Comparison

rootshell vs shellin

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

shellin

Access and control your Mac terminal from your iPhone or iPad. Monitor AI coding agents, run commands, and stay connected to your workflow remotely via an encrypted peer-to-peer connection.

Highlights
  • View Mac terminal live on iPhone/iPad
  • Monitor AI coding agents remotely
  • Real-time interaction with keyboard input
  • Connect without SSH setup
  • End-to-end encrypted peer-to-peer session
Features
Read full description

shellin lets you view and interact with your Mac terminal from iPhone or iPad. Run the shellin CLI on your Mac, open the iOS app, and your terminal appears live over an encrypted peer-to-peer connection. Whether you are running Claude Code, Codex, OpenCode, Gemini CLI, or a long command in Terminal, shellin helps you stay connected when you step away from your desk. Check progress, approve actions, and send commands right from your phone or tablet. An active shellin subscription is required to connect to your Mac from the iOS app. Why shellin  • View your Mac terminal live from iPhone or iPad  • Monitor AI coding agents while you are away  • Interact in real time with keyboard input and terminal output  • Connect without SSH setup, port forwarding, or firewall changes  • End-to-end encrypted peer-to-peer session  How it works  1. Install the shellin app on iPhone or iPad  2. Choose and activate a shellin subscription in the app  3. Install the shellin CLI on your Mac  4. Sign in with a one-time key  5. Run shellin in the terminal you want to access  6. Open the app and connect to your live session  shellin is built for people who want lightweight remote access to an existing Mac terminal session, especially when monitoring AI-assisted workflows on the go. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula Privacy Policy: https://shellin.dev/privacy

Screenshots

rootshell4 screens
shellin4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: rootshell at none against shellin's 2. rootshell also leads on ratings volume (40 vs 1) and chart position (#145 vs unranked). shellin's advantage is rating (5.0 vs 4.8). On price, update cadence, 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. shellin sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per 7 days. rootshell asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

shellin holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.8. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: rootshell has 40 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

rootshell ships an update every 2 weeks, shellin every 10 days. The most recent releases landed on September 22, 2026 and September 21, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 6 level
rootshell versus shellin: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
Parameterrootshellshellin
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.8 (40 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews93.8% of reviews—
Number of ratings40 — better1
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeksEvery 10 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree — betterSubscription
Best chart rank#145 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS18.0 — better18.6
Further details — not scored
Size344 MB14 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperRootshell LLCJoonhyung Cho

Customer experience

rootshell

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

shellin

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

None

rootshell

No in-app purchases

2 purchases

shellin

Subscriptions2
  • Shellin Lite7 Days trial$0.997 Days
  • Shellin Pro$8.991 Month

Questions

Is rootshell free?
rootshell is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is shellin free?
shellin is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, rootshell or shellin?
shellin is rated higher. rootshell averages 4.8 out of 5 from 40 ratings, while shellin averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.
Do rootshell or shellin have ads?
Neither rootshell nor shellin shows ads.
Which is updated more often, rootshell or shellin?
rootshell ships an update every 2 weeks, and shellin every 10 days. Most recently, rootshell was updated on September 22, 2026 and shellin on September 21, 2026.

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