Comparison

Termius vs Runestone Text Editor

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

Head to head
About

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.

Highlights
  • 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
Features
Read full description

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.

About

Runestone Text Editor

A powerful plain text and code editor for iPhone and iPad. Offers syntax highlighting, line numbers, find and replace, and extensive customization options for developers and writers.

Highlights
  • Syntax highlighting for many languages
  • Customizable themes and fonts
  • Advanced find and replace
  • Line numbers and cursor location
  • Code formatting with Prettier.js
  • Multiple windows on iPad
Features
Read full description

A plain text editor with syntax highlighting, line numbers, search and replace, page guide, and much more. It's like TextEdit but more powerful and optimised for iPhone and iPad. Runestone is made by a single person with a love for text editors and a vision of building the most lightweight text editor for iPhone and iPad that still has the core features for editing code. Features: - Syntax highlighting of many languages including HTML, JavaScript, JSON, Markdown, Swift, Python, PHP, YAML, and many more. - Select one of the twelve standard themes including popular themes like Tomorrow, Dracula, Solarized, and One Dark Pro. - Innovative find and replace for searching and modifying text while still viewing your file. - Choose font and font size, including support for custom fonts imported using another third-party app. - Show the line and column the cursor is located on. - Uses the standard document browser for an experience similar to the Files app. - Quickly navigate to a specific line. - Automatically close opening brackets and quotes. - Multiple windows on the iPad. - Format code using Prettier.js. Supported languages include CSS,HTML, JavaScript, JSON, PHP and more. - Choose text encoding between popular encodings like UTF-8, UTF-16, ISO Latin 1, and many more. - Enable or disable autocorrection, autocapitalization, and smart punctuation. - Set default file extension of new files. - Open files in Runestone from the Share Sheet. - Print documents. Premium features: - Choose between eight app icons. - Show line numbers. - Highlight the selected line. - Increase line height and letter spacing. - Disable line wrapping to allow horizontal scrolling. - Show tabs, spaces, and line breaks using a selected symbol. - Enable page guide at a specific column to easily tell when lines are getting too long. - Add vertical and horizontal overscroll. - Remember the selected language per file. - Save file extensions and filenames that should always be treated as plain text files. - Enable soft tabs and choose the width of the tab character. - Specify whether pressing the tab key should insert a tab or indent the line. - Adjust the scaling of Markdown headings and disable highlighting of code blocks in Markdown. Runestone was built on the open-source framework with the same name. Find more information on the Runestone framework at github.com/simonbs/runestone

Screenshots

Termius4 screens
Runestone Text Editor4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ratings volume: Termius at 19K against Runestone Text Editor's 2K. Termius also leads on chart position (#4 vs #44). Runestone Text Editor's advantage is device support (4 vs 2) and iOS requirement (15.0 vs 17.0). 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Termius sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $15.00 per month and Runestone Text Editor 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

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.7 for Termius against 4.7 for Runestone Text Editor. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Termius has 19K ratings behind it against 2K, 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 76% of Runestone Text Editor's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Termius ships an update fortnightly, Runestone Text Editor every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 13, 2026 and October 12, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 7 level
Termius versus Runestone Text Editor: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterTermiusRunestone Text Editor
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (19K ratings)4.7 (2K ratings)
Positive reviews81.2% of reviews — better76.2% of reviews
Number of ratings19K — better2K
Update frequencyFortnightlyEvery 2 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFreemiumFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank#4 — better#44
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod, Vision Pro — better
Requires iOS17.015.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size224 MB64 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperTermius CorporationSimon B. Støvring

Customer experience

Termius

All ratings19,303 ratings
Positive93.3%
Neutral1.8%
Negative5.0%
Written reviews2,481 reviews
Positive81.2%
Neutral4.4%
Negative14.3%

Runestone Text Editor

All ratings1,962 ratings
Positive93.5%
Neutral2.3%
Negative4.1%
Written reviews353 reviews
Positive76.2%
Neutral9.6%
Negative14.2%

User reviews

Termius

From 19K App Store ratings

What 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

Runestone Text Editor

From 2K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 💎 Excellent text editor
  • 🚀 Smooth and responsive
  • 🎨 Customizable themes and appearance
  • 🔒 Secure file storage and sync
  • 👍 Clean and intuitive interface

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Occasional crashes or bugs
  • 🔍 Difficulty navigating files/folders
  • 📝 Limited functionality without premium
  • 🔌 Performance issues on older devices
  • 🔒 Difficulty accessing files in cloud storage

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

Runestone Text Editor

Reported bugs

6 issues
  • Disappearing files
  • Difficulty pasting text
  • Scroll position not saved
  • Hangs on startup
  • Trouble opening large files
Show 1 more
  • Issues after iOS updates

Requested features

6 requests
  • Markdown preview
  • Code folding
  • Syntax highlighting for more languages
  • Ability to run/execute code
  • Multiple file/window support
Show 1 more
  • Improved undo/redo functionality

In-app purchases

4 purchases

Termius

Subscriptions4
  • Termius Pro Monthly3 Days trial$15.001 Month
  • Termius Pro Monthly$15.001 Month
  • Termius Pro Annual14 Days trial$119.001 Year
Show 1 more
  • Termius Pro Annual$119.001 Year
1 purchases

Runestone Text Editor

One-time1
  • Premium$9.99

Questions

Is Termius free?
Termius is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Runestone Text Editor free?
Runestone Text Editor is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Termius or Runestone Text Editor?
Termius and Runestone Text Editor are both rated 4.7 out of 5 on the App Store, from 19K and 2K ratings respectively.
Do Termius or Runestone Text Editor have ads?
Neither Termius nor Runestone Text Editor shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Termius or Runestone Text Editor?
Termius ships an update fortnightly, and Runestone Text Editor every 2 weeks. Most recently, Termius was updated on October 13, 2026 and Runestone Text Editor on October 12, 2026.
Which is more popular, Termius or Runestone Text Editor?
Termius currently peaks at #4 in the App Store charts, and Runestone Text Editor at #44. Chart position reflects recent download velocity rather than total install base.

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