Comparison

Orca IDE vs CodeMote

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

Head to head
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.

About

CodeMote

Read full description

CodeMote turns your iPhone and iPad into a real connection to your development machine. Pair in seconds, then run your terminals, manage git, and drive AI coding agents - from anywhere. This isn't a stripped-down mobile editor. CodeMote connects to the full workstation you already have set up, so you get your real environment, your real tools, and your real projects in your pocket. Works with your existing VS Code setup. WHAT YOU CAN DO - Live terminals - open real shells on your machine, with sessions that survive backgrounding and reconnect instantly. - Git, built in - status, diff, commit, push, branches and full history, with zero credentials stored on your phone. - AI coding on the go - kick off and steer AI coding agents while you are away from your desk. - Multiple workspaces - jump between projects and keep long-running tasks alive in the background. - Saved commands - one tap to run the commands you use most. - Persistent sessions - start something on your phone, pick it up on your desktop. BUILT FOR DEVELOPERS - Fast, secure pairing - connect your phone to your machine in seconds. - Your code never leaves your computer - CodeMote is a remote control, not a copy. - Terminal-first, keyboard-friendly, and dark by default - designed for the way you actually work. WHY CODEMOTE Other remote-coding apps give you a chat box bolted onto an AI agent. CodeMote gives you the whole workstation - terminal, git, and AI together - so you can do real work, not just send prompts. Ship a fix from the sofa. Restart a build from the train. Review a diff over coffee. Your dev machine is now wherever you are. Download CodeMote and code from anywhere. A subscription is required to use CodeMote. Terms of Service: https://codemote.caste.work/tos Privacy Policy: https://codemote.caste.work/privacy

Screenshots

Orca IDE4 screens
CodeMote4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Orca IDE at every 3 days against CodeMote's weekly. Orca IDE also leads on chart position (#18 vs unranked) and iOS requirement (15.1 vs 26.0). 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Orca IDE ships an update every 3 days, CodeMote weekly. The most recent releases landed on October 11, 2026 and October 8, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences · 8 level
Orca IDE versus CodeMote: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterOrca IDECodeMote
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.6 (32 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews87.9% of reviews—
Number of ratings32 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 3 days — betterWeekly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree—
Best chart rank#18 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.1 — better26.0
Further details — not scored
Size41 MB46 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperLovecast LLCSalvatore Castellitti

In-app purchases

None

Orca IDE

No in-app purchases

None

CodeMote

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Orca IDE free?
Orca IDE is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is CodeMote free?
CodeMote is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Orca IDE or CodeMote have ads?
Neither Orca IDE nor CodeMote shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Orca IDE or CodeMote?
Orca IDE ships an update every 3 days, and CodeMote weekly. Most recently, Orca IDE was updated on October 11, 2026 and CodeMote on October 8, 2026.

Other comparisons