Comparison

Punk Code vs Helmrig Agents

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

Head to head
About

Punk Code

Features
Read full description

Your laptop is the mainframe. Your phone is the terminal. PUNK lets you control Claude Code sessions from your iPhone, wherever you are. Your agents run locally on your machine โ€” PUNK is how you reach them. LOCK SCREEN APPROVALS Approve or deny tool calls without unlocking your phone. VOICE INPUT Dictate prompts 4x faster than typing. MULTI-DEVICE Run multiple Claude Code instances in parallel and manage them all from one place. EXECUTION MODES Switch between Plan, Ask, Auto, and Dangerous modes on the fly. SKILLS & MCPs Access slash commands, MCP tools, and custom skills from your phone. PRIVATE BY DESIGN No persistent data storage. Relay-only architecture. No open ports required. Works on Mac, Linux, and Windows. Currently in free beta via TestFlight.

About

Helmrig Agents

Features
Read full description

Helmrig is a remote development client for iPhone. It pairs with helmrig-server running on your own laptop and gives you the AI coding agents, terminal, and filesystem of that machine โ€” over an end-to-end encrypted tunnel. FEATURES โ€ข AI coding agents โ€” run Claude Code or Codex on your laptop. Tell the agent what to do in plain language; it reads files, runs commands, and edits code on your machine. The app shows the output, diffs of any proposed changes, and approval prompts before anything is applied. You bring your own subscription or API keys; Helmrig doesn't sell or proxy AI access. โ€ข Attach files โ€” pull any file from your laptop into the agent conversation in one tap, so the agent has exactly the context it needs. โ€ข Terminal โ€” full PTY shell on your laptop with ANSI colors and resize. Use whatever you've installed: bash, zsh, fish, tmux, vim, nano, htop. โ€ข Files โ€” browse and view the laptop filesystem with syntax highlighting for common languages. โ€ข Multi-project โ€” switch between active projects in one tap; each project keeps its own terminal session and AI thread. HOW IT WORKS 1. Install the server on your laptop: npx helmrig@latest 2. Open Helmrig on iPhone, scan the QR code shown in the server. 3. The pairing key is generated locally on your devices and never leaves them. After pairing, phone and laptop talk directly over LAN or NAT-traversal when possible. When direct connection fails, the encrypted tunnel falls back through one of our regional relays. Relays forward opaque ciphertext only โ€” they cannot decrypt anything. REQUIREMENTS โ€ข Laptop: macOS or Linux with Node.js 20+ โ€ข iPhone: iOS 17+ PRIVACY No third-party SDKs. No analytics. No crash reporting. Helmrig servers never see code, files, terminal output, or AI conversations. Full policy at helmrig.app/privacy.html CONTACT hi@helmrig.dev Privacy Policy: https://www.helmrig.app/privacy.html Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.helmrig.app/terms.html

Screenshots

Punk Code4 screens
Helmrig Agents4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Punk Code at none against Helmrig Agents's 1. On price, ads, device support and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.

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. Helmrig Agents sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $12.99 per month. Punk Code asks for nothing beyond the download.

Scorecard1 real difference ยท 5 level
Punk Code versus Helmrig Agents: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPunk CodeHelmrig Agents
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyโ€”Fortnightly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo โ€” betterYes
DevicesiPhone, iPodiPhone, iPod
Requires iOS15.115.1
Further details โ€” not scored
Size103 MB65 MB
Age rating17+4+
DeveloperItgel GanboldNikita Kislitsin

In-app purchases

None

Punk Code

No in-app purchases

1 purchases

Helmrig Agents

Subscriptions1
  • Helmrig Pro14 Days trial$12.991 Month

Questions

Is Punk Code free?
Punk Code is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Helmrig Agents free?
Helmrig Agents is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Punk Code or Helmrig Agents have ads?
Neither Punk Code nor Helmrig Agents shows ads.

Other comparisons