Comparison

OpenLens vs Pi in Pocket

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

Head to head
About

OpenLens

This application allows you to remotely control and monitor AI coding sessions from your iPhone. Continue your work seamlessly from your mobile device, manage sessions, and receive real-time updates.

Highlights
  • Remote AI coding session control
  • Real-time chat with streaming responses
  • Session management (create, delete)
  • Switch AI providers and models
  • Live progress on Lock Screen/Dynamic Island
  • Bonjour/mDNS server discovery
  • Save multiple server connections
Features
Read full description

OpenLens is a fast, focused iPhone client for OpenCode. Run OpenCode on your computer, then continue the same AI coding session from your phone. Use OpenLens to monitor progress, reply quickly, and stay in control when you are away from your desk. What you can do with OpenLens: - Connect instantly to nearby OpenCode servers with Bonjour/mDNS discovery - Save multiple server connections and reconnect automatically - Chat in real time with streaming responses - View and manage sessions, including creating and deleting sessions - Switch AI providers and models directly from the app - Review agent activity steps while work is in progress - Respond to permission prompts and interactive questions from the server - See live progress on your Lock Screen and Dynamic Island with Live Activities Built for real workflows: - One session across terminal, web, and iPhone - Reliable reconnect behavior when network conditions change - Optional password-protected server access

About

Pi in Pocket

Features
Read full description

Pi in Pocket is the mobile companion for pi, the open-source coding agent (github.com/badlogic/pi-mono). Control your agent remotely from your iPhone or iPad while it runs on your Mac. Pi is a minimal terminal coding agent that gives an LLM four core tools: read, write, edit, and bash. It supports multiple providers (Anthropic, OpenAI, Google, and more), is fully extensible with skills, prompt templates, and extensions, and runs in interactive, RPC, or SDK mode. Pi in Pocket connects to your Mac over your local network or Tailscale VPN through the pi-bridge server, giving you a live window into every running session. What you can do: • Watch the agent think, call tools, and write code in real time • Send messages, steer the agent mid-turn, or queue follow-ups • Browse live and completed sessions across all your projects • Start new sessions in any project directory • Switch LLM models and thinking levels on the fly • Compact context when the conversation gets long • Get push notifications when a task finishes • Read full tool outputs, code diffs, and markdown responses Built for developers who want to stay in the loop while away from the keyboard. Start a long task on your Mac, walk away, and manage everything from your phone. Requires a Mac running the pi-bridge server and the pi coding agent. Connect over your local network or Tailscale VPN.

Screenshots

OpenLens4 screens
Pi in Pocket4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is chart position: OpenLens at #205 against Pi in Pocket's unranked. Pi in Pocket's advantage is iOS requirement (17.0 vs 26.0). On price, ads, in-app purchases and device support 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

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

Scorecard2 real differences · 9 level
OpenLens versus Pi in Pocket: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterOpenLensPi in Pocket
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (7 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews81.8% of reviews—
Number of ratings7 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 5 days—
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree—
Best chart rank#205 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS26.017.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size14 MB4 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperMartyn PekalaHuy Le

In-app purchases

None

OpenLens

No in-app purchases

None

Pi in Pocket

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is OpenLens free?
OpenLens is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Pi in Pocket free?
Pi in Pocket is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do OpenLens or Pi in Pocket have ads?
Neither OpenLens nor Pi in Pocket shows ads.

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