ShellPilot vs EmpiricCommander File Manager
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side โ with what reviewers say about each.
ShellPilot
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Connect to any server from your iPhone or iPad, and keep the commands you run often ready to reuse. ShellPilot is a full SSH terminal built for developers, sysadmins, and anyone who manages a server, a VPS, or a Raspberry Pi on the go. SAVED SNIPPETS Keep the commands you run often โ restarts, log checks, deploy steps โ and run them in a tap on any saved server, instead of retyping them every time you connect. FULL TERMINAL A real terminal emulator with xterm-compatible rendering, not a cut-down text box. Works with tmux, vim, and anything else you run over SSH. SSH KEYS Generate or import Ed25519 and RSA keys. Keys stay on your device โ nothing is uploaded anywhere. SFTP FILE BROWSER Browse remote files next to your local storage over SFTP. Upload, download, rename and delete without leaving the app. MULTIPLE SERVERS Save connections for every server you manage. Switch between a VPS, a Raspberry Pi, or a Docker host in a tap. RECENT SESSIONS Jump back into a server you connected to recently, without hunting through a list. WORKS WELL FOR โข Developers deploying and checking on servers โข Sysadmins managing a VPS or home server โข Raspberry Pi and homelab owners โข Anyone who needs a real terminal without a laptop ABOUT THIS APP Your connections, keys and snippets stay on your device. No account, no cloud sync of credentials. PURCHASES โข ShellPilot Pro โ one-time purchase โข Payment is charged to your Apple Account at confirmation of purchase โข One-time purchase โ no subscription and no renewals Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://cosmovex.web.app/apps/shellpilot/privacy-policy
EmpiricCommander File Manager
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A real file manager for iPad - and for Mac and iPhone. Two panes side by side, drag between them, and move files where they belong without exporting or round-tripping through the Files app. PHOTOS OFF YOUR PHONE The Files app cannot see your photo library. EmpiricCommander can: browse your albums like folders and copy them to a USB-C drive, your NAS, SFTP, S3 - any destination, no account required. Originals are copied byte for byte with EXIF and location intact, a second run copies only what is new, and Free Up Space deletes a photo only after the copy has been read back and verified. THE WHOLE LOOP, NO MAC NEEDED Clone a repository over HTTPS or SSH, open a file in the built-in editor with syntax highlighting, stage your changes, commit, and push - on iPad and iPhone, without a separate terminal app. A commit log with a rendered branch and merge graph shows what happened, per-file diffs show exactly what changed, and merge conflicts are resolved in-app, per file. A REAL SSH TERMINAL An interactive shell to your server, from inside the file manager, on Mac, iPad and iPhone. iOS ships no ssh binary, so this is a full client implementation rather than a wrapper around a system tool. CONNECT TO WHAT YOU ALREADY HAVE SMB network shares (your NAS, Mac, or Windows PC), SFTP with key authentication, S3 and S3-compatible storage, FTP, WebDAV, Azure Blob, Dropbox, and more - browsed, copied, and moved like local folders. Your connection list syncs across your devices through iCloud; passwords stay in the Keychain and are never uploaded. BUILT FOR REAL FILE WORK - Dual-pane on Mac and iPad, with a tab bar on iPhone. - Streaming transfers, including remote to remote, with progress that survives leaving the app. - Folder Sync in four modes, and Compare Folders with SHA-256 verification so you can prove a copy is byte-for-byte identical. - Batch rename with regex, numbering and dates, previewed before it runs. - Browse inside ZIP archives like folders; create ZIP and TAR/GZ; read password-protected archives. - Duplicate finder, disk-usage treemap, checksums, permissions editor. - Quick Look plus rich preview for CSV, JSON, Markdown, YAML, TOML and source code. - Full hardware-keyboard support on iPad: arrows, shift-selection, Tab, Esc, Return, Space. SHORTCUTS List, upload, download and sync folders on your saved servers from the Shortcuts app, without opening EmpiricCommander. Save a folder sync as a set and run it when the app launches or from a shortcut. ON-DEVICE AI Describe a batch rename in plain words, or summarize a document, using Apple Intelligence. It runs entirely on your device: no account, no API key, no per-use cost, and your filenames and file contents never leave the device. ONE PURCHASE, THREE PLATFORMS Buy once and use EmpiricCommander on your Mac, iPad and iPhone - one device of each type. Not a subscription. This major version and all of its updates are included. PRIVACY No tracking. Diagnostics are strictly opt-in.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: EmpiricCommander File Manager at every 2 days against ShellPilot's every 6 months. ShellPilot's advantage is iOS requirement (15.0 vs 17.0). On price, ads, in-app purchases and device support 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
Both are free to download. ShellPilot sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and EmpiricCommander File Manager sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
ShellPilot ships an update every 6 months, EmpiricCommander File Manager every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on October 24, 2026 and October 28, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | ShellPilot | EmpiricCommander File Manager |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Update frequency | Every 6 months | Every 2 days โ better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod โ better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 โ better | 17.0 |
| Further details โ not scored | ||
| Size | 72 MB | 37 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Sahana A S | Burlac Mihail |
In-app purchases
ShellPilot
- ShellPilot Pro$4.99
EmpiricCommander File Manager
- EmpiricCommander Pro$49.99
Questions
Is ShellPilot free?
Is EmpiricCommander File Manager free?
Do ShellPilot or EmpiricCommander File Manager have ads?
Which is updated more often, ShellPilot or EmpiricCommander File Manager?
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