ShadowTerm ssh & mosh Terminal vs MDQuill Markdown Editor
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
ShadowTerm ssh & mosh Terminal
A professional SSH and Mosh terminal application offering robust features like xterm compatibility, secure authentication via keys and certificates, and smart port forwarding. It includes a code snippet library for batch execution and background connection monitoring.
- Full-featured SSH terminal
- xterm compatibility
- tmux support
- Secure authentication (keys, certs)
- Smart port forwarding
- Code snippet library
- Background connection monitoring
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ShadowTerm is a full-featured SSH and Mosh terminal built natively for iPhone and iPad. Manage servers, debug code, and keep tmux & herdr sessions alive across networks with a desktop-quality terminal and a keyboard built for the work. KEY FEATURES Connections that survive - SSH with passwords, SSH keys, and certificate authentication - Mosh for roaming connections that survive network drops, app backgrounding, and device sleep - Smart port forwarding (local and remote) for secure tunneling - Auto-connect on launch and geofence-based auto-connection - Background connection monitoring with notifications and Live Activities Terminal experience - Native SwiftTerm with xterm-256 color compatibility - First-class tmux, GNU screen, and Herdr support with automatic detection - Full mouse-mode support for mouse-driven TUIs: tap to left-click, long-press to right-click, and scroll to navigate - Multi-window on iPadOS: open Terminal, Files, Monitor, Markdown, or Text Editor in their own windows - Five terminal themes: Midnight, Oceanic, Solar, Neon, Classic - Pinch-to-zoom font sizing and live cursor-tracked scrolling Custom keyboards built for terminals - 15 built-in layouts: Tmux, Herdr, Screen, Files, OpenCode, Productivity, DevOps, Git, Kubernetes, Python, Node.js, macOS, Database, Security, Terminal Classic - Fully editable: drag-and-drop keys, custom snippets, sticky modifiers - Adjustable double-tap window for Ctrl/Alt locking, with an interactive test pad in Settings - Mic input bar for voice-to-text command entry - Smart keyboard switching when tmux or Herdr is detected SFTP and files - Full SFTP browser with multi-select and bulk copy/move/delete - Paste-to-upload: paste a screenshot, image, or file into the input bar to SFTP it straight to your server - Built-in text editor with syntax highlighting and undo/redo - Live Markdown preview - Transfer progress HUD with tap-to-copy destination paths - Per-host startup snippets that auto-run on connect AI command helper - OpenAI (GPT-4o Mini), Anthropic (Claude 3.5 Haiku), Google Gemini (2.0 Flash), Ollama (local), OpenRouter - Inline AI assistant in the text editor with chat-style refinement - Safety validator blocks fork bombs, rm -rf /, and similar dangerous patterns before they ever leave your device Claude Code and AI control - ntfy.sh-based notification polling for Claude Code permission requests - Approve or deny remote Claude Code actions from your iPhone or iPad - Session templates for repeatable workflows - Built-in MCP server: let Claude Code and other MCP clients open sessions, run commands, read output, and check host status ... with every risky command approval-gated, plus per-host always-allow for machines you trust - AI can even author and edit your custom keyboards over MCP Live server monitoring - CPU, memory, network, filesystem, disk I/O - Nvidia GPU monitoring when available - Reads /proc directly for accurate, low-overhead metrics - Background updates with optional notifications Productivity - Snippet library with batch execution - Recent connections with one-tap reconnect - Quick Actions on the app icon - iOS widgets for server status and recent hosts - Searchable Settings with auto-expand and live-tunable preferences - Universal clipboard sync iCloud and privacy - CloudKit sync across devices for machines, identities, snippets, port forwards, keyboard layouts, and settings - Encrypted credential storage in iOS Keychain - All AI requests use your own API keys, or run fully local with Ollama - No telemetry, no analytics, no data collection ShadowTerm is built by a developer who lives in tmux on iPad. Every keyboard layout, every gesture, every detail comes from real terminal use. If you've fought with mobile SSH apps that disconnect, lose your prompt, or feel cramped on small screens, this one will feel different. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://shadowterm.app/privacy
MDQuill Markdown Editor
A local Markdown editor for iPhone, iPad, and Mac that prioritizes privacy and offline use. It offers a clean preview and editing experience for notes, documents, and technical writing, with export options to various formats.
