Comparison

MTerm vs SSH Term X

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

Head to head
About

MTerm

This app is a professional SSH client and terminal emulator for iOS, designed for AI-driven remote development. It allows developers to run AI tools and manage servers from their mobile devices with persistent sessions and a customizable interface.

Highlights
  • Integrated SSH terminal and remote IDE
  • Persistent SSH sessions
  • Multi-window and multi-pane support
  • Workspace saving and instant restore
  • Plugin system for extending capabilities
  • Snippets and clipboard history
  • Customizable accessory bar
Features
Read full description

Run Claude Code, Codex, and AI agents from your iPad or iPhone — without being tied to a desk. MTerm is a professional SSH client and iOS terminal emulator built specifically for AI-driven remote development. If you need serious developer tools on mobile, MTerm delivers a stable, persistent, and fully featured terminal environment for modern workflows. Designed for developers who manage Linux, Mac, and cloud servers, MTerm combines a powerful SSH terminal, remote IDE, workspace persistence, and AI-focused tooling into one seamless experience. PERFECT FOR DEVELOPERS WHO - Run Claude Code, Codex, or other AI CLI tools remotely - Search for a professional SSH client for iPad or iPhone - Need a reliable iOS terminal emulator - Work in remote development environments - Manage servers via SSH daily - Build AI-driven workflows on the go MTerm is optimized for uninterrupted AI coding and serious remote development. ―――――――――――― AI DEVELOPMENT WORKSPACE - Integrated SSH terminal + remote IDE + prompt manager - Multi-window and multi-pane support for parallel AI workflows - Workspace saving with CMD + S - Restore native pane layouts instantly on reconnect - Built for long-running development sessions PERSISTENT SSH SESSIONS - Keep SSH sessions alive when switching apps - Designed for sustained remote development - Active sessions visible in Notification Center - Monitor running sessions with Live Activities ADVANCED SSH CLIENT - Password, SSH Key, and Keychain authentication - Jump Host (bastion) support - Local and Remote Port Forwarding - Secure, stable connections for Linux, macOS, and cloud servers - Mosh support for resilient connections on unstable mobile networks MTERM PLUGIN SYSTEM - Extend terminal capabilities with MTerm Plugins - Integrate your Mac or remote server environment - Session persistence powered by abduco - Reconnect to long-running terminal sessions safely - Display the current Git branch directly in the terminal footer SNIPPETS & CLIPBOARD HISTORY - Save commands and code as reusable snippets - Quickly paste from clipboard history - Ideal for repetitive development and AI prompt workflows ENHANCED AI PROMPT INPUT - Attach images and files directly in the prompt editor - Optimized for Claude Code and AI CLI usage - Seamless integration with the SSH terminal MULTI-PANE & TAB MANAGEMENT - Native split-view terminal emulator - Connect to multiple servers simultaneously - Organize sessions with tabs - Independent layouts per tab - Vertical tab mode for better session navigation - Unlimited panes (Pro) CUSTOMIZABLE ACCESSORY BAR - Configure shortcut buttons in the software keyboard toolbar - Improve command efficiency without external tools - Designed for fast command input on touch devices BUILT-IN REMOTE EDITOR (Pro) - Edit code, JSON, and Markdown directly on remote servers - Designed for uninterrupted development IMAGE PREVIEW (Pro) - Instantly preview files - Useful for reviewing AI-generated assets FULL CJK & IME SUPPORT - Accurate rendering for Japanese, Chinese, and Korean text - Full IME input compatibility - Stable long-form text input in terminal environments MAGIC KEYBOARD & HARDWARE KEYBOARD SUPPORT - Full keyboard shortcuts - Optimized for professional iPad development - Turn your iPad or iPhone into a serious developer workstation ―――――――――――― MTerm is not just another SSH client. It’s an AI-focused iOS terminal built for real remote development. Advanced features are unlocked with Pro. Privacy Policy: https://mterm.app/en/privacy Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

SSH Term X

Manage and interact with AI agents directly from your phone. Monitor agent status, provide input, and resume conversations seamlessly, even when disconnected. Supports multiple AI harnesses and languages, with robust input handling for complex instructions.

Highlights
  • AI agent status monitoring
  • On-the-spot agent interaction
  • Harness and model agnostic
  • Kept shells for persistent sessions
  • Robust CJK input mode
  • Push notifications for agent alerts
Features
Read full description

