ShellPhone vs Hammer
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/
Hammer
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Hammer is a professional HTTP and HTTPS debugging toolkit for developers, QA engineers, mobile teams, and technical users who need a clear way to inspect, analyze, and troubleshoot network traffic on iPhone and iPad. Whether you are testing an API, debugging a mobile app, checking request headers, reviewing response data, or exporting sessions for deeper analysis, Hammer helps you understand what is happening between your app, website, and backend services. Designed for local-first network inspection, Hammer keeps captured data on your device by default. Requests, responses, headers, cookies, and session history remain local unless you choose to export or share them. How Hammer Works: Hammer uses Apple's public Network Extension framework and a Packet Tunnel Provider to enable on-device traffic capture. When you tap Start and approve the iOS system configuration prompt, Hammer creates a local Packet Tunnel. Traffic included in the active capture session is routed through Hammer's local proxy process on the same device, where requests and responses can be inspected and displayed. The Packet Tunnel does not connect your traffic to a remote VPN server. Hammer does not provide anonymous browsing, change your virtual location, or hide your public IP address. iOS displays VPN-related permission text and may show a VPN status indicator because Apple manages Packet Tunnel Provider configurations through its VPN configuration infrastructure. Key Features: Live Traffic Capture Capture HTTP and HTTPS requests in real time. Review method, host, path, status code, protocol, timing, size, and request details in a clean debugging interface. Detailed Request Inspector Inspect URL parameters, request and response headers, message bodies, status codes, timing metrics, and content types. HTTPS Debugging Use optional certificate-based HTTPS inspection in development, testing, or other authorized environments. Certificate installation and trust are controlled by the user through iOS Settings. Request History Keep capture sessions organized locally so you can revisit traffic, compare results, and investigate issues after testing. Rules and Filters Manage rules for bypassing hosts, blocking traffic, rewriting requests, mapping responses, and controlling traffic during debugging. HAR Export Export captured sessions as HAR files for desktop analysis, bug reports, team collaboration, or long-term debugging records. Local Proxy Workflow Use Hammer's on-device Packet Tunnel and local proxy workflow to inspect traffic from apps, browsers, and services you are authorized to analyze. Clean Debugging Interface Work with readable request lists, structured detail views, protocol statistics, favorites, and practical tools for repeated debugging. Local-First Privacy Captured network content is processed and stored locally by default. Hammer does not require an account, and the Packet Tunnel does not upload captured traffic to a remote VPN server. Data leaves your device only when you explicitly export, share, or submit it through a user-initiated action. Hammer is useful for: • Debugging mobile app API requests • Inspecting HTTP and HTTPS traffic • Reviewing headers, cookies, and response bodies • Testing backend services and REST APIs • Checking status codes, redirects, and timing • Exporting HAR files for issue reports • Managing traffic rules during development • Investigating network behavior during QA testing Hammer is intended for legitimate development, testing, and debugging workflows. Use it only with apps, websites, services, and network traffic that you own or have permission to inspect.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Hammer at none against ShellPhone's 4. ShellPhone's advantage is ads (none vs shown) and device support (4 vs 2). On price, update cadence 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
Both are free to download. ShellPhone sells 4 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per year. Hammer asks for nothing beyond the download.
ShellPhone ships an update every 9 days, Hammer every 5 days. The most recent releases landed on September 17, 2026 and September 18, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | ShellPhone | Hammer |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Update frequency | Every 9 days | Every 5 days — better |
| Ads | No — better | Yes |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 15.5 — better | 16.6 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 52 MB | 253 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Antonio Martinez Gimeno | BARATHEON TECHNOLOGY LIMITED |
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
Hammer
No in-app purchases








