BBStelnet vs Zelmux
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
BBStelnet
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BBStelnet — A minimalist BBS terminal designed exclusively for iPhone. Built with native SwiftUI for fluid performance and excellent battery efficiency. [Supported Servers] • PTT — secure WebSocket (WSS) connection • Bahamut, Hua Kui, and any Telnet / WebSocket BBS • Custom host / port; save multiple servers and accounts [Full Chinese Support] • Dual BIG5 / UTF-8 encoding with built-in Big5-UAO character mapping (25,916 characters) • Built-in Bopomofo (Zhuyin) input method with familiar key layout • Clean rendering of PTT push messages, posts, and mail — no garbled text [Reading Experience] • 14 ambient sounds (rain, waves, thunderstorm, waterfall, campfire, and more) for immersive reading • Full 16-color ANSI palette customization • Adjustable font family and size • Portrait / landscape rotation [Productivity Tools] • Floating keyboard for one-tap BBS commands • Quick Keys with cross-page paging, sorting, and grouping — kaomoji, arrow keys, and edit commands all included • Auto-login scripts and keep-alive (no idle disconnects) • Automatic URL detection in articles; built-in pinch-zoom image viewer [BBStelnet Pro — One-time purchase, unlocks forever] • Permanently remove ads (banner + interstitial) • Unlock 10 additional ambient sounds • Data export / import — back up sites, quick keys, and floating keyboard layouts in one tap Also available as consumable add-ons: Quick Key +10 cells, Station +5 slots — purchase as needed. Actively maintained by the developer. Welcome to all BBS enthusiasts and longtime PTT users.
Zelmux
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Zelmux is a mobile client for Zellij,Tmux and SSH. It's optimized for Claude and Codex cli. Connect to a Zellij server running on your Mac or Linux box and attach to live sessions from your iPhone. Built for developers who run long-lived agent workflows — Claude Code, Codex, build watchers, log tails — and want to check in, steer, or paste prompts without opening a laptop. KEY FEATURES • Attach to your Zellij sessions over HTTPS and WebSocket • Secure self-signed TLS support with certificate pinning • Fast ANSI terminal rendering powered by SwiftTerm • Prompt composer with Send, Paste, and Stage modes • Bracketed-paste support for safer multi-line prompts • Saved snippets for repeat commands • Touch modes for scrolling, selection, and terminal mouse input • Pinch to zoom terminal font size • Focus mode for full-screen terminal viewing • Local-first design with no cloud account, telemetry, or third-party tracking
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Zelmux at none against BBStelnet's 3. Zelmux also leads on ads (none vs shown). On price, update cadence, device support 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. BBStelnet sells 3 one-off in-app purchases. Zelmux asks for nothing beyond the download.
BBStelnet ships an update every 9 days, Zelmux every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 9, 2026 and October 8, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | BBStelnet | Zelmux |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Update frequency | Every 9 days — better | Every 3 weeks |
| Ads | Yes | No — better |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Devices | iPhone | iPhone, iPad — better |
| Requires iOS | 17.6 | 16.0 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 12 MB | 6 MB |
| Age rating | 17+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Hsu Chia-cheng | Yang Zhang |
In-app purchases
BBStelnet
- Quick Key Cells +10$0.99
- Station Slots +5$0.99
- BBStelnet Pro$9.99
Zelmux
No in-app purchases









