Comparison

MeadReader vs gterm

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

Head to head
About

MeadReader

A fast and focused markdown reader for Mac, iPhone, and iPad. It offers a clean reading experience with customizable themes and syntax-highlighted code blocks. Built-in SSH support allows seamless access to markdown files on remote servers.

Highlights
  • Clean typography and four themes
  • Syntax-highlighted code blocks
  • SSH/SFTP for remote file access
  • Local folder browsing
  • QuickLook extension for macOS
  • Localized in 11 languages
Features
Read full description

MeadReader is a fast, focused markdown reader for Mac, iPhone, and iPad. Open any folder of .md files and read them with clean typography, syntax-highlighted code blocks, and your choice of four themes. What makes MeadReader different is built-in SSH support. Connect to your dev server, NAS, or any remote machine over SFTP and browse markdown files as if they were local. Save connections for one-tap access. READING EXPERIENCE — Four themes: System, Light, Sepia, and Dark — Adjustable font size — GitHub Flavored Markdown: tables, task lists, footnotes, strikethrough — Syntax-highlighted code blocks in 190+ languages LOCAL FILES — Open any folder and browse .md files instantly — Remembers your last folder across launches — Filter files by name with ⌘F REMOTE FILES (SSH/SFTP) — Connect to any SSH server with password or key authentication — Browse directories and read markdown over SFTP — Save multiple server connections MAC FEATURES — Full keyboard navigation: arrow keys, ⌘1/⌘2 pane switching — QuickLook extension for previewing .md files in Finder — Native macOS experience with sidebar and toolbar LOCALIZED IN 11 LANGUAGES English, 简体中文, 繁體中文, 日本語, 한국어, Français, Deutsch, Español, Português, Русский, Italiano. Switch languages from within the app. MeadReader has no accounts, no cloud sync, no tracking. It reads your files and gets out of the way.

About

gterm

Features
Read full description

gterm is a real terminal for iOS. It renders with Ghostty's GPU engine for true xterm/VT emulation, connects straight to your servers over SSH, keeps your keys on device, and ships an AI command assistant that writes the commands for you. It's the same renderer and VT parser as the Ghostty desktop app. iOS can't fork/exec a local shell, so gterm drives the terminal straight from the SSH stream through a custom passthru IO backend added to libghostty — giving you a real terminal in a sandboxed iOS surface. GPU-RENDERED TERMINAL Real xterm/VT emulation via Ghostty's libghostty, drawn on Metal. Colors, ligatures, and reflow that feel native — not a web shim. SSH-NATIVE Connects with swift-nio-ssh — password and public-key auth, a PTY shell, live window resizing, and trust-on-first-use host-key verification. KEYS STAY ON DEVICE Import Ed25519 / ECDSA private keys into the iOS Keychain — device-only, never synced. Pick one or more keys to try per host. SHELL-GRADE KEYBOARD A custom accessory keyboard with the keys iOS forgets — Esc, Ctrl, Alt, Tab, arrows, and sticky modifiers for real TUI navigation. AI COMMAND ASSISTANT Describe what you want in plain English. The AI reads your recent commands and visible screen, proposes a command, and shows it to you for review before it runs. AI AUTO-COMPLETION As you type, suggestions surface above the keyboard — from your history and from your provider. Bring your own key; it's stored masked in the Keychain. Open source: https://github.com/madeye/gterm

Screenshots

MeadReader4 screens
gterm4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: gterm at every 3 weeks against MeadReader's every 2 months. MeadReader's advantage is price ($0.99 vs $1.99). On ads, in-app purchases, device support and iOS requirement 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

MeadReader costs $0.99 and gterm $1.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

MeadReader ships an update every 2 months, gterm every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 15, 2026 and October 2, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 6 level
MeadReader versus gterm: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterMeadReadergterm
Price$0.99 — better$1.99
Positive reviews0.0% of reviews—
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 3 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationPaid—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Mac — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS17.017.0
Further details — not scored
Size12 MB48 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperSHIH-HUNG MICHAEL CHENShanghai Tangzixiang Information Technology Co., Ltd

In-app purchases

None

MeadReader

No in-app purchases

None

gterm

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is MeadReader free?
MeadReader costs $0.99, with no in-app purchases.
Is gterm free?
gterm costs $1.99, with no in-app purchases.
Do MeadReader or gterm have ads?
Neither MeadReader nor gterm shows ads.
Which is updated more often, MeadReader or gterm?
MeadReader ships an update every 2 months, and gterm every 3 weeks. Most recently, MeadReader was updated on October 15, 2026 and gterm on October 2, 2026.

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