Comparison

SwiftyTerminal vs MuxCLI

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

Head to head
About

SwiftyTerminal

Features
Read full description

Learn Linux commands on your iPhone or iPad. SwiftyTerminal is a pocket shell where you can practice ls, grep, sed, awk, pipes and redirects, plus ping, nslookup and SSH. When you get stuck, ask the Command Copilot in plain English: describe what you want to do and get a real command you can run. Type ? followed by a task, like "? show hidden files", and the answer lands in the input line, ready to run or edit. Type explain before any command line and it is broken down piece by piece, so you learn as you go. On devices with Apple Intelligence the copilot runs on the on-device model. Everywhere else it answers from a built-in offline guide. Nothing you type leaves your device. COMMAND COPILOT - Plain English to a runnable command, checked against the commands this app actually has - Type explain before a command to decode pipes, options and redirects - Commands that delete or overwrite data are never run for you: they wait in the input line - Recent answers are saved so you can run them again - A searchable reference of every built-in command, with examples ASK FROM ANYWHERE - Shortcuts: Explain a Terminal Command, Suggest a Terminal Command, Run in Terminal, Open Command Copilot - Say "Explain grep in SwiftyTerminal" or "Ask SwiftyTerminal for a command" - Every command is searchable from Spotlight FILES AND TEXT List, create, copy, move and delete files and folders with ls, cd, mkdir, touch, cp, mv, rm and cat. Inspect with file, wc, head and tail. Search and process text with find, grep (-i -v -n -c), sort, uniq, sed and awk, plus pipes, redirects and glob patterns. NETWORK TOOLS ping, nslookup, curl, netcat and port scans for hosts you own, plus SSH sessions with remote commands and file transfer. SYSTEM AND SCRIPTING date, cal, uptime, df, uname, environment variables, aliases and history. A built-in mini Python and Lua interpreter for quick math and variables. A FRESH LOOK A hand-drawn design with living "thinking orb" animations, a Liquid Glass input bar, four terminal themes and adjustable text size. Reduce Motion calms every animation. SwiftyTerminal is a simulated terminal that runs entirely inside the app sandbox. It does not download or run external code. Who it's for: developers, students learning the command line, IT and network folks, and anyone curious about Unix commands.

About

MuxCLI

Manage AI coding sessions on your server directly from your iPhone. Create, attach, and resume tmux-backed sessions for various AI CLIs and shell workflows. Continue prompt work without losing context and send terminal input with mobile-friendly controls.

Highlights
  • Run AI coding sessions remotely
  • Manage tmux-backed sessions
  • Resume interrupted workflows
  • Send terminal input from mobile
  • Receive attention signals
  • Pair phone with server quickly
Features
Read full description

MuxCLI lets you run and manage AI coding sessions on your own server from iPhone. Create, attach, detach, and resume tmux-backed sessions for Codex CLI, Gemini CLI, Claude Code, and shell workflows. Use MuxCLI to: - Pair your phone with your server in seconds - Browse existing sessions and create new ones - Continue prompt workflows without restarting context - Send terminal input with mobile-friendly control keys - Get attention-required signals when a session needs your input MuxCLI is designed for long-running development sessions where your server does the heavy work and your phone acts as the control surface.

Screenshots

SwiftyTerminal4 screens
MuxCLI4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: MuxCLI at Free against SwiftyTerminal's $0.99. MuxCLI also leads on iOS requirement (17.0 vs 26.0). SwiftyTerminal's advantage is in-app purchases (none vs 1) and update cadence (every 5 days vs every 4 weeks). On ads 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

MuxCLI is free to download; SwiftyTerminal costs $0.99 up front. MuxCLI sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. SwiftyTerminal asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

SwiftyTerminal ships an update every 5 days, MuxCLI every 4 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 19, 2026 and October 2, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
SwiftyTerminal versus MuxCLI: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterSwiftyTerminalMuxCLI
Price$0.99Free — better
Rating—2.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews—0.0% of reviews
Number of ratings—1 — better
Update frequencyEvery 5 days — betterEvery 4 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
Monetization—Free
DevicesiPhone, iPad — betteriPhone
Requires iOS26.017.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size6 MB2 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperHemal ModiTim Chen

In-app purchases

None

SwiftyTerminal

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

MuxCLI

One-time1
  • MuxCLI Lifetime Unlock$4.99

Questions

Is SwiftyTerminal free?
SwiftyTerminal costs $0.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is MuxCLI free?
MuxCLI is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do SwiftyTerminal or MuxCLI have ads?
Neither SwiftyTerminal nor MuxCLI shows ads.
Which is updated more often, SwiftyTerminal or MuxCLI?
SwiftyTerminal ships an update every 5 days, and MuxCLI every 4 weeks. Most recently, SwiftyTerminal was updated on October 19, 2026 and MuxCLI on October 2, 2026.

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