Comparison

TermOnMac vs PocketStack

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

Head to head
About

TermOnMac

Features
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TermOnMac puts your Mac terminal on your iPhone and iPad โ€” through a built-in relay server, zero setup, end-to-end encrypted. FREE TO GET STARTED The free plan lets you connect up to 4 Macs with 4 sessions โ€” perfect for checking builds, running quick commands, and trying out the full experience. VIBE CODING FROM ANYWHERE โ€” JUST $0.99/MO Run Claude Code, Codex, or Cursor sessions for hours from your iPhone or iPad. Pro at $0.99/month gives you the headroom for real AI coding workflows. Heavy users: Premium at $2.99/month is still cheaper than a coffee. SIMPLE, TRANSPARENT PRICING Usage is measured by relay traffic โ€” data sent through the relay including commands, output, heartbeats, and system requests. No hidden fees. You only pay for what you use. RELAY SERVER โ€” WORKS BEHIND ANY FIREWALL No SSH keys. No Tailscale. No port forwarding. No public IP needed. Install the Mac agent, scan a QR code on your iPhone or iPad, and you're connected โ€” even behind corporate firewalls, NATs, or VPNs. BUILT FOR AI CODING AGENTS TermOnMac is a relay terminal โ€” bring your own AI. Run Claude Code, Codex, Gemini CLI, Cursor, or any terminal-based tool on your Mac, then control it remotely from your iPhone or iPad. No vendor lock-in, no extra cost โ€” just your tools, from anywhere. NEVER LOSE YOUR SESSION Network switches, device sleep, subway tunnels โ€” your session stays alive. Auto-reconnect picks up right where you left off. Input is buffered while disconnected. SESSION HANDOFF โ€” IPHONE โ†” IPAD โ†” MAC Start a terminal session on your iPhone, continue on your iPad, and pick it up on your Mac โ€” or any direction. Same session, zero interruption. Like Apple Handoff, but for your terminal. TOUCH KEYBOARD โ€” BUILT FOR TERMINAL A custom toolbar above the on-screen keyboard gives you Ctrl, Esc, Tab, arrow keys, and modifier toggles โ€” the keys iOS doesn't have. Search your shortcuts by name and trigger them with a tap. HARDWARE KEYBOARD โ€” FULL CONTROL Connect a Magic Keyboard or any Bluetooth keyboard to your iPad. 12 dedicated shortcuts (โŒ˜โŒฅ prefix): toggle sidebar, switch sessions, run builds, and more. Full terminal control without touching the screen. CUSTOM SHORTCUTS Create reusable commands as one-tap shortcuts. Build your own mobile developer toolbar. Export as JSON for backup or sharing with teammates. END-TO-END ENCRYPTED Curve25519 key exchange, AES-256-GCM encryption, ephemeral keys for forward secrecy. The relay only forwards ciphertext โ€” it cannot read your terminal content. PLANS โ€ข Free โ€” 4 Macs, generous daily usage โ€ข Pro ($0.99/mo) โ€” 32 Macs, higher usage limits โ€ข Premium ($2.99/mo) โ€” 32 Macs, maximum usage limits Payment is charged to your Apple ID. Subscriptions auto-renew unless canceled 24 hours before the current period ends. REQUIREMENTS โ€ข iOS/iPadOS 17.0 or later โ€ข TermOnMac Agent on Mac (macOS 13+) LEARN MORE โ€ข Documentation: https://termonmac.com/docs โ€ข How It Works: https://termonmac.com/how-it-works โ€ข Engineering Blog: https://termonmac.com/blog Privacy: https://termonmac.com/privacy Terms: https://termonmac.com/terms

About

PocketStack

Features
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Manage VMware, Nutanix, and Proxmox virtual machines from your iPhone or iPad. PocketStack puts real infrastructure control in your pocket. Connect to VMware vCenter, Nutanix Prism Central, and Proxmox VE servers and manage virtual machines, hosts, and alerts from wherever you are. KEY FEATURES Dashboard Real-time CPU, memory, and storage utilization across all connected hypervisors. See cluster health at a glance with live performance metrics and capacity trends. VM Management Browse, search, and filter virtual machines across platforms. Perform power actions (start, stop, restart, suspend), create and manage snapshots, and trigger live migrations between hosts, all from your device. Host Monitoring Track host performance with CPU, memory, network, and storage metrics. Identify resource bottlenecks and monitor host status in real time. Alert Management View active alerts across your infrastructure. Acknowledge, filter by severity, and stay on top of critical events without opening a laptop. Multi-Platform Support One app for three major hypervisors: - VMware vCenter (including Enhanced Linked Mode and multi-datacenter) - Nutanix Prism Central (AHV clusters) - Proxmox VE (clusters and standalone nodes) Enterprise Security Credentials are stored exclusively in the iOS Keychain. Trust on First Use (TOFU) certificate verification lets you securely connect to servers using enterprise certificate authorities. No data is sent to third-party servers. SUBSCRIPTION PocketStack is free to download, connect, and explore so you can see how it works. If you decide you want to manage your environment and perform actions from your phone, those features are available with a paid subscription. Terms of Use: https://www.weavehub.app/pocketstack/terms Privacy Policy: https://www.weavehub.app/pocketstack/privacy

Screenshots

TermOnMac4 screens
PocketStack4 screens

Verdict

The call

TermOnMac and PocketStack are too close to call on the numbers: across 6 compared parameters โ€” price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases among them โ€” neither pulls far enough ahead to decide it. What separates them is feature set and interface, not measurable difference.

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

CostPrice ยท In-app purchases ยท Ads ยท Monetization

Both are free to download. TermOnMac sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month and PocketStack sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $9.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 17, 2026 and September 11, 2026 respectively.

ScorecardNo meaningful differences
TermOnMac versus PocketStack: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterTermOnMacPocketStack
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyEvery 2 weeksEvery 2 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPad โ€” better
Requires iOS17.0 โ€” better18.0
Further details โ€” not scored
Size5 MB19 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperChun-Pai YangWeaveHub Technologies LLC

In-app purchases

4 purchases

TermOnMac

Subscriptions4
  • Pro Monthly$0.991 Month
  • Premium Monthly$2.991 Month
  • Pro Yearly$8.991 Year
Show 1 more
  • Premium Yearly$29.991 Year
2 purchases

PocketStack

Subscriptions2
  • PocketForge Pro (Monthly)7 Days trial$9.991 Month
  • PocketForge Pro (Annual)7 Days trial$99.991 Year

Questions

Is TermOnMac free?
TermOnMac is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is PocketStack free?
PocketStack is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do TermOnMac or PocketStack have ads?
Neither TermOnMac nor PocketStack shows ads.
Which is updated more often, TermOnMac or PocketStack?
TermOnMac ships an update every 2 weeks, and PocketStack every 2 weeks. Most recently, TermOnMac was updated on September 17, 2026 and PocketStack on September 11, 2026.

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