Comparison

rootshell vs Echo

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

Head to head
About

rootshell

This app provides a powerful, desktop-class terminal emulator with GPU acceleration and native support for SSH, Mosh, and tssh. It offers features like system-wide VPN over SSH, native Git integration, and AI assistance for hands-free command execution and web searches.

Highlights
  • GPU-accelerated terminal
  • Native SSH and Mosh support
  • System-wide VPN over SSH
  • Native Git client
  • AI voice and text agents
  • Cloud and Kubernetes integration
  • Hardware security key support
Read full description

rootshell is a desktop-class terminal emulator built on libghostty — the GPU-accelerated engine behind the Ghostty desktop terminal. A local shell on every platform, Mac screen sharing, native SSH, mosh-compatible roaming, tssh, system-wide VPN, native git, and Metal rendering in a single app. NEW: SCREEN SHARING Reach your Mac's screen, not just its shell, from your iPhone or iPad. High Performance mode streams up to 4K at 60 FPS, fully encrypted. Match Client sizing spins up a virtual display sized exactly to your device: no panning, no letterboxing, with remote system audio. Standard VNC mode covers Linux and headless machines, and tunnels over SSH jump hosts. Nothing to install on the Mac — turn on Screen Sharing and connect. Touch, trackpad, hardware keyboard, and two-way clipboard all work, in tabs, splits, or full screen. METAL-ACCELERATED TERMINAL Built on libghostty's Zig core with direct Metal rendering. Smooth scrolling, zero-flicker synchronized output, and full mouse capture for tmux, vim, and zellij. Tabs, split panes, and persistent scrollback across app restarts. THREE REMOTE PROTOCOLS, ONE APP • SSH — Native Swift SSH client with Ed25519, ECDSA, RSA, and post-quantum ML-KEM + ML-DSA. Jump hosts, port and agent forwarding, and Keychain password storage. • Rootshell Roam — Mosh-compatible sessions survive network changes and app restarts. Multipath TCP bonds WiFi and cellular. Predictive local echo keeps typing responsive. STUN-based NAT traversal punches through firewalls. • tssh with QUIC (TLS 1.3) and KCP transport for lower latency, full native scrollback, and session resumption. NATIVE TMUX INTEGRATION Attach in control mode (tmux -CC) and tmux windows become native tabs, panes become real splits — copy, search, and scroll with native gestures. A dashboard shows live window previews, and tabs survive restarts over tssh. SSH VPN Turn any SSH or tssh session into a system-wide VPN. Route all device traffic through your remote server. No extra software on the server — if you can SSH to it, you can VPN through it. NATIVE GIT Clone, commit, diff, log, blame, rebase, cherry-pick, and worktree — in native Swift with SSH transport. Syntax-highlighted pager output and optional AI-generated commit messages. VOICE AI AGENT Talk to an always-on assistant over Gemini Live. It reads scrollback, runs SSH commands hands-free, searches the web, and asks permission before anything risky. OPTIONAL TEXT AI Chat with Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini, or 400+ models via OpenRouter. Bring your own API key. HARDWARE SECURITY KEYS Private keys never leave hardware. FIDO2/WebAuthn authentication with touch-to-sign. SANDBOXED LOCAL SHELL A full local shell with vim 9.1, Helix, SFTP, SCP, curl, jq, mtr, and standard Unix utilities. The rf browser offers yazi-style miller columns with image previews and git indicators. croc peer-to-peer file transfer, flag-aware tab completion, and prompt themes. CLOUD & KUBERNETES Connect to AWS, Azure, DigitalOcean, Akamai (Linode), and Tailscale. Browse instances, access serial consoles, generate EKS kubeconfigs, and debug Kubernetes nodes with ephemeral pods. 450+ THEMES & VISUAL EFFECTS Over 450 color themes with location-based day/night switching. Animated backgrounds — solar, ocean waves, starfields, fireflies — plus Shadertoy-compatible shaders and custom fonts. CUSTOMIZABLE TOOLBAR Drag, reorder, and hide 45+ built-in keys. Create custom keys that send text, key combos, or sequences. Sticky modifiers with tap and double-tap lock. Separate iPhone and iPad layouts. CONNECTION MANAGEMENT Save profiles with folders, tags, and iCloud sync. Quick Connect autocompletes from history and cloud instances. Background SSH tunnels with auto-start. Siri Shortcuts integration. KEYBOARD POWER FEATURES QMK-style mod-tap keys, dictation and CJK input, customizable shortcuts, and Option key as Alt for international layouts.

