Comparison

Cortex Relay vs NetScanner

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

Head to head
About

Cortex Relay

Access powerful AI agents like Claude Code from your iPhone via a chat interface or a full SSH terminal. Features include on-device voice input, persistent sessions, and secure credential management. Customize your terminal experience with various themes and font sizes.

Highlights
  • AI agent chat interface
  • Full SSH terminal access
  • On-device voice input
  • Persistent tmux sessions
  • Secure SSH key management
  • Customizable terminal themes
Read full description

Run Claude Code (or Codex and any other AI agent) from your iPhone. Cortex Relay gives you two ways to work with Claude Code on a remote machine — a friendly chat UI and a full-blown SSH terminal. Pick the right tool for the moment. THE CHAT Speak or type a prompt. Claude Code runs on your server, and the response streams back as a clean conversation with tool activity, cost breakdowns, and one-tap shortcuts for common tasks like committing, reviewing branches, or checking status. Upload photos from your camera roll and Claude can see them too. THE TERMINAL A real SSH terminal session. Cortex Relay renders the full CLI experience — interactive permission prompts, slash commands, MCP integrations, vim, git, whatever you need. Seven color themes from Nord to Dracula, pinch to resize, and a shortcut bar for /compact, /clear, /model, /status, and /cost. VOICE INPUT On-device speech recognition powered by OpenAI's Whisper. Pick a model size (tiny, base, small) and language (English or multilingual). Runs entirely on your phone — no server round-trip, works offline. Apple's built-in speech engine is available by default too. SESSIONS THAT SURVIVE Every terminal session runs inside tmux. Background the app, lose WiFi, switch to a call — your session keeps running on the server. Come back and everything is exactly where you left off. No reconnect dance. NOTIFICATIONS Get a push when Claude finishes a long task or needs your approval. The chat sends these automatically. For terminal sessions, drop a one-line webhook into your project's CLAUDE.md and Claude does the rest. SECURE BY DEFAULT Generate ed25519 SSH keys directly in the app or import your existing ones. Keys live in the iOS Keychain, optionally locked behind Face ID or Touch ID. Password auth is supported too, with the same biometric protection. Your credentials never leave the device. ORGANIZED Create named servers with saved directories. Spin up Chat or Terminal connections to any project on any machine. Each connection remembers its own dictation preferences. One server, many projects, zero re-entering credentials. YOUR TERMINAL, YOUR WAY Navy, Homebrew, Nord, Dracula, Solarized Dark, One Dark, Pure Black — pick a theme, see it applied instantly. Pinch to zoom the font size. It sticks between sessions. WHAT STAYS ON YOUR PHONE - SSH keys and passwords in iOS Keychain with biometric lock - Whisper speech recognition runs on-device only - No credentials sent to our servers - Push relay handles notification delivery — nothing else

About

NetScanner

This tool allows developers to inspect HTTP and HTTPS traffic directly on their iPhone. It captures requests and responses in real-time, aids in debugging, and offers built-in utilities for analysis and testing.

Highlights
  • Real-time traffic inspection
  • HTTPS setup and debugging
  • Request analysis and editing
  • Rewrite rules for local debugging
  • Session history and HAR export
  • Built-in developer utilities
Features
Read full description

NetScanner is a native iPhone network debugging tool built for developers, testers, security researchers, and advanced users who need to inspect HTTP and HTTPS traffic directly on device. It is designed to make mobile traffic inspection faster, clearer, and more practical for day-to-day debugging work. With NetScanner, you can capture requests and responses in real time, review key request details, manage HTTPS certificate setup, and keep your debugging workflow on the device. The app focuses on practical inspection and troubleshooting, while also providing utilities that help speed up API testing and request analysis. 1. Real-time traffic inspection Capture HTTP and HTTPS traffic on iPhone and review requests, responses, status codes, timing, headers, body content, and other key details in one place. 2. HTTPS setup and debugging workflow Follow guided certificate setup steps, inspect request and response data more clearly, and use the app as a daily debugging companion for interface analysis and issue investigation. 3. Request analysis and editing Review request content in detail, replay requests, edit parameters, and quickly verify API behavior during testing and troubleshooting. 4. Rewrite rules and local debugging Apply rewrite rules for request or response debugging, adjust traffic behavior, and support more flexible development and verification scenarios. 5. Session history and HAR export Keep captured sessions organized, review previous traffic records, and export HAR files when you need to share or archive debugging results. 6. Built-in developer utilities Use integrated tools such as JSON formatting, URL encode/decode, Base64 encode/decode, regex testing, hash generation, and timestamp conversion without leaving the app. Captured traffic and debugging data stay on device unless you explicitly choose to export or share them. - Terms of Service:https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ - Privacy Policy:https://my.feishu.cn/wiki/WoLPwKrZEiXEb3kCutlcgpw9nff

Screenshots

Cortex Relay4 screens
NetScanner4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: Cortex Relay at 100% against NetScanner's 50%. Cortex Relay also leads on rating (4.0 vs 3.0) and in-app purchases (none vs 2). NetScanner's advantage is ratings volume (4 vs 1). On price, update cadence, ads and monetization model 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. NetScanner sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $19.99 per year. Cortex Relay asks for nothing beyond the download.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Cortex Relay holds the better App Store score, 4.0 against 3.0. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 1 and 4 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 100% of Cortex Relay's written reviews are positive against 50% of NetScanner's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Cortex Relay ships an update every 2 months, NetScanner monthly. The most recent releases landed on October 5, 2026 and September 30, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Cortex Relay versus NetScanner: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterCortex RelayNetScanner
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.0 (1 ratings) — better3.0 (4 ratings)
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews — better50.0% of reviews
Number of ratings14 — better
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsMonthly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFreeFree
DevicesiPhoneiPhone
Requires iOS17.0 — better17.6
Further details — not scored
Size14 MB30 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperMaksim Mikheev艳 罗

Customer experience

Cortex Relay

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

NetScanner

All ratings4 ratings
Positive50.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative50.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive50.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative50.0%

In-app purchases

None

Cortex Relay

No in-app purchases

2 purchases

NetScanner

Subscriptions1
  • Annual Pro$19.991 Year
One-time1
  • Lifetime Pro$39.99

Questions

Is Cortex Relay free?
Cortex Relay is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is NetScanner free?
NetScanner is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Cortex Relay or NetScanner?
Cortex Relay is rated higher. Cortex Relay averages 4.0 out of 5 from 1 ratings, while NetScanner averages 3.0 from 4 ratings.
Do Cortex Relay or NetScanner have ads?
Neither Cortex Relay nor NetScanner shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Cortex Relay or NetScanner?
Cortex Relay ships an update every 2 months, and NetScanner monthly. Most recently, Cortex Relay was updated on October 5, 2026 and NetScanner on September 30, 2026.

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