Comparison

JS Shell vs LoHo Local Server

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

Head to head
About

JS Shell

Features
Read full description

JS Shell is a pocket-sized developer console that lets you write, run, and test web code (HTML, CSS, JavaScript) directly on iOS and macOS. No Xcode, no laptop, no remote server. Paste a page in, tap run, and it loads in a real WKWebView served from a local HTTP origin. A real secure-context origin on iOS, so modern web APIs — from WebRTC to Geolocation — behave the way they should. KEY FEATURES Local HTTP server. An in-process server bound to the loopback interface. Provides a real secure-context origin so modern Web APIs work out of the box. Not reachable from outside the device. JavaScript REPL. A full JavaScript runtime backed by JavaScriptCore. Type js to enter the REPL. console.log, fetch, setTimeout, setInterval, Promises, and async await are all available. Real Promises, real microtasks, real JSON parsing, real URL parsing. Geolocation support. Test navigator.geolocation on a real iOS device. Permissions are handled by the system, just like Safari. Useful for validating location-based web features without deploying to a server. Persistent file system. Files you paste live in your Documents directory and survive app restarts. Each downloaded package gets its own directory. iCloud backup picks them up like any other app data. SQLite key-value store. A real B-tree on disk via SQLite. Read and write from your pages with same-origin fetch. No CORS configuration required. curl. A subset of curl built on URLSession. The flags X, H, d, i, I, o, A, m, v are supported. Pretty-prints JSON responses and saves binary blobs to the virtual filesystem. Archive extraction. In-process tar, tar.gz, tgz, gz, and zip extraction. No shelling out. Download a release tarball with curl, extract it, and run it immediately. Voice commands. Tap the mic, speak a command. Apple Speech framework converts speech to text. Auto-submits on detected silence. Voice commands are saved to the scripts list for one-tap re-run. Saved scripts. Save any sequence of commands as a named script. One-tap to re-run later. Voice-recognized commands are auto-saved to the scripts list for instant replay. Mac Catalyst support. Runs natively on macOS as a Mac Catalyst app. Multi-window, resizable, fullscreen-capable. The same code that runs on your iPhone runs on your Mac. DESIGNED FOR DEVELOPERS JS Shell is a tool for people who want to test web code on a real iOS device without installing Xcode, syncing files, or setting up a tunnel. It is especially useful for: Testing geolocation, camera, and microphone permission flows on iOS. Validating fetch, CORS, and cookie behavior on a real iPhone. Building small offline web tools that need persistent state. Running JavaScript snippets without opening Safari Inspector. Debugging mobile rendering edge cases on the device itself. PRIVACY JS Shell does not collect any user data. There is no telemetry, no ads, no analytics, no third-party SDKs, no remote configuration. Everything you type, paste, or download stays on your device. The local HTTP server only listens on the loopback interface and is not reachable from any network. The app forwards camera, microphone, speech recognition, and location permissions to web pages you load, exactly like Safari does on macOS. The first time a page tries to use them, iOS shows the standard system permission prompt. The first time a page tries to use them, iOS shows the standard system permission prompt.

About

LoHo Local Server

Features
Read full description

Turn your iPhone into a fast, portable localhost web server. Testing web development projects on the go has never been easier. LoHO allows you to instantly spin up a local website server directly on your iPhone. No cloud hosting or complex configurations required—just open your website folder and view your build live in Safari in seconds. Key Features - Instant Localhost Hosting: Open any website folder on your device and generate a working local IP address instantly. - Essential Development Tools: Perfect for web developers and designers who need a quick, reliable local server environment in their pocket. - Seamless Webserver Preview: Test responsive layouts, code updates, and assets live in Safari without deploying to the web. - Offline Friendly: Run your local server anywhere, anytime, completely offline. Streamline your mobile dev workflow with the simplest local server app available. Legal: www.loho.asia/privacy.html www.loho.asia/terms.html Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

JS Shell3 screens
LoHo Local Server4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is price: JS Shell at Free against LoHo Local Server's $0.99. On ads, in-app purchases, 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

JS Shell is free to download; LoHo Local Server costs $0.99 up front. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

Scorecard1 real difference · 4 level
JS Shell versus LoHo Local Server: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterJS ShellLoHo Local Server
PriceFree — better$0.99
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
DevicesiPhone, iPad — betteriPhone
Requires iOS17.0 — better17.6
Further details — not scored
Size6 MB2 MB
Age rating17+4+
DeveloperJowb Inc.Johannes Franciscus Hendrikus Hermans

In-app purchases

None

JS Shell

No in-app purchases

None

LoHo Local Server

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is JS Shell free?
JS Shell is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is LoHo Local Server free?
LoHo Local Server costs $0.99, with no in-app purchases.
Do JS Shell or LoHo Local Server have ads?
Neither JS Shell nor LoHo Local Server shows ads.

Other comparisons