About

Echo

This app provides a fast and modern terminal experience for iOS devices, enabling secure SSH and Mosh connections. It's designed for efficient interaction with servers, code deployment, and managing AI agents on the go.

Highlights
  • SSH + Mosh client
  • Fast terminal emulator
  • SSH certificate authentication
  • Face ID integration
  • Touch-optimized toolbar
  • Customizable themes
Features
Read full description

Echo is the SSH + Mosh client iOS deserves — beautiful, minimal, fast. Whether you're checking server logs, deploying code, or guiding AI agents on the go, Echo puts powerful terminal access in your pocket. POWER UNDER THE HOOD Echo is backed by Ghostty, the blazing-fast terminal emulator built for performance and correctness SECURITY FIRST SSH certificate authentication Face ID integration for seamless, secure connections Your keys stay in the Keychain Sync securely via iCloud DESIGNED FOR THUMBS We rebuilt terminal interaction for touch. A specially designed toolbar sits above your keyboard with quick keys and gesture-based arrow movement. It actually feels good to use. AI AGENTS, ANYWHERE Monitor builds. Approve changes. Remote AI coding agents work perfectly inside Echo. Echo's minimal, distraction-free UI is perfect for keeping your AI agents on track while you're on the move. FIND YOUR THEME Choose from over 400 themes, light and dark — match them to your system appearance and tint Echo's interface for a seamless look and feel. 400 themes not enough? Create your own, or import any Ghostty compatible theme config.

Screenshots

rootshell4 screens
Echo4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: rootshell at Free against Echo's $2.99. rootshell also leads on rating (4.8 vs 3.7) and review sentiment (94% vs 58%). Echo's advantage is update cadence (every 2 days vs fortnightly) and chart position (#8 vs #161). On ratings volume, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model 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

rootshell is free to download; Echo costs $2.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

rootshell holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 3.7. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 40 and 37 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 94% of rootshell's written reviews are positive against 58% of Echo's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

rootshell ships an update fortnightly, Echo every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on October 1, 2026 and October 2, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 5 level
rootshell versus Echo: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterrootshellEcho
PriceFree — better$2.99
Rating4.8 (40 ratings) — better3.7 (37 ratings)
Positive reviews93.8% of reviews — better57.9% of reviews
Number of ratings40 — better37
Update frequencyFortnightlyEvery 2 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
Best chart rank#161#8 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS18.0 — better26.2
Further details — not scored
Size374 MB65 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperRootshell LLCReplay Software Limited

Customer experience

rootshell

All ratings40 ratings
Positive95.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative5.0%
Written reviews16 reviews
Positive93.8%
Neutral0.0%
Negative6.3%

Echo

All ratings37 ratings
Positive59.5%
Neutral18.9%
Negative21.6%
Written reviews38 reviews
Positive57.9%
Neutral26.3%
Negative15.8%

In-app purchases

None

rootshell

No in-app purchases

None

Echo

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is rootshell free?
rootshell is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Echo free?
Echo costs $2.99, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, rootshell or Echo?
rootshell is rated higher. rootshell averages 4.8 out of 5 from 40 ratings, while Echo averages 3.7 from 37 ratings.
Do rootshell or Echo have ads?
Neither rootshell nor Echo shows ads.
Which is updated more often, rootshell or Echo?
rootshell ships an update fortnightly, and Echo every 2 days. Most recently, rootshell was updated on October 1, 2026 and Echo on October 2, 2026.
Which is more popular, rootshell or Echo?
rootshell currently peaks at #161 in the App Store charts, and Echo at #8. Chart position reflects recent download velocity rather than total install base.

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