- Local-first document storage
- Instant preview on open
- Native Markdown editing experience
- Real-time preview rendering
- Multi-device support (iPhone, iPad, Mac)
- Export to Markdown, TXT, HTML, PDF
- Template and workflow support
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MDQuill Studio is a local Markdown writing app for iPhone, iPad, and Mac. Open .md, .markdown, or .txt files, read them in a clean preview, then switch back to editing whenever you want. Why MDQuill Studio? • Local-first writing: Your documents stay on your device. No required account, no forced upload, no content platform. • Open into Preview: Open Markdown from Files, Share, or another app and land directly in Preview mode before switching back to Edit. • Native editor: Write with Markdown syntax, quick insertion tools, find and replace, outline navigation, templates, and recent documents. • Live preview: Headings, lists, quotes, code blocks, tables, tasks, links, and images render clearly. • Built for Apple devices: Capture quick notes on iPhone, write in split view on iPad, and work with native document windows on Mac. • Export and share: Create Markdown, TXT, HTML, and PDF files for printing, archiving, email, and cross-platform sharing. • Templates and reusable workflows: Start quickly from built-in templates or save your own structures for repeated work. • Offline Voice Markdown: MDQuill Pro unlocks app-owned offline model management, Markdown voice command parsing, live drafts, insertion modes, and undo workflows. • Advanced Local Import: Convert user-selected PDF, Office, ODF, EPUB, notebooks, HTML, text, and images into structured Markdown with a native on-device converter. Scanned PDFs can use Vision OCR. No embedded runtime and no web scraping. • Focus, Quality, and Export Themes: MDQuill Pro also unlocks a distraction-free writing mode, an on-device document quality check, and advanced HTML/PDF export themes. Great for: • Study notes, meeting notes, and class material • Technical docs, README files, and code notes • Task lists, weekly plans, and project logs • Blog drafts, product notes, and research writing • Private documents that should stay local and export cleanly Free features include document creation, import, editing, preview, export, Share Extension intake, templates, and local document management. MDQuill Pro is an optional upgrade for advanced local Markdown workflows, including offline Voice Markdown, Focus Writing Mode, Document Quality Check, Advanced Export Themes, more custom templates, and more export profile flexibility. MDQuill Studio does not provide third-party content, scrape webpages, host documents, or present itself as an online content platform. It focuses on quiet, reliable local Markdown writing.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is rating: ShadowTerm ssh & mosh Terminal at 4.3 against MDQuill Markdown Editor's 3.7. ShadowTerm ssh & mosh Terminal also leads on ratings volume (17 vs 3). MDQuill Markdown Editor's advantage is monetization model (freemium vs paid) and review sentiment (71% vs 63%). On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases 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. ShadowTerm ssh & mosh Terminal sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month and MDQuill Markdown Editor sells 2 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
ShadowTerm ssh & mosh Terminal holds the better App Store score, 4.3 against 3.7. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: ShadowTerm ssh & mosh Terminal has 17 ratings behind it against 3, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 63% of ShadowTerm ssh & mosh Terminal's written reviews are positive against 71% of MDQuill Markdown Editor's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
ShadowTerm ssh & mosh Terminal ships an update every 4 days, MDQuill Markdown Editor weekly. The most recent releases landed on September 21, 2026 and September 11, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | ShadowTerm ssh & mosh Terminal | MDQuill Markdown Editor |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.3 (17 ratings) — better | 3.7 (3 ratings) |
| Positive reviews | 62.5% of reviews | 71.4% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 17 — better | 3 |
| Update frequency | Every 4 days — better | Weekly |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Paid | Freemium — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch | iPhone, iPad, Mac |
| Requires iOS | 17.6 | 17.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 104 MB | 22 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Carlos Savcic | 献慧 陈 |
Customer experience
ShadowTerm ssh & mosh Terminal
MDQuill Markdown Editor
In-app purchases
ShadowTerm ssh & mosh Terminal
- ShadowTerm Premium Monthly7 Days trial$2.991 Month
- ShadowTerm Premium Yearly$19.991 Year
- Lifetime Premium$29.99
MDQuill Markdown Editor
- MDQuill Voice Lifetime UnlockFree
- MDQuill Pro$1.99
Questions
Is ShadowTerm ssh & mosh Terminal free?
Is MDQuill Markdown Editor free?
Which has better reviews, ShadowTerm ssh & mosh Terminal or MDQuill Markdown Editor?
Do ShadowTerm ssh & mosh Terminal or MDQuill Markdown Editor have ads?
Which is updated more often, ShadowTerm ssh & mosh Terminal or MDQuill Markdown Editor?
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