub.com/blinksh Terms of Use: https://blink.sh/blink-gpl Privacy Policy: https://blink.sh/pp * Blink Code is not affiliated nor endorsed by Microsoft. ** Blink Build requires a separate subscription to make use of our Virtual Machines.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is review sentiment: ShaderMania at 100% against Blink Shell, Build & Code's 37%. ShaderMania also leads on monetization model (free vs free with in-app purchases). Blink Shell, Build & Code's advantage is update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 16 months) and chart position (#13 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
Both are free to download. ShaderMania sells 3 one-off in-app purchases and Blink Shell, Build & Code sells 5 in-app purchases, starting at $7.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
ShaderMania ships an update every 16 months, Blink Shell, Build & Code every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 2, 2026 and October 21, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | ShaderMania | Blink Shell, Build & Code |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | — | 3.1 (421 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better | 36.8% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | — | 421 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 16 months | Every 3 weeks — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free — better | Free with in-app purchases |
| Best chart rank | — | #13 — better |
| Devices | iPad, Mac | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 17.6 | 17.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 24 MB | 211 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 17+ |
| Developer | Markus Moenig | Blink Shell, Inc |
Customer experience
ShaderMania
Blink Shell, Build & Code
In-app purchases
ShaderMania
- Small Tip$1.99
- Medium Tip$4.99
- Large Tip$9.99
Blink Shell, Build & Code
- Build Basic - 50 credits/month1 Month trial$7.991 Month
- Blink+Build Basic7 Days trial$9.991 Month
- Blink Plus$19.991 Year
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- Blink+14 Days trial$19.991 Year
- Blink Shell ClassicFree
Questions
Is ShaderMania free?
Is Blink Shell, Build & Code free?
Do ShaderMania or Blink Shell, Build & Code have ads?
Which is updated more often, ShaderMania or Blink Shell, Build & Code?
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