Comparison

Prompt 3 vs CC Blackbox

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

CC Blackbox

Monitor and control your AI coding sessions running on your Mac from your iPhone. See live session activity, read conversations, and send prompts remotely. Ensures end-to-end encryption for your code and prompts.

Highlights
  • Monitor live AI coding sessions
  • Read conversations and tool details
  • Send prompts via typing or dictation
  • Answer permission requests
  • Interrupt or stop sessions
  • Pair with up to five Macs
  • End-to-end encryption
Features
Read full description

CC Blackbox is the iPhone companion to the CC Blackbox desktop app for Mac. Watch and steer the AI coding sessions already running in your local IDE, from anywhere. See every live session at a glance and know which ones need you. Read the conversation as it happens, including what the assistant says between tool calls, with full tool detail and edit diffs a tap away. Send the next prompt by typing or dictation, answer permission requests, interrupt a turn, or stop a session outright. A built-in status strip shows the model and context usage for every session you watch. Pair with your Mac by scanning a QR code. Pair up to five Macs and watch them all from one phone. Push notifications reach you when a session is waiting on you, even with the phone locked. Everything is end-to-end encrypted between your phone and your Mac. The relay that connects them sees only encrypted bytes; your sessions, prompts, and code never leave your machines readable. Requires the free CC Blackbox app on your Mac, a personal IDE made specifically to work with Claude Code. No account, no sign-up. A built-in demo mode lets you explore the app before pairing.

Screenshots

Prompt 34 screens
CC Blackbox4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: CC Blackbox at 5.0 against Prompt 3's 4.3. CC Blackbox also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 2) and update cadence (every 2 days vs every 6 weeks). Prompt 3's advantage is ratings volume (372 vs 1) and chart position (#14 vs unranked). On price, ads 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. CC Blackbox asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

CC Blackbox holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Prompt 3 has 372 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Prompt 3 ships an update every 6 weeks, CC Blackbox every 2 days. Both last shipped on October 17, 2026.

Scorecard7 real differences · 4 level
Prompt 3 versus CC Blackbox: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPrompt 3CC Blackbox
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.3 (372 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews21.7% of reviews—
Number of ratings372 — better1
Update frequencyEvery 6 weeksEvery 2 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationPaidFree — better
Best chart rank#14 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Mac, Vision Pro — betteriPhone
Requires iOS26.026.0
Further details — not scored
Size46 MB2 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperPanic, Inc.Scott Rippey

Customer experience

Prompt 3

All ratings372 ratings
Positive82.5%
Neutral3.2%
Negative14.2%
Written reviews152 reviews
Positive21.7%
Neutral19.1%
Negative59.2%

CC Blackbox

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

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

CC Blackbox

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
None

CC Blackbox

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Prompt 3 free?
Prompt 3 is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is CC Blackbox free?
CC Blackbox is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Prompt 3 or CC Blackbox?
CC Blackbox is rated higher. Prompt 3 averages 4.3 out of 5 from 372 ratings, while CC Blackbox averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.
Do Prompt 3 or CC Blackbox have ads?
Neither Prompt 3 nor CC Blackbox shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Prompt 3 or CC Blackbox?
Prompt 3 ships an update every 6 weeks, and CC Blackbox every 2 days. Most recently, Prompt 3 was updated on October 17, 2026 and CC Blackbox on October 17, 2026.

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