Orca IDE vs CompilePilot
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
- 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
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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.
CompilePilot
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CompilePilot lets you start and follow builds on your Mac from your iPhone or iPad. Choose a project, scheme, and destination, then put the build in motion without going back to your desk. Your Mac still does the work: compilation, signing, installation, and launch use the Xcode command-line tools you already have installed. CompilePilot displays the progress and complete output, but never downloads or runs executable code on your iPhone or iPad. Key features: - Direct local-network connection through the Companion or SSH. - Project, workspace, scheme, and configuration inventory. - Selection of available simulators and development devices. - Remote build and run with progress and a detailed log. - A free Mac Companion, with local-network discovery and six-digit pairing. - Live Simulator: watch and touch your Mac's simulator from your iPhone or iPad. - Coding-agent sessions on your Mac (Claude Code, Codex, opencode) that you read and type from your iPhone or iPad. Requires the Companion. - Siri and Shortcuts: ask how your build is going, run one again, or cancel it. A status widget, and an Apple Watch app with complications. Requires the Companion. - Tell your coding agent what to do next, from Siri or your watch, once it has finished its turn. Permission prompts are still answered on your iPhone. Requires the Companion. - Optional notifications when a build finishes or your agent is waiting, even away from home, encrypted on your Mac, and the running build on your Lock Screen. Requires the Companion. - Projects and agent sessions from all your Macs in one list. On iPad, the list and the details side by side. - A complete Demo Mode that works without a Mac or network connection. - Credentials stored in the device Keychain. There are no accounts, advertising analytics, tracking, or relay servers. Your iPhone or iPad communicates directly with your own Mac. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Orca IDE at none against CompilePilot's 2. Orca IDE also leads on chart position (#16 vs unranked) and iOS requirement (15.1 vs 18.0). On price, update cadence, 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. CompilePilot sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month. Orca IDE asks for nothing beyond the download.
Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 4 days. Both last shipped on October 29, 2026.
| Parameter | Orca IDE | CompilePilot |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.7 (53 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 87.3% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 53 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 4 days | Every 4 days |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Free | — |
| Best chart rank | #16 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch |
| Requires iOS | 15.1 — better | 18.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 43 MB | 37 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Lovecast LLC | Cristian Gabriel Morales |
In-app purchases
Orca IDE
No in-app purchases
CompilePilot
- Full Access Monthly3 Days trial$0.991 Month
- Full Access Yearly$5.991 Year








