Comparison

Shiny Code vs Pi Relay

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

Head to head
About

Shiny Code

Access your development machine remotely to manage code tasks and review changes. This app allows you to interact with AI coding tools on your computer from your iPhone, keeping your code secure on your own hardware.

Highlights
  • Remote SSH access
  • Invoke Claude Code on dev machine
  • Kick off tasks remotely
  • Review code diffs
  • Approve tool calls
  • Code stays on your machine
Features
Read full description

Shiny Code connects to your dev machine over SSH and invokes Claude Code there, so you can kick off tasks, review diffs, and approve tool calls from anywhere — no special setup required. Just your Mac or Linux box, Claude Code, and an iPhone. Your code stays on your machine. Your AI stays productive. And you stay in the loop, whether you're at your desk or away from it.

About

Pi Relay

Features
Read full description

Pi Relay is a companion iPhone app for the Pi coding agent. It lets you connect securely to your own Pi remote-control server, browse active projects and sessions, and continue conversations from your phone. Pairing is simple: install the Pi remote-control extension on the machine running Pi, open the pairing QR code, and scan it with Pi Relay. Once paired, you can switch between remotes, view project sessions, read conversation history, send new prompts, abort running work, and request context compaction with /compact. Pi Relay is designed for users who already run Pi on their own computer or development environment and want a lightweight mobile companion for monitoring and continuing work away from the desktop. Key features: - QR-code pairing with your Pi remote-control server - Remote list with quick switching and unpairing - Project and session browsing - Conversation view with selectable and copyable messages - Runtime status and context usage display - Prompt sending, abort support, and /compact support - Live session updates while the app is active Pi Relay requires a running Pi remote-control extension/server. The extension is available at: https://github.com/zerray/pi-remote-control

Screenshots

Shiny Code4 screens
Pi Relay4 screens

Verdict

The call

Shiny Code and Pi Relay are too close to call on the numbers: across 5 compared parameters — price, ads, in-app purchases and device support among them — neither pulls far enough ahead to decide it. What separates them is feature set and interface, not measurable difference.

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.

ScorecardNo meaningful differences
Shiny Code versus Pi Relay: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterShiny CodePi Relay
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (1 ratings) — better—
Number of ratings1 — better—
Update frequency—Fortnightly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree—
DevicesiPhoneiPhone
Requires iOS18.017.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size12 MB2 MB
Age rating12+12+
DeveloperPaul CannonZerui Zhou

In-app purchases

None

Shiny Code

No in-app purchases

None

Pi Relay

No in-app purchases

Questions

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

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