MuffinTerm vs CloudpilotEmu
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
- 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
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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.
CloudpilotEmu
This application allows you to run classic PalmOS handheld devices on your modern iPhone or iPad. It emulates various devices and supports PalmOS versions up to 5, offering features like continuous state saves and file management.
- PalmOS handheld emulation
- Supports PalmOS 4.1 and 5
- Continuous state saves
- Savestate file import/export
- Manage .prc and .pdb files
- Emulated SD cards and memory sticks
- Audio emulation
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CloudpilotEmu runs PalmOS handhelds on modern devices. It emulates a wide range of devices up to PalmOS 4.1 and the Palm Tungsten E2 for PalmOS 5. Its features include: * Continuous state saves — reopen the app and continue right where you left off * Export and import of savestate files * Switch between multiple emulation sessions * Direct installation and export of .prc and .pdb files * Realistic emulation of timers and device speed * Emulated SD cards and memory sticks * File browser for managing memory cards * Audio emulation * Keyboard input on OS4 and earlier * Clipboard integration on OS4 and earlier * Network support (including network HotSync) on OS4 and earlier This app enables you to run CloudpilotEmu on your iPhone or iPad as a native app.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is monetization model: CloudpilotEmu at free against MuffinTerm's paid. MuffinTerm's advantage is update cadence (every 3 weeks vs every 3 months). On price, rating, review sentiment and ratings volume 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.9 for MuffinTerm against 5.0 for CloudpilotEmu. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 38 and 20 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 93% of MuffinTerm's written reviews are positive against 100% of CloudpilotEmu's.
MuffinTerm ships an update every 3 weeks, CloudpilotEmu every 3 months. The most recent releases landed on July 6, 2026 and September 9, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | MuffinTerm | CloudpilotEmu |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.9 (38 ratings) | 5.0 (20 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 93.3% of reviews | 100.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 38 — better | 20 |
| Update frequency | Every 3 weeks — better | Every 3 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | Free — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — better | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 14.0 — better | 15.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 3 MB | 2 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Molly Black | Christian Speckner |
Customer experience
MuffinTerm
CloudpilotEmu
In-app purchases
MuffinTerm
No in-app purchases
CloudpilotEmu
No in-app purchases