Your phone is the command center for your AI agents. Any harness, any model, any language. Japanese, Korean, and Chinese input won't break. CONNECTING IS NOT ENOUGH Agents run for a long time and stop to wait for approval or input. SSH Term lists the agents of supported harnesses on a card for each saved host, with their state: Working, Waiting for input, or Needs approval. See which one is waiting for what, and answer it on the spot. NOT LOCKED TO A HARNESS OR A MODEL Start any agent that runs in a terminal and give it instructions. Models and providers (API keys, Bedrock, and so on) stay as configured on your host. Agents run on your own host, and their conversations stay there instead of going through a third-party service. SUPPORTED HARNESSES The status list and chat view support Claude Code, Codex, Oh My Pi, Pi, and Copilot CLI. YOUR PHONE IS THE COMMAND CENTER Close the app and your agents keep running on the host (kept shells). Reopen it and the tab comes back with the output you missed. Approval requests, input waits, and finished turns reach you as push notifications through the free ntfy app, even with SSH Term closed (Slack, Discord, and Telegram also work). Send the next instruction to a running agent from the chat view. ANY LANGUAGE Instructions to an agent are prose in your own words. Japanese, Korean, and Chinese text often breaks in SSH apps; in SSH Term's IME mode it doesn't break mid-composition, so you can write long, detailed instructions in your own language. ONE-TIME PURCHASE. FEATURES DON'T DISAPPEAR LATER No account and no license server, so features don't disappear later. Every feature is included in the price; the only in-app purchase is an optional way to support development. No subscription, no ads, no telemetry. Your credentials stay on your device. ---------- AGENT LIST AND CHAT VIEW (BETA) Prepare a host once, and agents of supported harnesses started in a PC terminal show up on your phone too. Read a running conversation as a chat and reply or approve from there; what you send never mixes with text half-typed on the PC. KEPT SHELLS (NO TMUX, NO MOSH NEEDED) When the connection drops, the shell stays on the host. Switching between Wi-Fi and mobile data or locking the screen won't stop your work. On reconnect the tab reattaches by itself and shows what you missed. The host only needs a small helper, stagent, which the app installs to ~/.ssh-term/agent after verifying its sha256 (Linux, macOS, and Windows hosts). AI AGENT SESSIONS Resume conversations of supported harnesses from a list, in a kept shell, tmux, zellij, screen, or herdr. CJK INPUT (IME MODE) Compose text in the input box and send it to the terminal in one go; characters still being composed never leak out as commands. ON THE BIG SCREEN OF AN IPAD OR AN OPEN IPHONE DUO Two tabs side by side, a home screen with each host's agent cards, a sidebar of open tabs with those waiting for approval first, and a two-pane filer. With a hardware keyboard, type just like on a PC. Split View works too. SFTP FILE BROWSER AND PREVIEW Check files an agent created or edited without leaving the terminal. Sort, rename, delete, and bookmark folders per host. Syntax-highlighted preview. AUTO-RECONNECT, MULTI-TAB Reconnects automatically when the network drops (up to 3 attempts). Run several connections side by side in tabs. Works over Tailscale SSH. INPUT ASSIST TOOLBAR One-tap Ctrl+C, Tab, Escape, arrow keys, F1–F12, Home/End/PageUp/PageDown, plus your own custom keys and commands. AUTH, KEYS, THEMES Password, public key, and keyboard-interactive auth. Generate Ed25519 or RSA keys in the app and copy the public key with one tap. Themes such as Dracula, Nord, and Tokyo Night; fonts such as Fira Code and JetBrains Mono, plus CJK fonts. SECURITY - Credentials stored encrypted on the device - Host key verification (pinned on first connection) - Lock the app with a PIN, Face ID, or Touch ID - No cloud sync, no telemetry, no account required

Screenshots

MTerm4 screens
SSH Term X4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: MTerm at Free against SSH Term X's $4.99. MTerm also leads on review sentiment (100% vs 83%). SSH Term X's advantage is iOS requirement (15.0 vs 17.0). On rating, ratings volume, update cadence and ads 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

MTerm is free to download; SSH Term X costs $4.99 up front. MTerm sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month and SSH Term X sells 5 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 5.0 for MTerm against 5.0 for SSH Term X. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 1 and 1 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 100% of MTerm's written reviews are positive against 83% of SSH Term X's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

MTerm ships an update every 3 days, SSH Term X every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on November 9, 2026 and November 10, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
MTerm versus SSH Term X: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterMTermSSH Term X
PriceFree — better$4.99
Rating5.0 (1 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings)
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews — better83.3% of reviews
Number of ratings11
Update frequencyEvery 3 daysEvery 2 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases — betterPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS17.015.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size23 MB88 MB
Age rating17+4+
Developerkazuki oinumaHaga Kunihiko

Customer experience

MTerm

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews3 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

SSH Term X

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews6 reviews
Positive83.3%
Neutral0.0%
Negative16.7%

In-app purchases

3 purchases

MTerm

Subscriptions2
  • MTerm サブスクリプション(月額)$1.991 Month
  • MTerm サブスクリプション(年額)$24.991 Year
One-time1
  • MTerm Pro$14.99
5 purchases

SSH Term X

One-time5
  • Support Development$2.99
  • Support Development$5.99
  • Support Development$19.99
Show 2 more
  • Support Development$29.99
  • Support Development$59.99

Questions

Is MTerm free?
MTerm is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is SSH Term X free?
SSH Term X costs $4.99, and also offers in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, MTerm or SSH Term X?
MTerm and SSH Term X are both rated 5.0 out of 5 on the App Store, from 1 and 1 ratings respectively.
Do MTerm or SSH Term X have ads?
Neither MTerm nor SSH Term X shows ads.
Which is updated more often, MTerm or SSH Term X?
MTerm ships an update every 3 days, and SSH Term X every 2 days. Most recently, MTerm was updated on November 9, 2026 and SSH Term X on November 10, 2026.

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