Comparison

MuffinTerm vs Terminal Emulator Plus

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

Head to head
About

MuffinTerm

Relive the classic BBS experience with a modern terminal emulator. Connect to telnet-enabled BBSes worldwide and enjoy pixel-accurate retro display modes and aesthetic effects like simulated modem speed and CRT curvature. Upload and download files with classic protocols.

Highlights
  • Telnet BBS connection
  • Authentic retro display modes (CP437, PETSCII, ATASCII)
  • Simulated modem speed
  • CRT curvature and scanlines
  • File transfer (XMODEM, YMODEM, ZMODEM)
  • Digital sticky notes for BBSes
Read full description

MuffinTerm: A terminal crafted for the classic BBS experience. Dive back into the glory days of dial-up bulletin board systems… just, without the dialing up. (Though we’ll always miss that modem sound.) BBSes were once the way that almost anyone “online” got online. The modern Internet might have stolen a bit of the spotlight, but BBSes are still around if you know where to look—and MuffinTerm can take you there. Connect to telnet-enabled BBSes from around the world, with a terminal that’s designed to bring the classic experience to devices of today. (And no more busy signals!) Select from among text modes and terminal hardware of the DOS and home computer era, with pixel-accurate CP437, PETSCII, and ATASCII support for the popular systems of the day, reproduced in exacting detail to help you really feel at home. (All rendered with a custom Metal shader—it is the 21st century, after all.) • MDA with white (P4), green (P31), or amber (P3) phosphor • CGA in 40- or 80-column mode • EGA in 25- or 43-line mode • VGA in 25- or 50-line mode • VIC-II (C64/PETSCII) in NTSC, PAL, or borderless mode • ANTIC (ATASCII) in NTSC, PAL, or borderless mode Fuel your nostalgia further by enabling various aesthetic effects: • Simulated modem speed — from the 110cps teletype crawl of the 1970s to the “blazing fast” 56K of the awesome ’90s. Slow down that ANSI animation to look the way it was originally intended, or just relive the feel of watching the bytes roll in. (Fortunately, without the cross-town toll charges this time around.) • CRT curvature — Turn your flat-screen device into the spitting image of a classic ’tube. • Scan lines — Reject the modernity of your perfect high-DPI display and embrace the scanlines that once reigned supreme. • Warm tube tint — Harken back to an era of dubiously calibrated picture tubes and iffy RF adapters. • VIC-II luma bars — Relive the experience of poorly isolated clock lines (and the resulting visual artifacting). • Overscan borders — View the terminal as it would appear on a typical TV, or flout the factory calibration and show the full borders of the display field. • Select a custom app icon from among several inspired by modems of the BBS era (plus a couple of floppy disks). Some features are functional as well as fun. For example, who hasn’t stuck a sticky note or two to the side of their monitor at some point? Fortunately, the digital era is no bar to this ancient practice. Each BBS in your dialing directory gets its own digital sticky note (pick a color!), plus another that’s shared between them all. Record notes, make reminders, or be naughty and jot down a password or two. (We won’t peek.) Of course, the basics are still all there. Traditional ANSI, PETSCII, and ATASCII terminal emulation give you the proper BBS experience; teletype (TTY) and “raw mode” provide support for special-use systems. Upload and download files using the standard XMODEM, YMODEM, and ZMODEM protocols. Save transcripts of your calls as text or raw data logs. There’s even a session timer in the status line to show you how long you’ve been connected. (Not responsible for flashbacks to long-distance bills from the 1980s.) A comprehensive dialing directory helps you to keep track of your favorite systems. You can also import up-to-date BBS lists from popular online BBS directories. Have multiple devices? Automatically sync your dialing directory and call history between them all—whether iOS, iPadOS, and macOS—via iCloud. And last but not least, it’s free. No ads, no in-app purchases, no weird tracking shenanigans. It’s just you and the soft glow of the pixels calling out to you. It’s time to get back online with MuffinTerm.

About

Terminal Emulator Plus

This utility app provides access to various shell types for simplified terminal-optimized tasks. It features a friendly web front-end for quick functions like conversions and calculations.

Highlights
  • Access different shell types
  • Terminal-optimized tasks
  • PTY connection
  • Web front-end
  • Quick conversions
  • Quick math functions
Features
Read full description

Terminal Emulator Plus an application that allows access to different types of Shell. Simple "terminal-optimized" tasks. In an abstract way, got a PTY (term.js) that connects to the shell (termprops.js) to the user's display. Friendly web front-end that can run quick functions that I normally used a Python shell for, such as common conversions and quick math.

Screenshots

MuffinTerm4 screens
Terminal Emulator Plus3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: MuffinTerm at 4.9 against Terminal Emulator Plus's 1.0. MuffinTerm also leads on ads (none vs shown) and update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 8 months). Terminal Emulator Plus's advantage is monetization model (ad-supported vs paid). On price, in-app purchases, device support and iOS requirement 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.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

MuffinTerm holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 1.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: MuffinTerm has 38 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

MuffinTerm ships an update every 3 weeks, Terminal Emulator Plus every 8 months. Both last shipped on October 5, 2026.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
MuffinTerm versus Terminal Emulator Plus: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterMuffinTermTerminal Emulator Plus
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.9 (38 ratings) — better1.0 (1 ratings)
Positive reviews93.3% of reviews—
Number of ratings38 — better1
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeks — betterEvery 8 months
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidAd-supported — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — betteriPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS14.013.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size3 MB16 MB
Age rating4++4
DeveloperMolly BlackDioneibys Blanco Grudas

Customer experience

MuffinTerm

All ratings38 ratings
Positive97.4%
Neutral2.6%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews30 reviews
Positive93.3%
Neutral3.3%
Negative3.3%

Terminal Emulator Plus

All ratings1 ratings
Positive0.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative100.0%

In-app purchases

None

MuffinTerm

No in-app purchases

None

Terminal Emulator Plus

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is MuffinTerm free?
MuffinTerm is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Terminal Emulator Plus free?
Terminal Emulator Plus is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, MuffinTerm or Terminal Emulator Plus?
MuffinTerm is rated higher. MuffinTerm averages 4.9 out of 5 from 38 ratings, while Terminal Emulator Plus averages 1.0 from 1 ratings.
Do MuffinTerm or Terminal Emulator Plus have ads?
Terminal Emulator Plus shows ads; MuffinTerm does not.
Which is updated more often, MuffinTerm or Terminal Emulator Plus?
MuffinTerm ships an update every 3 weeks, and Terminal Emulator Plus every 8 months. Most recently, MuffinTerm was updated on October 5, 2026 and Terminal Emulator Plus on October 5, 2026.

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