Comparison

Orca IDE vs SuperGLab

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

SuperGLab

Features
Read full description

SuperGLab is a native iOS client for your self-hosted GitLab — code review, CI/CD, and repository editing, from your iPhone and iPad. REVIEW ON THE GO • Full merge request review: description, mergeable status, approvals • Line-by-line diffs with inline comments anchored to the exact line • Discussion threads, replies, resolve, and emoji reactions • Approve, merge, or squash-merge • Create merge requests and issues CI/CD IN YOUR POCKET • Pipeline lists and details with stage / job graphs • Live job logs with ANSI colors preserved and auto-scroll • Trigger, retry, or cancel pipelines; retry, cancel, or play jobs • Manage CI/CD variables and pipeline schedules EDIT YOUR REPOSITORY • Browse the full file tree; view syntax-highlighted code and images • Edit a file and commit to a new or existing branch • A new branch can open a merge request at the same time • Create and delete branches and tags BUILT FOR iPHONE AND iPAD • "Your Work" overview, pipelines, diffs, and file editing — fully rendered on both • Multiple accounts across GitLab instances (Pro) • Light / dark themes, English and 繁體中文 PRIVACY FIRST SuperGLab has no backend of its own and collects no analytics or tracking. Every request goes straight to the GitLab server you configure. Your Personal Access Token is stored in the device Keychain. FREE & PRO Everything you read is free: browse projects, read MRs / Issues / pipelines, view files and logs. Pro unlocks writes — commenting, approving, merging, repository editing, and multiple accounts. Pro is available as a monthly or yearly subscription (with a free trial) or a one-time Lifetime purchase. Requires iOS 17 or later. Works with self-hosted GitLab. SUBSCRIPTION DETAILS • Pro Monthly — US$1.99 per month, auto-renewable, with a 7-day free trial • Pro Yearly — US$19.99 per year, auto-renewable, with a 7-day free trial • Pro Lifetime — US$39.99, a one-time purchase (not a subscription) Payment is charged to your Apple Account at confirmation of purchase. A subscription renews automatically unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Manage or cancel subscriptions in your Apple Account settings. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Privacy Policy: https://apps.rory.idv.tw/en/super-glab/privacy/

Screenshots

Orca IDE4 screens
SuperGLab4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Orca IDE at none against SuperGLab's 3. Orca IDE also leads on update cadence (every 3 days vs every 2 weeks) and chart position (#20 vs unranked). 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. SuperGLab sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. Orca IDE asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Orca IDE ships an update every 3 days, SuperGLab every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 15, 2026 and October 10, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 7 level
Orca IDE versus SuperGLab: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterOrca IDESuperGLab
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.7 (38 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews83.8% of reviews—
Number of ratings38 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 3 days — betterEvery 2 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNo — betterYes
MonetizationFree—
Best chart rank#20 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.1 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size41 MB13 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperLovecast LLCShih Chao Yeh

In-app purchases

None

Orca IDE

No in-app purchases

3 purchases

SuperGLab

Subscriptions2
  • SuperGLab Pro — Monthly7 Days trial$1.991 Month
  • SuperGLab Pro — Yearly7 Days trial$19.991 Year
One-time1
  • SuperGLab Pro — Lifetime$39.99

Questions

Is Orca IDE free?
Orca IDE is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is SuperGLab free?
SuperGLab is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Orca IDE or SuperGLab have ads?
Neither Orca IDE nor SuperGLab shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Orca IDE or SuperGLab?
Orca IDE ships an update every 3 days, and SuperGLab every 2 weeks. Most recently, Orca IDE was updated on October 15, 2026 and SuperGLab on October 10, 2026.

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