Comparison

Helmrig Agents vs Orca IDE

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

Head to head
About

Helmrig Agents

Features
Read full description

Helmrig is a remote development client for iPhone. It pairs with helmrig-server running on your own laptop and gives you the AI coding agents, terminal, and filesystem of that machine — over an end-to-end encrypted tunnel. FEATURES • AI coding agents — run Claude Code or Codex on your laptop. Tell the agent what to do in plain language; it reads files, runs commands, and edits code on your machine. The app shows the output, diffs of any proposed changes, and approval prompts before anything is applied. You bring your own subscription or API keys; Helmrig doesn't sell or proxy AI access. • Attach files — pull any file from your laptop into the agent conversation in one tap, so the agent has exactly the context it needs. • Terminal — full PTY shell on your laptop with ANSI colors and resize. Use whatever you've installed: bash, zsh, fish, tmux, vim, nano, htop. • Files — browse and view the laptop filesystem with syntax highlighting for common languages. • Multi-project — switch between active projects in one tap; each project keeps its own terminal session and AI thread. HOW IT WORKS 1. Install the server on your laptop: npx helmrig@latest 2. Open Helmrig on iPhone, scan the QR code shown in the server. 3. The pairing key is generated locally on your devices and never leaves them. After pairing, phone and laptop talk directly over LAN or NAT-traversal when possible. When direct connection fails, the encrypted tunnel falls back through one of our regional relays. Relays forward opaque ciphertext only — they cannot decrypt anything. REQUIREMENTS • Laptop: macOS or Linux with Node.js 20+ • iPhone: iOS 17+ PRIVACY No third-party SDKs. No analytics. No crash reporting. Helmrig servers never see code, files, terminal output, or AI conversations. Full policy at helmrig.app/privacy.html CONTACT hi@helmrig.dev Privacy Policy: https://www.helmrig.app/privacy.html Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.helmrig.app/terms.html

About

Orca IDE

This app mirrors your desktop terminal sessions, including AI agent interactions, directly to your iPhone. It provides full keyboard input and multi-terminal support for seamless remote coding management. All processing remains on your desktop, ensuring your data stays secure.

Highlights
  • Live desktop terminal mirror
  • AI agent session management
  • Full keyboard input
  • Multi-worktree, multi-terminal support
  • Phone-fit zoom and smart keyboard
  • Background command execution
  • End-to-end encrypted pairing
Features
Read full description

Orca Mobile is the companion app for Orca, the open-source agentic coding workspace for macOS, Linux, and Windows. Pair your iPhone to your desktop in seconds and pick up a terminal session from the couch, the kitchen, or across the office. WHAT IT DOES • Live mirror of your desktop terminal, including running AI agent sessions (Claude Code, Codex, custom CLIs). • Full keyboard input — type, tab-complete, Ctrl-C, scroll back, all from the phone. • Multi-worktree, multi-terminal: jump between projects with a tap. • Phone-fit zoom and a smart on-screen keyboard with quick Ctrl/Alt accessory keys and shortcuts. • Background long-running commands and get a notification when a TUI goes idle (e.g. when Claude finishes thinking). HOW IT WORKS Orca Mobile is a thin client. Nothing runs on your phone except the viewer. Your code, your shells, your AI agents — all of that stays on your desktop. The phone shows you what's happening and forwards your keystrokes back over an encrypted local-network connection. Pairing is end-to-end encrypted. Your desktop generates a one-time keypair and shows a QR code; you scan it from the app. After that, all traffic between phone and desktop is sealed with that pair's keys. PRIVACY • No analytics SDK, no crash reporter, no third-party SDKs of any kind in the iOS app. • Pairing tokens and your preference list live in the app's own sandbox. The app's traffic to your desktop is end-to-end encrypted on your local network only. • The Orca desktop app collects anonymized usage metrics per the policy at https://www.onorca.dev/privacy. The mobile app itself does not. • Open source: every line is auditable at https://github.com/stablyai/orca. REQUIREMENTS • An iPhone (iOS 16+) on the same Wi-Fi as your desktop. • The Orca desktop app, free, from https://www.onorca.dev/ or https://github.com/stablyai/orca/releases.

Screenshots

Helmrig Agents4 screens
Orca IDE4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Orca IDE at none against Helmrig Agents's 1. Orca IDE also leads on update cadence (every 3 days vs fortnightly) and chart position (#18 vs unranked). On price, ads, device support and iOS requirement 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. Helmrig Agents sells 1 in-app purchase, starting at $12.99 per month. Orca IDE asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Helmrig Agents ships an update fortnightly, Orca IDE every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on October 8, 2026 and October 15, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 8 level
Helmrig Agents versus Orca IDE: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterHelmrig AgentsOrca IDE
PriceFreeFree
Rating—4.7 (38 ratings) — better
Positive reviews—83.8% of reviews
Number of ratings—38 — better
Update frequencyFortnightlyEvery 3 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
Monetization—Free
Best chart rank—#18 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS15.115.1
Further details — not scored
Size65 MB41 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperNikita KislitsinLovecast LLC

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Helmrig Agents

Subscriptions1
  • Helmrig Pro14 Days trial$12.991 Month
None

Orca IDE

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Helmrig Agents free?
Helmrig Agents is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Orca IDE free?
Orca IDE is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Helmrig Agents or Orca IDE have ads?
Neither Helmrig Agents nor Orca IDE shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Helmrig Agents or Orca IDE?
Helmrig Agents ships an update fortnightly, and Orca IDE every 3 days. Most recently, Helmrig Agents was updated on October 8, 2026 and Orca IDE on October 15, 2026.

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