Comparison

Muxly vs RootDeck

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

Head to head
About

Muxly

Features
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Native tmux for iPhone and iPad, optimized for AI coding agents running on your host. Muxly is a native tmux client that makes you forget you're inside tmux. Your tmux windows become tabs, panes are a tap away, and scrolling is smooth and native. Your sessions keep running on your server when you close the app or lose connection, and an encrypted bell notification can reach you when a build finishes or an agent needs you. TMUX, FULLY INTEGRATED • Create, rename, reorder, and close real tmux windows from a native tab strip. • Switch panes with the iPhone pane picker or work with your tmux layout on iPad. • Resume your last session, choose an existing one, or start fresh. • Switch sessions over a live connection. • Your tmux prefix and shortcuts work as usual, including with a hardware keyboard. • Return to the same server sessions from your other tmux clients. THE BELL FOLLOWS YOU Step away while your work runs. When a program rings the terminal bell, optional push notifications can reach you even after Muxly closes and SSH disconnects. Configure builds, scripts, or coding agents to ring when they finish or need input. Notification content is end-to-end encrypted. FILES AND EDITING • Browse and manage remote files over SFTP. • Upload from Files or Photos, download to Files, and save supported photos and videos to Photos. • Edit code and configuration files with built-in syntax highlighting. • Keep your file browser and unsaved edits available while switching terminal tabs. • Share photos and screenshots with coding agents in just a few taps. A TERMINAL MADE FOR TOUCH • GPU-accelerated rendering and momentum scrolling. • Precise text selection, copy and paste, and terminal search. • A customizable keyboard toolbar with shortcuts, snippets, sticky modifiers, arrows, and F1–F12. • Hardware keyboard support. • Editable voice dictation on iOS and iPadOS 26 or later. • 12 monospace fonts, 4 themes, adjustable text size, and up to a million lines of scrollback. DIRECT SSH TO YOUR HOSTS • Password and Ed25519 key authentication. • Generate or import Ed25519 keys, or create Secure Enclave keys protected by Face ID or Touch ID. • Local, remote, and dynamic SOCKS port forwarding. • Host key verification, startup commands, environment variables, and keep-alive settings. • App Lock with Face ID or Touch ID. No Muxly account, ads, or tracking. SSH traffic goes directly to your servers. Credentials are stored in the iOS Keychain; Secure Enclave private keys stay on the device. FULL ACCESS Connecting requires a monthly or yearly subscription, or a one-time lifetime purchase. You can start for free with a two-week free trial. REQUIREMENTS iOS or iPadOS 18 or later and an SSH server. Native tmux integration requires tmux 3.2 or later on the server. Optional bell notifications also require openssl, curl, and outbound HTTPS. Plain SSH works without tmux. Terms of Use: https://muxly.sh/terms Privacy Policy: https://muxly.sh/privacy

About

RootDeck

A secure and fast client for managing servers via SSH and SFTP. It offers a terminal, file manager, server dashboard, and an AI agent that runs on your own infrastructure. Connect directly to your servers without any third-party cloud services.

Highlights
  • SSH terminal with customizable themes
  • SFTP file browser with editor
  • Server dashboard for monitoring resources
  • AI agent integration (Codex, Claude, Copilot)
  • Password and SSH key authentication
  • Local network server discovery
  • Privacy-focused with no cloud reliance
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RootDeck is a fast, secure SSH and SFTP client for iPhone and iPad: a terminal, file manager, server dashboard and AI agent for the servers you already own. Connect to your servers directly — no RootDeck account and no cloud in between. Built for developers, sysadmins and DevOps who need their infrastructure on the go. AI AGENT ON YOUR SERVER • Chat with Codex, Claude Code, Grok or GitHub Copilot running on your own server, or with your own API agent for any OpenAI-compatible provider. • Install the agent and sign in without leaving the app. Choose the model and how hard it thinks. • Decide what the agent may do: read only, the working folder, Auto with a reviewer model, or full access — and approve requests as they come. • Add MCP connectors from the catalog, attach files and photos, and dictate — speech is recognized on the device. • Follow background tasks and your account's usage limits, and sign out to switch accounts. SERVER AND TERMINAL • SSH terminal with ten color themes, Day and Night mode, cursor styles and a key bar with function keys. • Inline command suggestions — RootDeck never runs them on its own. • Server dashboard: CPU, memory, disks, network, services and processes. • Live logs with pause, filtering and links. FILES • SFTP file browser: upload, download, copy, move, rename and delete. • Built-in text editor, file details and permissions. CONNECTIONS • Password and SSH key authentication, jump hosts. • Host key verification against man-in-the-middle attacks. • Find SSH servers on your local network. • Optional: keep your session alive when you switch apps, with a connection card on the Lock Screen. • Linux, macOS and Windows OpenSSH servers. PRIVACY Credentials stay in Apple Keychain. SSH traffic goes straight between your device and your servers; the AI agent talks to its provider from your server, and API keys stay there. RootDeck collects no analytics, and none of our servers sit in the path. Available in English, Russian and Simplified Chinese.

Screenshots

Muxly4 screens
RootDeck4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: RootDeck at none against Muxly's 3. Muxly's advantage is update cadence (every 5 days vs monthly). On price, ads, device support and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price Ā· Rating Ā· Positive reviews Ā· Number of ratings Ā· Update frequency Ā· Ads Ā· In-app purchases Ā· Monetization Ā· Best chart rank Ā· Devices Ā· Requires iOS

CostPrice Ā· In-app purchases Ā· Ads Ā· Monetization

Both are free to download. Muxly sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $2.99 per month. RootDeck asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Muxly ships an update every 5 days, RootDeck monthly. The most recent releases landed on November 8, 2026 and November 10, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences Ā· 6 level
Muxly versus RootDeck: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterMuxlyRootDeck
PriceFreeFree
Positive reviews—100.0% of reviews
Update frequencyEvery 5 days — betterMonthly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
Monetization—Free
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, Mac — better
Requires iOS18.017.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size47 MB23 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperWhale shark s. r. o.Evgenii Lav

In-app purchases

3 purchases

Muxly

Subscriptions2
  • Muxly Monthly14 Days trial$2.991 Month
  • Muxly Yearly14 Days trial$14.991 Year
One-time1
  • Muxly Lifetime$39.99
None

RootDeck

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Muxly free?
Muxly is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is RootDeck free?
RootDeck is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Muxly or RootDeck have ads?
Neither Muxly nor RootDeck shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Muxly or RootDeck?
Muxly ships an update every 5 days, and RootDeck monthly. Most recently, Muxly was updated on November 8, 2026 and RootDeck on November 10, 2026.

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