Comparison

MuffinTerm vs Ultimate Remote

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

Ultimate Remote

Control your Ultimate-II or Ultimate 64 devices remotely from your iPhone, iPad, or Mac. Easily manage and run files, import media, create custom layouts, and even use keyboard macros for your Commodore 64.

Highlights
  • Scan and register devices
  • Import and manage storage media
  • Play SID files and run programs
  • Upload and run external files
  • Mount disk images and browse directories
  • Create custom home layouts and shortcuts
  • Create and send keyboard macros
Read full description

Ultimate Remote is free and open source remote control application for Ultimate-II and Ultimate 64 devices that are on v3.11 firmware and higher for iPhone, iPad, and Mac. With Ultimate remote; . Register Ultimate devices on local network by scanning them . Import contents of storage media that is used on Ultimate device with a simple text file . Easily access and search imported content and quickly take actions, such as Play SID File or Run a Program/Cartridge on your Commodore 64 . Upload and run external files from your mobile device. . Mount disk images, browse D64 directory contents, select and run arbitrary files on your Commodore 64 from the app. . Create and customize home layouts, arrange functions as you like . Create shortcuts of your favorite games, music or any supported file type on the homescreen and optionally customize them with your custom icons. . Import High Voltage SID Collection, create Jukebox Lists and play them on your Commodore 64. . Create keystorke lists (keyboard macros) and send them to your Commodore 64 remotely, as if typing on physical keyboard. . Perform any other operation that is supported by Ultimate HTTP API

Screenshots

MuffinTerm4 screens
Ultimate Remote4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: MuffinTerm at 93% against Ultimate Remote's 33%. MuffinTerm also leads on rating (4.9 vs 3.7) and ratings volume (38 vs 3). Ultimate Remote's advantage is monetization model (free vs paid). On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases 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 3.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: MuffinTerm has 38 ratings behind it against 3, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 93% of MuffinTerm's written reviews are positive against 33% of Ultimate Remote's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

MuffinTerm ships an update every 3 weeks, Ultimate Remote fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 1, 2026 and June 11, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
MuffinTerm versus Ultimate Remote: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterMuffinTermUltimate Remote
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.9 (38 ratings) — better3.7 (3 ratings)
Positive reviews93.3% of reviews — better33.3% of reviews
Number of ratings38 — better3
Update frequencyEvery 3 weeksFortnightly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, MaciPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac
Requires iOS14.0 — better14.2
Further details — not scored
Size3 MB76 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperMolly BlackOnur Buyukcaglar

Customer experience

MuffinTerm

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

Ultimate Remote

All ratings3 ratings
Positive66.7%
Neutral0.0%
Negative33.3%
Written reviews6 reviews
Positive33.3%
Neutral0.0%
Negative66.7%

In-app purchases

None

MuffinTerm

No in-app purchases

None

Ultimate Remote

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is MuffinTerm free?
MuffinTerm is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Ultimate Remote free?
Ultimate Remote is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, MuffinTerm or Ultimate Remote?
MuffinTerm is rated higher. MuffinTerm averages 4.9 out of 5 from 38 ratings, while Ultimate Remote averages 3.7 from 3 ratings.
Do MuffinTerm or Ultimate Remote have ads?
Neither MuffinTerm nor Ultimate Remote shows ads.
Which is updated more often, MuffinTerm or Ultimate Remote?
MuffinTerm ships an update every 3 weeks, and Ultimate Remote fortnightly. Most recently, MuffinTerm was updated on October 1, 2026 and Ultimate Remote on June 11, 2026.

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