Comparison

WebSSH vs Shelly

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

Head to head
About

WebSSH

This app provides a comprehensive suite of tools for managing remote servers. It offers secure SSH, SFTP, Telnet, and Port Forwarding capabilities, along with file management and built-in diagnostic utilities. Customize your workflow with extensive profile options for a seamless server management experience.

Highlights
  • SSH, SFTP, Telnet, Port Forwarding client
  • Secure authentication methods
  • Integrated SFTP file management
  • Customizable terminal profiles
  • Built-in sysadmin diagnostic tools
  • Local mashREPL shell
Features
Read full description

Whether you're on the go or at your desk, WebSSH keeps you connected — anytime, anywhere! ٩(^‿^)۶ WebSSH is a professional SSH, Mosh, SFTP, Telnet, Serial and Port Forwarding client for iPhone, iPad and Mac, with a built-in Proxmox client and a complete sysadmin toolbox. Built since 2012 for developers, system administrators and IT professionals who need reliable, secure remote access wherever they are. CONNECT WITH CONFIDENCE Authenticate with passwords, two-factor challenge, or keys (RSA, DSA, ED25519, PuTTY). Jump through bastion hosts, keep an alternative address per host for when you are inside or outside your network, and let known hosts protect you from surprises. Full terminal emulation (XTERM-256COLOR, XTERM, VT100) with WebGL rendering, split panes, inline images, buffer search, session recording and custom profiles — themes, fonts, colors and keyboard shortcuts tailored to your workflow. NEW IN 33: ONE COMMAND, EVERY HOST Run a command or a snippet on several hosts at once and watch the results come back side by side. The Terminal State Bar now shows more about the machine you are on, snippets get keyboard shortcuts on Mac, and the keyboard accessory keys can carry your own icons. MANAGE FILES REMOTELY The integrated SFTP and SCP client lets you browse directories, create, rename, upload and download files — and edit text files directly within the app. WebSSH can also open .txt files from anywhere on your device. MORE THAN SSH Mosh keeps your session alive through network changes, sleep and flaky connections — switch from Wi-Fi to cellular and pick up right where you left off. Telnet supports direct and interactive authentication, including the CP437 character set for BBS servers. Serial connections support full configuration (baud rate, parity, stop bits, flow control). TUNNEL ANYTHING Local and dynamic port forwarding, VPN over SSH to route your device's traffic through a server, port knocking and Wake-on-LAN to reach machines that are not listening yet. PROXMOX AT YOUR FINGERTIPS Connect to one or more Proxmox servers and clusters, monitor your nodes at a glance (CPU, memory, storage), and manage your VMs and LXC containers — start, stop, reboot and migrate them right from your iPhone, iPad or Mac. SNIPPETS THAT WORK FOR YOU Save the commands you type every day, add dynamic variables, sync them from a GitHub Gist and fire them with a shortcut. BUILT-IN SYSADMIN TOOLKIT Quick diagnostics without leaving the app: Ping, Traceroute, DNS Lookup with propagation check, Whois, network scanner, Certificate Checker, Postmaster for SMTP and DMARC audits, HTTP Forge for crafted requests, Hex Viewer, Baker for data transformations, Code Forge for QR codes, Subnet Calculator, Cron generator, Password Generator and end-to-end encrypted Secret Share. The mashREPL local shell (ls, grep, curl, ping, tar and more) works even without internet access. PRIVACY. PERIOD. No account. No analytics. No ads. Your connections stay on your device, and iCloud sync only runs when you turn it on. WHY WEBSSH? Most SSH clients are either too basic or too bloated. WebSSH hits the sweet spot: professional-grade features, a clean mobile-first interface, and rock-solid reliability — every on-device feature unlocked with a single one-time PRO purchase, yours for life on every device. One app. Every protocol. Zero compromises. Download WebSSH and keep your servers close at hand, no matter where you are. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

Shelly

A powerful and user-friendly SSH client for mobile devices. It offers robust terminal emulation, gesture controls, and customizable keyboard shortcuts for efficient remote server management. Supports key-based authentication and iCloud sync.

Highlights
  • Hardware accelerated text rendering
  • Robust terminal emulation
  • Gesture control for navigation
  • Customizable keyboard toolbar
  • Key file authentication
  • iCloud sync support
  • Terminal color themes
Features
Read full description

SSH client designed for usability and performance. RELIABLE AND FAST • Hardware accelerated text rendering. • Robust terminal emulation based on the PuTTY engine. • Works great with programs such as 'screen' and 'irssi'. CONTROL WITH GESTURES • Default gestures optimized for irssi. Just swipe to switch channels or to scroll up and down. • Fully customizable. Any keypress or action can be attached to any gesture. EASY CONNECTING • Save user credentials and configure a remote command such as ‘screen -rd’ to connect with one tap. • 3D touch support. Connect directly from the iOS home screen. CUSTOMIZABLE KEYBOARD • Easily bind custom actions to buttons on the keyboard toolbar. • Works with custom iOS keyboards such as SwiftKey. OPEN LINKS AND SELECT TEXT • Familiar iOS text selection experience. Long-press on text to show the selection controls. • Copy and paste text. • Select a URL to easily open it in the web browser. OTHER FEATURES • iCloud sync support. • Terminal color themes. Choose your favorite from the several themes included or make your own. • Key file authentication support. Import an existing private key, or create a new key and export the public key. • Host key verification and management. • Agent forwarding (OpenSSH servers only). • Keep connections alive while the app is in the background. • Connection history with optional realtime location data. • Plenty of other configuration options. Please note that some features require a paid upgrade. You can try all features for free for a limited time.

