Comparison

Prompt 3 vs Portico SSH

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

Head to head
About

Prompt 3

A fully-native terminal emulator for Apple devices, offering robust connectivity for SSH, Mosh, and more. It features fast emulation, customizable clips, secure authentication, and cross-device syncing for a seamless experience.

Highlights
  • Native terminal emulator
  • SSH, Mosh, Eternal Terminal, Telnet support
  • Panic Sync for cross-device server syncing
  • Superfast emulation with GPU acceleration
  • Customizable clips for commands
  • FaceID/TouchID authentication
  • Jump Hosts and Agent Forwarding
Features
Read full description

Prompt 3 is our #1 fully-native terminal emulator for Mac, iPhone, iPad, and now, Apple Vision Pro! Yes, with one purchase, you get four platforms.  Supporting SSH, Mosh, Eternal Terminal, Telnet, and Local Shells (on Mac), you can stay connected even on the most unstable networks. And with Panic Sync, your servers sync everywhere. For terminals, this is the only app you need. NOW EVEN BETTER: • SSH, Telnet, and Local (for Mac) Rock-solid and reliable connectivity to your hosts. • Mosh and Eternal Terminal Keep your terminal open even when you get disconnected. Mosh is optimized for high-latency, low-throughput networks. Eternal Terminal is great for when you need to keep your full terminal history on a flaky connection. • Lower Price Everything is so expensive right now. So we made Prompt cheaper. Take that, capitalism. • Superfast Emulation We retooled the text engine in Prompt 3 to be up to 10x faster, including GPU acceleration, and with improved terminal emulation, you can run nvim inside tmux without breaking a sweat. • Clips Put your most-used commands and text bits into clips and access them with a single tap via Prompt’s keyboard bar. Clips can be stored globally or per-server. • Secure Enclave Authenticate with FaceID and TouchID. The keys will stay secure on your device. • Panic Sync Sync your favorite servers, passwords, private keys, and clips, between Prompt on all of your devices. • Customizable Make Prompt perfect with new themes, fonts, and a very configurable iOS keyboard. • Jump Hosts and Agent Forwarding Access corporate servers, even at the beach. • Mouse Support Use your mouse to interact with TUI-based apps that run through the terminal. AND YES, A DARK ICON. What more can we say? TAKE CONTROL FROM ANYWHERE, INCLUDING YOUR MAC AND APPLE VISION PRO. WE HOPE YOU ENJOY PROMPT 3. © Panic EULA: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

Portico SSH

Features
Read full description

A modern SSH terminal that travels with you. Whether you're managing a Raspberry Pi from your couch, restarting a service in the airport, or jumping into a production server during an outage — Portico keeps your shell one tap away. WHAT YOU GET, FREE • Full SSH client with native NIOSSH performance • 1 saved connection and 1 saved identity • Built-in shortcut row (Esc, Tab, arrows, Ctrl-C, and more) • 14 beautiful terminal themes • System Mono font, adjustable size UNLOCK PORTICO PRO — 7 DAYS FREE • Unlimited saved connections and identities • Custom keys for one-tap commands you actually use • Per-connection startup scripts that run automatically when you connect • Priority support DESIGNED FOR REAL WORK • Persistent terminal sessions survive backgrounding • Public key authentication with secure on-device key storage • Support for password and key-based auth • Automatic terminal resizing and rich xterm-256color rendering • Carefully tuned shortcut row that puts the keys you need where your thumbs are PRIVACY FIRST • Connection details and SSH keys stored only on your device, never on our servers • No analytics, no tracking, no advertising • Your shell is yours PRICING • Monthly: $4.99/month after 7-day free trial • Yearly: $29.99/year after 7-day free trial — save 50% • Cancel anytime in Settings Built by developers, for developers. Connect, debug, ship — wherever you are. TERMS • Privacy Policy: https://thealphastack.app/portico/privacy • Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Prompt 34 screens
Portico SSH4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is chart position: Prompt 3 at #27 against Portico SSH's unranked. Prompt 3 also leads on device support (4 vs 2). On price, ads, in-app purchases 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. Prompt 3 sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per year and Portico SSH sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

Scorecard2 real differences · 9 level
Prompt 3 versus Portico SSH: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPrompt 3Portico SSH
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.3 (372 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews21.7% of reviews—
Number of ratings372 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 6 weeks—
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationPaid—
Best chart rank#27 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Mac, Vision Pro — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS26.0 — better26.2
Further details — not scored
Size46 MB6 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperPanic, Inc.Alphastack pte. Ltd.

Bugs and requests

Prompt 3

Reported bugs

5 issues
  • Server list randomly disappears with Panic Sync
  • Crashes when connected to external monitor
  • Black screen issues with custom font configurations
  • Sync issues causing data loss
  • Vertical display sync issues

Requested features

8 requests
  • Shortcuts support on macOS
  • Ability to click and select within commands
  • Local shell option
  • Run clips on server connection
  • Export/backup clips
Show 3 more
  • Alt/Meta key support for Emacs
  • iCloud sync option
  • Sign in with Apple for Panic Sync

Portico SSH

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

2 purchases

Prompt 3

Subscriptions1
  • Prompt 3 iOS + Mac (Annual)7 Days trial$9.991 Year
One-time1
  • Prompt 3 One Time$49.99
2 purchases

Portico SSH

Subscriptions2
  • Pro Monthly$4.991 Month
  • Pro Yearly$29.991 Year

Questions

Is Prompt 3 free?
Prompt 3 is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Portico SSH free?
Portico SSH is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Prompt 3 or Portico SSH have ads?
Neither Prompt 3 nor Portico SSH shows ads.

Other comparisons