Attach vs Shellton
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Attach
A native iOS client for managing tmux sessions, designed for developers working with AI coding agents on remote machines. It offers a visual interface to browse, switch, and inspect terminal sessions, windows, and panes.
- Native tmux session management
- Visual pane layouts
- Smart keyboard with pinned modifiers
- Hardware keyboard support
- Secure SSH key storage
- Background connection notifications
- Auto-reconnect functionality
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Built for tmux. Built for AI coding agents. Attach is a native tmux client for iOS, made for developers running Claude Code, Codex, OpenCode, and similar tools on remote machines. Browse sessions, switch windows, inspect panes from a visual layout, and manage everything from a purpose-built interface. Your terminal state stays on the server. Attach gives you a fast, native window into it. Why Attach: - Monitor AI coding sessions on the go - Native tmux session, window, and pane management - Visual pane layouts, quick switcher, and breadcrumb navigation - Smart keyboard with pinned modifiers, trackpad mode, and hardware keyboard support - 20+ terminal themes, including Dracula, Nord, Tokyo Night, Catppuccin, and Rosé Pine - Face ID lock and SSH keys stored securely in Keychain - Notifications for connection events, even in the background - Adaptive polling for responsive updates without unnecessary battery drain - On-demand scrollback history - Paste screenshots from your clipboard directly to your server - Auto-reconnect that picks up where you left off No local terminal emulation. No bloat. Just tmux, natively on iOS.
Shellton
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Shellton is a native ACP cockpit and persistent SSH/Mosh terminal for developers who want to run coding agents from iPhone without moving their work into a proprietary cloud relay. RUN CLAUDE AND CODEX ON YOUR HOSTS. Connect to a saved SSH or Mosh host, choose Claude or Codex, and start or resume an agent session in the directory where your code already lives. Shellton launches the official Agent Client Protocol adapter on demand and carries the session over your existing encrypted connection—no Shellton account, relay server, or host daemon. AN AGENT INTERFACE BUILT FOR MOBILE. Follow live transcripts, reasoning, tool activity, and plans without squeezing a desktop terminal onto your phone. Approve or deny tool requests, send the next instruction by keyboard or voice, switch between conversations, and hand control back to tmux when you return to a computer. EVERY DROPPED SESSION IS A BUG. Shellton tries Mosh first on every connection. Mosh survives Wi-Fi handoffs, dead zones, and locked-screen suspends. If the server does not have mosh-server installed, Shellton transparently falls back to SSH. VOICE INPUT, ON-DEVICE. Tap the mic and dictate agent prompts or terminal commands. Supported speech engines run on your device; your audio is never sent to Shellton. KEYBOARD THAT WORKS FOR DEVELOPERS. Use a configurable accessory bar with modifier keys, arrows, and custom escape sequences. Build bars in the app or author them in YAML and import them from Files. Hyper, Meh, Kitty keyboard protocol, and tmux prefix shortcuts are supported. FULL-SCREEN TERMINAL. Use a true-color SwiftTerm terminal with Nerd Font glyphs, themes, snippets, per-host history, SSH key management, host-key verification, Live Activities, and tmux-aware navigation. YOUR DATA STAYS YOUR OWN. Shellton uses privacy-preserving product analytics for feature adoption and connection reliability. Analytics never include hostnames, addresses, usernames, commands, terminal text, credentials, voice audio, transcripts, or raw errors, and can be disabled in Settings. There is no advertising or cross-app tracking. SSH keys live in the iOS Keychain, app data remains local, and accessory-bar configuration can sync through your private iCloud container. KEY FEATURES • Native ACP conversations with Claude and Codex • Live transcripts, plans, tool activity, and permission approvals • Direct operation over your SSH or Mosh hosts; no proprietary relay • Auto Mosh-to-SSH fallback per host • On-device voice input • Customizable accessory bar with YAML import/export • Live Activities for active sessions • Ed25519 and ECDSA SSH key generation and import • Optional Face ID protection for stored credentials • Trust-On-First-Use host-key verification • Anonymous, opt-out product analytics; no tracking or ads CONVERSATION REQUIREMENTS • A saved SSH-accessible host with Node.js 22 or later and npm • Authentication with the selected agent provider when prompted • Shellton resolves the official ACP adapter through npx on demand; users do not install a separate Shellton daemon or generic ACP service TERMINAL REQUIREMENTS • iOS 17.0 or later • An SSH server you can connect to • mosh-server on the remote host for persistent Mosh sessions (optional) SHELLTON PRO An optional auto-renewable subscription unlocks voice input, agent conversations, custom accessory bars, and session-continuity tools. Payment is charged to your Apple ID; the subscription renews automatically unless cancelled at least 24 hours before the end of the period. Manage or cancel it in your App Store account settings. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://datons.github.io/shellton-site/privacy/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Shellton at Free against Attach's $4.99. On update cadence, 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
Shellton is free to download; Attach costs $4.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 5, 2026 and October 31, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Attach | Shellton |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $4.99 | Free — better |
| Positive reviews | 50.0% of reviews | — |
| Update frequency | Every 2 weeks | Every 2 weeks |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Paid | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad — better | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 18.0 | 17.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 40 MB | 46 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 17+ |
| Developer | ARBITER TECHNOLOGIES | Jesus Lopez |
In-app purchases
Attach
No in-app purchases
Shellton
No in-app purchases









