ShellPhone vs Bolt SSH
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
ShellPhone
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1-month free trial. Try every Pro feature at no cost. Your terminal, in your pocket. NEW: server monitoring with nothing to install — live CPU, RAM, disk and processes on any Linux, macOS or Windows server. ShellPhone is a full-featured SSH client for iPhone, iPad, Mac — one native app, every device. Free to download and use daily. No cloud. No tracking. A genuine xterm terminal and a Termux-style on-screen keyboard with every shell symbol you need. Optional annual subscriptions unlock the power-user features — or get the All-in-one bundle and forget about it. No account, ever. FREE — your daily SSH client • Quick Connect, no signup • Multi-tab terminal · true colour · UTF-8 · unlimited scrollback • SFTP browser with streaming downloads • Command history search • Natural-language snippet search (cht.sh) • SSH key import (encrypted in keychain) • Host-key trust (TOFU) • App lock (Face ID / Touch ID / fingerprint / PIN) • 5 themes · 9 languages · iTerm2 .itermcolors import • Persist theme, font & language • Hardware keyboard shortcuts • Multi-window on iPad · split panes • End-to-end encrypted Cloud Sync • Encrypted backup · transparent reconnection • Tools: chmod calculator · SSH key generator · bandwidth test • Live server monitor — CPU, RAM, disk, load, processes · no agent (Linux, macOS, Windows) • Jump to recent folders — the terminal learns your cd’s • Crontab builder & explainer — offline • Hashes & checksums (MD5/SHA-1/SHA-256/SHA-512) — offline • Base64 & URL encoders • Password & token generator • MAC vendor lookup — on-device OUI database • Connection groups — folders for saved connections • Built-in glossary — every tool, icon and flow (incl. Multiexec), in 9 languages POWER USER • Save SSH connections • Bulk-import ~/.ssh/config · strict key validation • Save tunnels — LOCAL (-L) + SOCKS5 (-D) • Snippets with {{variables}} • SFTP uploads · auto-sync SFTP • ProxyJump / bastion (ssh -J) · Telnet • Wi-Fi triggers (by SSID) · pubkey agent • Macros — command sequences • Code editor for remote files • Zip / unzip over SFTP • Multitail — follow several remote logs • Remote SQLite browser • SFTP file management (rename, mkdir, chmod) • Search the scrollback · extract URLs · session recording · live latency • Fleet — every server at a glance · 24h on-device history · threshold alerts • tmux auto-attach per connection — reconnect and re-attach after network changes • Paste an image: SFTP upload to /tmp, path lands in your prompt • Dev-server preview — local tunnel + browser • JWT decoder — header, claims, expiry • Checksum of remote files over SSH • Format converter — JSON, YAML, TOML and XML • Multiexec — a dedicated tab: type once, reach several SSH sessions • Per-connection VPN — import a WireGuard config and that connection tunnels through it; userspace, no system-wide VPN, no TUN NETWORK TOOLS • Wake on LAN • TCP Ping (latency, jitter, loss) • DNS lookup (A/AAAA/MX/TXT/NS/CNAME/SOA/PTR) · Reverse DNS · Whois • Subnet scanner · port scanner • TLS cert inspector (fingerprints + expiry alerts) • HTTP / curl tester • iperf3 client (TCP/UDP) • Multi-host send • SSH over HTTP CONNECT proxy · remote port forward (ssh -R) • Subnet calculator — CIDR, mask, wildcard, usable range • Timestamp converter — Unix, ISO-8601, time zones • UUID v4 and ULID generator REMOTE DESKTOP • VNC viewer (RFC 6143) — RealVNC, x11vnc, macOS Screen Sharing, Raspberry Pi • Pinch-zoom up to 10× · drag-pan • Raw + CopyRect encodings · VNC password auth ALL-IN-ONE • Power user + Network tools + Remote desktop together, at a discount Annual auto-renewable subscriptions, cancel anytime. No analytics SDKs, no third-party tracking; your keys stay in the OS keychain. Terms of Use (EULA): https://shellphone.sggyamg.com/terms/ Privacy Policy: https://shellphone.sggyamg.com/privacy/
Bolt SSH
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Bolt SSH — the SSH terminal made for your phone Everything you need to manage servers from your phone, without the friction. Bolt SSH keeps your hosts and keys organized, locks tight behind biometrics, and gets you reconnected fast when mobile networks drop. Works with Linux/Unix servers and Windows PowerShell (sshd) out of the box. Reconnect without the hassle • Automatic reconnect, plus one-tap manual reconnect from the status bar • Returns you to your remote working directory after reconnecting — no re-cd-ing • Real terminal rendering (xterm.js) with an aux key bar (Esc / Tab / arrows / Ctrl) Security first • App Lock with Face ID / fingerprint — locks the instant you background the app • Trust-on-first-use + known_hosts verification; instant alert on host key change to help stop man-in-the-middle attacks • Private keys and passwords stored in the device secure enclave (Keychain / Keystore), never in plaintext Effortless management • Multi-host manager with color labels, recent-first ordering, and duplicate / edit / delete • Multiple keys — import or paste private keys (OpenSSH / RSA PEM) with passphrase support • English & Chinese Free to download — core features work out of the box. Everything runs locally; nothing routes through our servers.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Bolt SSH at none against ShellPhone's 4. Bolt SSH also leads on iOS requirement (13.0 vs 15.0). On price, 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
Both are free to download. ShellPhone sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per year. Bolt SSH asks for nothing beyond the download.
| Parameter | ShellPhone | Bolt SSH |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Update frequency | Every 9 days | — |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — better | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 | 13.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 52 MB | 24 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Antonio Martinez Gimeno | 文博 邱 |
In-app purchases
ShellPhone
- Power user$1.991 Year
- Network tools$1.991 Year
- Remote desktop$3.991 Year
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- All-in-one$5.991 Year
Bolt SSH
No in-app purchases









