Comparison

Glink 5250 vs HAM

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

Head to head
About

Glink 5250

This application provides robust IBM 5250 terminal emulation for iOS devices, enabling access to IBM iSeries systems. It supports secure communication, multiple host sessions, and customizable toolbars with macro recording. It also offers features like session persistence and remote configuration management.

Highlights
  • IBM 5250 terminal emulation
  • TN5250 communication protocol
  • Secure SSL/TLS communication
  • Multiple concurrent host sessions
  • Configurable toolbars and hot spots
  • Macro recording and playback
  • Session persistence with GlinkProxy
Features
Read full description

Glink 5250 for iOS is an iOS-version of Gallagher & Robertson's best-selling terminal emulation program, Glink Professional Edition for Microsoft Windows. Glink 5250 is used to access applications running on IBM iSeries systems. Glink 5250 emulates all IBM 5250 terminals and uses the TN5250 protocol for communication with the host systems. Glink brings you a high quality and proven emulator for your iPad, iPhone devices and Mac computers with M1/M2 chip. Glink supports GlinkProxy, a server application designed to provide persistent host connections for Glink clients where the connection from the client device is unreliable. This may be because the device enters sleep mode or goes out of Wi-Fi range. FEATURES - IBM 5250 terminal emulation, all models and screen sizes - TN5250 communication to host - IPv6 (Internet Protocol version 6) support - SSL/TLS support for secure communication - Multiple concurrent host sessions - Configurable multi line toolbar with function keys and macros - Configurable hot spots for function keys, numbers, characters and URLs - Macro recording for auto-login and for assignment to toolbar - Pop-up standard keyboard with support of international characters - Tab/shift-Tab and arrow-keys supported on external Bluetooth keyboard - All major function keys available as keyboard shortcuts - Press and hold Command-key on external keyboard to see list of built-in keyboard shortcuts - Colors can be customized - Supports GlinkProxy Session Persistence Server - Multiple host configurations supported - Export and import of configurations - Supports Managed App Configuration, which allows users to configure Glink remotely through Mobile Device Management (MDM) - Optional password to access configurations - Optional auto-connect and auto-login at startup - Optional use of double-tap as Enter/Transmit - Supports Double Byte Character Sets (DBCS) like Chinese, Japanese and Korean - Configurable scroll-back buffer contains history of your host session - Print or e-mail host print data - Print or e-mail terminal emulation content or scroll-back buffer content - Zoom and scroll as the Safari browser - Dynamic zoom to cursor position - Blinking attribute supported - Blinking cursor supported - Two finger swipe gesture to move cursor - Tap and hold to open Mail with e-mail address on screen - Supports external Bluetooth keyboards and barcode scanners

About

HAM

This utility app offers a comprehensive suite of tools for amateur radio operators, including band conditions, DX-Cluster monitoring, and a logbook. It features direct radio integration for tuning and automatic logging, along with various calculations and resource information.

Highlights
  • DX-Cluster and PSK-Reporter activity monitoring
  • Bandplan, Glossar, and AWG resource information
  • Built-in radio integration for direct tuning
  • Fully featured logbook with QSO editing
  • LOTW and QRZ.com log submission
  • Calculations for Ohm's law, VSWR, and antennas
  • CW Encoder and Decoder
Features
Read full description

The ultimate utility App for every HAM-Radio Operator HAM-Toolbox provides a variety of useful Tools to help you operating your HAM-Radio. The Tools are ranging from activity monitoring Tools like DX-Cluster and PSK-Reporter, to Tools helping you with resource information like Bandplan, Glossar, AWG and many more Tools. HAM-Toolbox also has a built-in radio integration, so that you can directly tune to spots from the DX-Cluster and other tools. During logging, the appropriate fields for the frequency and mode will be automatically filled. With a one-time purchase you gain access to all of the following Tools on your iPhone, iPad and Mac. · TOOLS: + Band Conditions + POTA + DX-Cluster + PSK-Reporter + Reverse Beacon Network + Call-Lookup + Locator + Beacons (especially NCDXF) + Repeater + DTMF Generator + CW Encoder and Decoder + Frequency List + QSL Card Designer (design, preview, print and export your own QSL cards) · LOGBOOK: HAM-Toolbox comes with a fully featured Logbook. + Inspect and edit your existing QSOs + Easy-to-use logging interface + Maintenance (Data completion from QRZ.com, Duplicates finder, Mass change) + LOTW and QRZ.com log submission + Integrated Call-Lookup with possibility to update QSO + Worked/Needed statistics for CQ-Zones, ITU-Zones and DXCCs + Map with worked grid locators representation + iCloud-Sync with multiple devices (compatible with SDR-Control and SmartSDR) · Radio-Integration: + Frequency and Mode + Logbook integration + Direct tuning from various Tools like DXCluster, POTA, Frequency List + Supports all major Brands and Radios via Network or USB + YAESU: FT-710, FT-991, FT-DX10, FT-DX100 + Icom: IC-705, IC-7300mk2, IC-7300, IC-7610, IC-7760, IC-9700, IC-R8600, + Kenwood: TS-890, TS-990 + Elecraft: K4 + HamLib · CALCULATIONS: + Ohm's law + VSWR + Dipole-Antenna + Groundplane-Antenna + HB9CV-Antenna + Helix-Antenna + dB Conversion + Wavelength · RESOURCES: + Bandplan + Glossar + Morse + AWG + CTCSS-Codes + Formulas + Q-Codes + Abbreviations + Constants Find out more here: https://ham-toolbox.com Read the Manual: https://go-to.me/hamtoolbox-manual

Screenshots

Glink 52504 screens
HAM4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: HAM at $14.99 against Glink 5250's $29.99. HAM also leads on update cadence (monthly vs every 5 months) and review sentiment (69% vs 50%). Glink 5250's advantage is rating (5.0 vs 4.0) and iOS requirement (11.0 vs 18.6). On ads, in-app purchases, monetization model and device support 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

Glink 5250 costs $29.99 and HAM $14.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Glink 5250 holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.0. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: HAM has 7 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 50% of Glink 5250's written reviews are positive against 69% of HAM's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Glink 5250 ships an update every 5 months, HAM monthly. The most recent releases landed on October 1, 2026 and October 5, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 4 level
Glink 5250 versus HAM: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterGlink 5250HAM
Price$29.99$14.99 — better
Rating5.0 (1 ratings) — better4.0 (7 ratings)
Positive reviews50.0% of reviews69.2% of reviews — better
Number of ratings17 — better
Update frequencyEvery 5 monthsMonthly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaidPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, Mac
Requires iOS11.0 — better18.6
Further details — not scored
Size51 MB83 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperGallagher & Robertson ASMarcus Roskosch

Customer experience

Glink 5250

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive50.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative50.0%

HAM

All ratings7 ratings
Positive71.4%
Neutral0.0%
Negative28.6%
Written reviews13 reviews
Positive69.2%
Neutral7.7%
Negative23.1%

In-app purchases

None

Glink 5250

No in-app purchases

None

HAM

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Glink 5250 free?
Glink 5250 costs $29.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is HAM free?
HAM costs $14.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Glink 5250 or HAM?
Glink 5250 is rated higher. Glink 5250 averages 5.0 out of 5 from 1 ratings, while HAM averages 4.0 from 7 ratings.
Do Glink 5250 or HAM have ads?
Neither Glink 5250 nor HAM shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Glink 5250 or HAM?
Glink 5250 ships an update every 5 months, and HAM monthly. Most recently, Glink 5250 was updated on October 1, 2026 and HAM on October 5, 2026.

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