Termius vs a
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Termius
This app provides a modern SSH client and terminal for seamless remote access across devices. It offers a desktop-grade terminal experience with advanced features like multi-tab support, custom themes, and saved commands. Securely manage connections and credentials with cloud sync and hardware key authentication.
- SSH, Mosh, Telnet, Port Forwarding, SFTP support
- Virtual keyboard with special keys
- Multi-tab interface and split-view
- Cloud vault for encrypted credentials
- Customizable themes and fonts
- Saved commands and shell scripts
- Hardware FIDO2 key authentication
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Termius is an SSH client and terminal, as it should be. Connect with one tap from any mobile and desktop device—no re-entering IP addresses, ports, and passwords. With a free Termius Starter plan, you can: · Connect from your mobile and desktop device with SSH, Mosh, Telnet, Port Forwarding, and SFTP. · Get a desktop-grade terminal experience with a virtual keyboard covering all the special keys required, or connect your Bluetooth keyboard. · Use gestures or shake the device while in the terminal to emulate stroking of Tab, arrows, PgUp/Down, Home, and End, etc. · Work in several sessions simultaneously with a multi-tab interface and split-view support. · Authenticate using hardware FIDO2 keys. · Set custom environment variables. · Customize your terminal themes and fonts for each connection. · Save your favorite and frequently used commands and shell scripts to execute them with a tap instead of typing. · Quickly access the unified history of your terminal commands. · Get the support of ECDSA and ed25519 keys and a chacha20-poly1305 cipher. · Ad-free. With the Termius Pro plan, you can also: · Access your connection settings and credentials from any device, anytime, with an encrypted cloud vault. · No limitations on the number of devices to sync. · Run your saved commands on multiple sessions or servers, or instantly get them autocompleted in the terminal. · Connect through Proxy and jump servers. · Integrate with AWS and DigitalOcean. · Protect your credentials with Touch ID or Face ID and your account with two-factor authentication. · Keep your keys on your machine with SSH agent forwarding. Termius reinvents the command line experience. We strive to make remote access for admins and engineers a more productive and enjoyable experience. Termius Pro Subscription is available through auto-renewable annual or monthly subscriptions (prices vary by region). It attaches to the Termius account to enable access to backup, sync, and all Pro benefits on multiple devices across all platforms supported by Termius. A subscription may be used both for personal and business purposes. Payment will be charged to your iTunes Account at confirmation of purchase. The subscription will renew automatically. Cancellation of a future subscription may be made up to 24 hours before the end of the trial period. The actual subscription may not be manually canceled before its termination date. Subscriptions may be managed, including disabling auto-renewal, in the Account Settings after purchase. Please review our privacy policy https://termius.com/privacy_policy.html and terms of use https://termius.com/terms_of_use.html.
a
Run a full Unix-like terminal environment on your iOS device. Execute a wide range of commands, edit files, and even program using included interpreters and compilers. Supports multitasking and integration with Shortcuts.
- Local Unix terminal emulator
- SSH client
- File transfer (scp, curl)
- Text editing (vim, ed)
- Scripting languages (Python, Lua, Perl, JS)
- C/C++ compiler
- TeX distribution
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a-Shell is a complete local terminal emulator, allowing to run most Unix commands on your iOS device. You can transfer files using scp and curl, edit them with vim and ed, process them using grep, awk and sed. You can work with git repositories using lg2. Most commands are compiled for iOS native Arm64 format, making them fast and well integrated with the BSD Unix that powers iOS/iPadOS. a-Shell includes Python, Lua, Perl, JavaScript, C, C++ for programming and TeX (texlive 2025, with Tikz and LuaTeX) for text processing. There are also multiple network utilities: nslookup, ping, whois, ifconfig... Type help for help, help -l to get the full list of commands. a-Shell can be controlled from Shortcuts: run commands in order, process files in a-Shell, get the results as text or files, transfer files to other apps... a-shell uses iOS 13+ “multiple windows” ability, so you can run multiple shells at the same time, with different commands, in different directories. You can edit a file in one window with vim and process it in the other with python. Compile your C or C++ programs to webAssembly using clang or clang++, and execute the resulting binary. A complete webAssembly SDK is included (WASI-libc). a-Shell is the complete version. If you need a smaller app, and you don't need a C compiler, a TeX engine, or numpy and matplotlib, there is a-Shell mini.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: a at none against Termius's 4. a also leads on iOS requirement (14.0 vs 17.0). Termius's advantage is ratings volume (19K vs 553) and chart position (#3 vs #19). On price, rating, review sentiment and update cadence 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. Termius sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $15.00 per month. a asks for nothing beyond the download.
On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.7 for Termius against 4.6 for a. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Termius has 19K ratings behind it against 553, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews are what separate them: 81% of Termius's written reviews are positive against 79% of a's.
Termius ships an update fortnightly, a monthly. The most recent releases landed on September 24, 2026 and September 23, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Termius | a |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.7 (19K ratings) — better | 4.6 (553 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 81.3% of reviews — better | 78.6% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 19K — better | 553 |
| Update frequency | Fortnightly — better | Monthly |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Freemium — better | Paid |
| Best chart rank | #3 — better | #19 |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 14.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 226 MB | 1.9 GB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 17+ |
| Developer | Termius Corporation | Nicolas Holzschuch |
Customer experience
Termius
a
User reviews
Termius
From 19K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Smooth and fast
- 👍 Intuitive and easy to use
- 🔒 Secure with SSH/SFTP support
- 💡 Useful features like port forwarding
- 👍 Customizable keyboard and themes
Room to improve
- 💰 Expensive subscription model
- 🐛 Occasional crashes and bugs
- 🔋 Drains battery quickly
- 🤔 Aggressive upselling of premium features
a
From 553 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Powerful terminal with Linux commands
- 👍 Useful for programming and development
- 🔒 Secure and reliable
- 💡 Impressive capabilities for an iOS app
- 👍 Helpful documentation and developer support
Room to improve
- 🐛 Occasional crashes and bugs
- 🔍 Limited customization options
- 🔍 Missing some basic terminal features
- 🔍 Compatibility issues with certain packages
Bugs and requests
Termius
Reported bugs
3 issues- Syncing issues causing data loss
- Keyboard and cursor issues on iPad
- Freezing and unresponsiveness after background use
Requested features
4 requests- Add support for ProxyCommand
- Improve keyboard handling and arrow key functionality
- Implement iCloud sync instead of proprietary cloud
- Provide a one-time purchase option for individual users
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Reported bugs
3 issues- Toolbar buttons not accessible in portrait mode on some devices
- Pasting from clipboard can insert unexpected characters
- Sourcing certain script files causes crashes
Requested features
5 requests- Add support for package managers like Homebrew or APT
- Implement more advanced shell features like job control and better tab completion
- Integrate Git for version control
- Allow installing additional packages and libraries
- Improve clipboard and file management integration
In-app purchases
Termius
- Termius Pro Monthly3 Days trial$15.001 Month
- Termius Pro Monthly$15.001 Month
- Termius Pro Annual14 Days trial$119.001 Year
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- Termius Pro Annual$119.001 Year
a
No in-app purchases








