Comparison

QuickTUI vs Open Terminal

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

Head to head
About

QuickTUI

Control your self-hosted AI agents from any device. Seamlessly attach to live terminal sessions, manage tasks, and interact with your agents remotely without interruption. Offers extensive customization for terminal keys and themes.

Highlights
  • Remote AI agent control
  • Live terminal session attachment
  • Customizable toolbar and shortcuts
  • Built-in file browser
  • Multiple terminal themes
  • QR code server setup
Features
Read full description

Your AI coding agents, within reach of any screen. QuickTUI is the iPhone and iPad app for your own computer or server. Kick off Claude Code, Codex, Gemini, or any long-running terminal job — then walk away. Your session stays live on your machine, and you can check in from wherever you are. Free for one server, with a direct connection by default — your code never touches our servers. LAUNCH ANY AGENT IN ONE TAP — NEW The Agent Wizard starts Claude Code, Codex, OpenCode, Grok, Gemini, Cursor, Kimi, Qoder, or Pi in the folder you pick. Save model and effort presets (effort where supported), reuse recent folders, and name the session — or let QuickTUI name it for you. EVERY SESSION AT A GLANCE — NEW The rebuilt switcher shows workspaces, windows or tabs, and panes in one tree. Swipe to jump between sessions. With the Herdr backend, an icon shows every agent's live status — working, idle, blocked, or done — so you know who needs you before you open anything. TMUX OR HERDR, NOW ON WINDOWS TOO — NEW Run your sessions in tmux or Herdr. On Windows, QuickTUI runs on Herdr (install Herdr first), so the same app now reaches your Windows PC as well as your Mac or Linux machine. REACH IN FROM ANYWHERE Your agent hit a confirm prompt. You're on the subway. Attach, approve, detach — 10 seconds, and it keeps going without you. When a direct link won't work — behind NAT, no public IP, no port forwarding — the optional Relay connection gets you in. BUILT FOR THE TERMINAL Up to three shortcut bars, each with left, center, and right zones you arrange by drag and drop. Esc, Tab, Ctrl combos, and arrow keys are one tap away. A command palette with ready-made commands for popular agents, git, and tmux — search, fill in parameters, send. A full input bar with image and camera attachments. Searchable clipboard history. Text selection and copy, built right in. PORTS AND PREVIEWS Scan the listening ports on your machine and forward one in a tap. Open it in the built-in Port Browser, in mobile or desktop mode, to check your dev server right from your phone. BROWSE FILES TOO Browse, preview, and transfer files, or upload images from your photo library into a folder. The file browser is off by default and only starts listing files after you enable it. On macOS, the QuickTUI server may also need Files & Folders or Full Disk Access after opt-in. Direct connections do not send terminal or file content to QuickTUI. THEMES THAT LOOK RIGHT 37 terminal color schemes — Catppuccin, Tokyo Night, Gruvbox, Kanagawa, Everforest, Solarized, Dracula, Nord, Rose Pine, and more. Separate dark and light themes, auto-switched with your system. Font, size, line height, padding, and cursor style — all yours to tune. SETUP IN MINUTES Have SSH access to your Mac or Linux machine? Connect over SSH and QuickTUI installs its server and pairs for you — with a password or an SSH key. Or install the server yourself with one line from https://quicktui.ai and scan the pairing QR code. Just need a shell? Direct SSH profiles work with no server install at all. FREE TO USE, PRO FOR MORE Download free and connect to one server — every feature included: terminal, Agent Wizard, sessions, file browser, port forwarding, themes, and shortcuts. Upgrade to QuickTUI Pro with a one-time purchase to unlock unlimited server profiles. The optional Relay connection is part of QuickTUI Cloud, a separate subscription. If you bought the app before it became free, you're already Pro — just tap Restore Purchase in Settings or the Paywall. YOUR SERVER, YOUR DATA Each device pairs with its own key, stored in the iOS Keychain. Your code, your keys, your API quotas — all stay on your own machine. Direct connections require no QuickTUI account; an account is only needed for optional Cloud features. No telemetry. On a direct connection there is no third party in the loop — Relay is strictly optional. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

Open Terminal

Features
Read full description

Open Terminal is an SSH client for your pocket. Connect to your servers, run commands, transfer files over SFTP and open tunnels, from your pocket. No account, no telemetry. Your hosts and keys stay on your device and in your own iCloud. SSH-2 with modern ciphers. SFTP file transfer. Port forwarding. Key and password authentication. Works with coding agents running on your own machine.

Screenshots

QuickTUI4 screens
Open Terminal4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Open Terminal at none against QuickTUI's 1. QuickTUI's advantage is iOS requirement (16.4 vs 26.0). On price, update cadence, ads 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. QuickTUI sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Open Terminal asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

QuickTUI ships an update weekly, Open Terminal every 10 days. The most recent releases landed on October 25, 2026 and October 21, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
QuickTUI versus Open Terminal: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterQuickTUIOpen Terminal
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (2 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings2 — better—
Update frequencyWeekly — betterEvery 10 days
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree—
DevicesiPhone, iPad — betteriPhone
Requires iOS16.4 — better26.0
Further details — not scored
Size68 MB17 MB
Age rating4+4+
Developer宇雷 廖Michalot Louis

In-app purchases

1 purchases

QuickTUI

One-time1
  • QuickTUI Pro Lifetime$12.99
None

Open Terminal

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is QuickTUI free?
QuickTUI is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Open Terminal free?
Open Terminal is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do QuickTUI or Open Terminal have ads?
Neither QuickTUI nor Open Terminal shows ads.
Which is updated more often, QuickTUI or Open Terminal?
QuickTUI ships an update weekly, and Open Terminal every 10 days. Most recently, QuickTUI was updated on October 25, 2026 and Open Terminal on October 21, 2026.

Other comparisons