Screenshots

WebSSH4 screens
Shelly4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: WebSSH at every 10 days against Shelly's every 2 months. WebSSH also leads on rating (4.7 vs 4.4) and ratings volume (2.5K vs 273). Shelly's advantage is iOS requirement (13.0 vs 26.0). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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. WebSSH sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month and Shelly sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

WebSSH holds the better App Store score, 4.7 against 4.4. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: WebSSH has 2.5K ratings behind it against 273, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 86% of WebSSH's written reviews are positive against 76% of Shelly's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

WebSSH ships an update every 10 days, Shelly every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 18, 2026 and October 17, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 5 level
WebSSH versus Shelly: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterWebSSHShelly
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (2.5K ratings) — better4.4 (273 ratings)
Positive reviews86.1% of reviews — better76.3% of reviews
Number of ratings2.5K — better273
Update frequencyEvery 10 days — betterEvery 2 months
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank#38 — better#146
DevicesiPhone, iPad, MaciPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS26.013.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size257 MB11 MB
Age rating17+4+
DeveloperMENGUS ARNAUDTouch Foo

Customer experience

WebSSH

All ratings2,545 ratings
Positive94.2%
Neutral2.0%
Negative3.8%
Written reviews548 reviews
Positive86.1%
Neutral3.8%
Negative10.0%

Shelly

All ratings273 ratings
Positive83.5%
Neutral4.4%
Negative12.1%
Written reviews354 reviews
Positive76.3%
Neutral8.8%
Negative15.0%

User reviews

WebSSH

From 2.5K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Efficient and fast
  • 🔒 Secure SSH/SFTP connections
  • 👍 Intuitive and easy to use
  • 💡 Useful additional tools (ping, traceroute, etc.)
  • 👍 Seamless iCloud sync across devices

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Occasional crashes or connection issues
  • 🐛 Copy/paste functionality can be buggy
  • 🐛 Compatibility issues with older devices/iOS versions
  • 🐛 Slow input response in some cases
  • 🐛 SFTP limitations (no folder uploads, etc.)

Shelly

From 273 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Lightweight and fast
  • 👍 Customizable keyboard and gestures
  • 🔒 Supports SSH key authentication
  • 💡 Useful shortcuts and toolbar
  • 👍 Reliable background connections

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Occasional connection drops when switching apps
  • 🐛 Toolbar issues with hardware keyboard
  • 🐛 Garbled display with some terminal programs
  • 🐛 Lack of support for newer SSH key formats
  • 🐛 Inconsistent behavior with password managers

Bugs and requests

WebSSH

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Connections failing randomly
  • Session saving not working reliably
  • Clipboard issues (pasting previous content)
  • Drag and drop file uploads not working as expected

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add support for function keys
  • Improve SFTP functionality (folder uploads, file details, etc.)
  • Implement background session support
  • Add option to save SSH key passphrases
  • Provide a way to mass import/export SSH connections

Shelly

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Saved profiles get overwritten unexpectedly
  • Toolbar persists even with auto-hide enabled
  • Cursor movement issues with hardware keyboard
  • Inability to copy/paste with Magic Keyboard

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add support for port forwarding
  • Implement Mosh protocol support
  • Allow customization of default font
  • Provide option for multiple app instances
  • Add ability to remap hardware keyboard keys

In-app purchases

3 purchases

WebSSH

Subscriptions2
  • WebSSH Developer Tip$1.991 Month
  • WebSSH Developer Tip$9.991 Year
One-time1
  • WebSSH PRO$15.00
1 purchases

Shelly

One-time1
  • Upgrade To Pro$3.99

Questions

Is WebSSH free?
WebSSH is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Shelly free?
Shelly is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, WebSSH or Shelly?
WebSSH is rated higher. WebSSH averages 4.7 out of 5 from 2.5K ratings, while Shelly averages 4.4 from 273 ratings.
Do WebSSH or Shelly have ads?
Neither WebSSH nor Shelly shows ads.
Which is updated more often, WebSSH or Shelly?
WebSSH ships an update every 10 days, and Shelly every 2 months. Most recently, WebSSH was updated on October 18, 2026 and Shelly on October 17, 2026.
Which is more popular, WebSSH or Shelly?
WebSSH currently peaks at #38 in the App Store charts, and Shelly at #146. Chart position reflects recent download velocity rather than total install base.

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