Comparison

ShellPhone vs Tailscode

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

Head to head
About

ShellPhone

Read full description

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/

About

Tailscode

Interact with AI agents like Claude Code and Oh My Pi from your phone. Monitor and approve commands, view code changes, and manage conversations live on your lock screen. All data is transmitted point-to-point over your private network.

Highlights
  • Live Lock Screen Activities for conversations
  • Approve commands and answer agent questions
  • View code diffs and output inline
  • Manage multiple servers and conversations
  • Track conversation costs and model usage
  • End-to-end encrypted communication
Features
Read full description

Send a prompt to Claude Code, opencode or Oh My Pi from your phone, pocket it, and watch the turn finish on your Lock Screen. Approve the risky command, answer the agent's question, read every diff — from anywhere on your own Tailscale network. WHAT YOU NEED A Mac or Linux machine on your tailnet (Tailscale is free for personal use) running one of your agents: opencode, Claude Code through the open-source claude-bridge, or Oh My Pi through the open-source omp-bridge. Set-up is three verified steps, and a built-in demo lets you try every screen before you wire anything. THE TURN, LIVE ON YOUR LOCK SCREEN • A Live Activity per conversation: what it is doing, for how long, and how many tools it has run. • An approval request alerts you; a finished turn lingers with its outcome. Tap to land in the exact chat. • Updates arrive by push while the app is suspended. A NATIVE TRANSCRIPT, NOT A TERMINAL • Streaming text written at the model's own speed, with thinking and tool runs folded into readable groups. • Diffs, commands and their real output inline; syntax-highlighted code with byte-exact copy. • Allow once, always, or deny — without leaving the chat. Agent questions become tappable cards. • Queue the next message while a turn runs, edit it before it goes, or stop the turn on the server. • Every picture the agent hands you, in a gallery you can zoom, save or share. EVERY MACHINE ON ONE BOARD • All your servers' conversations in one list, live status first, grouped by project. • Read the repository before you trust the change: branch, staged, changed, untracked, and the diff of any file. • Subagents dock inside the turn that spawned them; a compaction is drawn as a seam with what it kept. • Slash commands from the server's own catalog, per-message model and reasoning effort, forking. KNOW WHAT IT COSTS • Every conversation priced, every month totalled across machines — by model, project and tool. • Plan limits and quotas for Claude, Grok, Ollama Cloud, DeepSeek and more, on Home and in a widget. YOURS, END TO END • Point-to-point over your tailnet. No relay servers, no account, no analytics, nobody reading your code. • Programmatic UIKit, Swift 6, Liquid Glass on iOS 26. Dark mode, Dynamic Type, haptics. • Open source under GPL-3.0 — the app, the engine, and both bridges. FREE, WITH AN HONEST PRO The free app is the complete core: one server, full chat, approvals, attachments, models, forking, and Live Activities. Tailscode Pro is a one-time purchase, no subscription: multiple saved servers, concurrent Live Activities, and a supporter badge. Tailscode is independent open-source software: not affiliated with or endorsed by Anthropic, Tailscale Inc., the opencode project or Oh My Pi. Privacy policy: https://midgarcorp.cc/tailscode/privacy Source code: https://github.com/guitaripod/Tailscode

Screenshots

ShellPhone4 screens
Tailscode4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Tailscode at every 2 days against ShellPhone's every 9 days. ShellPhone's advantage is iOS requirement (15.5 vs 18.0). On price, ads, in-app purchases 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. ShellPhone sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per year and Tailscode sells 4 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

ShellPhone ships an update every 9 days, Tailscode every 2 days. The most recent releases landed on September 17, 2026 and September 15, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 7 level
ShellPhone versus Tailscode: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterShellPhoneTailscode
PriceFreeFree
Rating—5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Number of ratings—1 — better
Update frequencyEvery 9 daysEvery 2 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
Monetization—Free with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — betteriPhone, iPad, Mac
Requires iOS15.5 — better18.0
Further details — not scored
Size52 MB24 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperAntonio Martinez GimenoMidgar Oy

In-app purchases

4 purchases

ShellPhone

Subscriptions4
  • Power user$1.991 Year
  • Network tools$1.991 Year
  • Remote desktop$3.991 Year
Show 1 more
  • All-in-one$5.991 Year
4 purchases

Tailscode

One-time4
  • Small Tip$2.99
  • Generous Tip$9.99
  • Tailscode Pro$14.99
Show 1 more
  • Lavish Tip$19.99

Questions

Is ShellPhone free?
ShellPhone is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Tailscode free?
Tailscode is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do ShellPhone or Tailscode have ads?
Neither ShellPhone nor Tailscode shows ads.
Which is updated more often, ShellPhone or Tailscode?
ShellPhone ships an update every 9 days, and Tailscode every 2 days. Most recently, ShellPhone was updated on September 17, 2026 and Tailscode on September 15, 2026.

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