Comparison

rootshell vs AgenTTY

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

AgenTTY

This app provides a fast, native SSH client for iPhone, optimized for power users running AI coding agent sessions. It offers persistent sessions, a custom keyboard, and seamless integration with AI workflows, even for general SSH connections.

Highlights
  • Native iOS notifications for agent status
  • Paste screenshots and images into workflows
  • Persistent tmux sessions with quick reconnect
  • Fast shell quick switcher
  • AI-generated shell titles
  • Custom keyboard for terminal work
  • Whisper-based dictation for prompting
Features
Read full description

AgenTTY is a fast, Ghostty-based SSH client for iPhone, purpose-built for power users of agentic AI coding TUIs such as Codex CLI and Claude Code. Unlike a typical iOS SSH client, AgenTTY is built around what actually matters when you run long-lived coding-agent sessions from your phone: staying connected, knowing the moment an agent needs you, and getting back into your session in seconds. FEATURES - Native iOS notifications when work finishes or an agent needs input - Paste screenshots and images directly into supported workflows from your phone - Persistent tmux sessions with quick reconnect - Resilient connections that survive network changes, backgrounding, and roaming between Wi-Fi and cellular - Long-press the spacebar for a fast shell quick switcher - AI-generated shell titles plus live folder and git-branch context - A custom keyboard built for terminal work, with familiar shortcuts and modifier slide-chords - Full support for iPad hardware keyboards - Whisper-based dictation for hands-free prompting on the go BUILT FOR LONG-RUNNING SESSIONS AgenTTY is especially good for Codex, Claude Code, tmux, and similar terminal-native AI workflows. Keep work alive in persistent shells, jump back in when an agent needs attention, and move quickly between sessions while you are away from your desk. NATIVE PERFORMANCE Built on an ultra-fast Ghostty core, AgenTTY delivers native-feeling performance and smooth terminal rendering on iPhone, even during heavy output and real CLI use. EASY HOST SETUP Run one `npx` helper command on the host, then scan its QR code or enter the short code in the app. AgenTTY reuses or creates a device SSH key automatically, keeps the private key local on your iPhone, and finishes the setup for you. REAL SSH ON IPHONE Even if you do not use AI coding agents at all, AgenTTY still stands on its own as a serious SSH client. Connect to your own machines with public-key authentication, host-key verification, persistent sessions, and a terminal that feels fast, responsive, and native on iPhone. SECURITY BY DEFAULT Generate Ed25519 keys on-device. Private keys stay in the iOS Keychain. Host keys are pinned with trust-on-first-use protection. AgenTTY includes a one-week free trial. After the trial, a one-time in-app purchase unlocks lifetime access. AgenTTY is an independent app and is not affiliated with OpenAI or Anthropic.

Screenshots

rootshell4 screens
AgenTTY4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: rootshell at 4.8 against AgenTTY's 4.3. rootshell also leads on in-app purchases (none vs 1) and ratings volume (40 vs 4). AgenTTY's advantage is update cadence (daily vs fortnightly). On price, review sentiment, 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

Both are free to download. AgenTTY sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. rootshell asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

rootshell holds the better App Store score, 4.8 against 4.3. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: rootshell has 40 ratings behind it against 4, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews complicate that: 94% of rootshell's written reviews are positive against 100% of AgenTTY's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

rootshell ships an update fortnightly, AgenTTY daily. The most recent releases landed on October 1, 2026 and September 25, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard7 real differences · 4 level
rootshell versus AgenTTY: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterrootshellAgenTTY
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (40 ratings) — better4.3 (4 ratings)
Positive reviews93.8% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings40 — better4
Update frequencyFortnightlyDaily — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank#159 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS18.0 — better26.0
Further details — not scored
Size374 MB29 MB
Age rating4++4
DeveloperRootshell LLCNeha Misra

Customer experience

rootshell

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

AgenTTY

All ratings4 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews3 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

rootshell

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

AgenTTY

One-time1
  • Lifetime Access$3.99

Questions

Is rootshell free?
rootshell is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is AgenTTY free?
AgenTTY is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, rootshell or AgenTTY?
rootshell is rated higher. rootshell averages 4.8 out of 5 from 40 ratings, while AgenTTY averages 4.3 from 4 ratings.
Do rootshell or AgenTTY have ads?
Neither rootshell nor AgenTTY shows ads.
Which is updated more often, rootshell or AgenTTY?
rootshell ships an update fortnightly, and AgenTTY daily. Most recently, rootshell was updated on October 1, 2026 and AgenTTY on September 25, 2026.

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