Comparison

TermBridge vs RootDeck

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

Head to head
About

TermBridge

Control and observe any terminal on your Mac from your phone, anywhere. Dictate commands, attach files, and sync clipboards. Securely manage your development workflow remotely.

Highlights
  • Remote terminal control
  • Live agent monitoring
  • Push notifications for agent prompts
  • Voice command dictation
  • File and image attachment
  • Two-way clipboard sync
  • End-to-end encryption
Features
Read full description

Control and observe any terminal on your Mac from your phone — from anywhere. TermBridge attaches at the shell layer, so it works across every terminal you already use: iTerm2, Terminal.app, the integrated terminals in VS Code, Zed, and Cursor, plus tmux. There's no new terminal app to live in and nothing to reconfigure. The exact shell you're already typing in simply shows up on your phone, live. VIBE CODING, UNTETHERED Start a long Claude Code or Codex run on your Mac, then walk away. TermBridge keeps you in the loop from wherever you are. • Answer the agent from your phone: Allow, Always allow, Deny, or Deny with a note. Answer Claude's questions too, including ones with several picks. • Get a push the moment an agent needs you. Approve right from the notification, or tap to land on the request. • See every agent across all of your Macs in one place: needs you, running, finished. • Watch any agent run live, character by character, exactly as it appears on your Mac. DO REAL WORK FROM YOUR PHONE TermBridge is built to get things done, not just watch. • Dictate commands and prompts by voice, with a live waveform so you know it's listening. • Attach a file or image from your phone. It uploads to your Mac and the path drops into the terminal, ready to run or hand to your agent. • Browse your Mac's files, and preview what the agent touched — Markdown and READMEs rendered, and the local servers running on your Mac, open right on your phone. • Two-way clipboard sync: copy on your Mac, paste on your phone, and back. WHAT MAKES IT DIFFERENT Most remote-terminal apps only see sessions they created, on a server you SSH into. TermBridge is the opposite. • Attach to the terminals you're ALREADY in — not just sessions this app spawned. • See your editor's integrated terminals (VS Code, Zed, Cursor) on your phone. • Spawn a fresh shell on your Mac from your phone, on demand. • Pair multiple devices (iPhone + iPad) to one Mac, and switch between Macs instantly — each keeps its own live connection, so an offline Mac never drops the one you're using. MADE YOURS • Themes and fonts to match your setup. • A custom on-screen key row and macros for the keys you actually use. • A full-color terminal with deep scrollback on iPhone, and a 3-panel layout on iPad. • A touch keyboard bar with Tab, Esc, Ctrl-C, arrows, and the modifiers a terminal needs. SECURE BY DESIGN Your terminal is sensitive. TermBridge treats it that way. • End-to-end encrypted with X25519 + AES-256-GCM — the relay only ever sees ciphertext. • Forward secrecy: fresh keys every session, so a future compromise can't unlock past ones. • Zero-knowledge relay — your secrets never touch a server, and no inbound port is opened on your Mac. • QR-code pairing, approved right on your Mac, with a fingerprint you can verify. RELIABLE • Reconnects the instant your network changes or your phone comes back online. • Sessions keep running when you step away — pick up exactly where you left off. • Missed output replays on attach, so you never lose what happened while you were gone. PERMISSIONS — ONLY WHEN YOU USE THE FEATURE • Notifications — to alert you when an agent on your Mac is waiting; tap to jump into that terminal. • Camera — to scan the QR code that pairs your phone with your Mac. • Microphone & Speech Recognition — only when you dictate by voice; transcription runs on-device. • Photos — only if you choose to attach an image to send to your Mac. GETTING STARTED Install the free TermBridge menu-bar app on your Mac, scan the QR code once, approve on the Mac, and your terminals are with you everywhere. No SSH keys, no ports to forward, no servers to rent. Learn more at https://termbridge.clovinyx.io Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

RootDeck

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Manage your servers straight from your iPhone and iPad. RootDeck is a fast, secure SSH and SFTP client — a full terminal and file manager in your pocket. Connect directly to your own servers — no RootDeck account, no cloud in between. Built for developers, sysadmins, and DevOps who need their infrastructure on the go. Features: • Interactive SSH terminal • SFTP file browser and transfers • Upload, download, copy, move, rename, and delete remote files • Password and SSH key authentication • Jump host support for reaching servers behind a bastion • Host key verification to protect against MITM attacks • Saved server profiles • Face ID or Touch ID app lock • Server availability monitoring • Support for Linux, macOS, and Windows OpenSSH servers Credentials are stored securely in Apple Keychain. SSH connections, commands, and transferred files go directly between your device and the servers you choose. RootDeck does not collect analytics and does not send your server data to the developer.

Screenshots

TermBridge4 screens
RootDeck4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: RootDeck at none against TermBridge's 3. 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

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. TermBridge sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $3.99 per month. RootDeck asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly weekly. The most recent releases landed on October 11, 2026 and October 8, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard1 real difference · 9 level
TermBridge versus RootDeck: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterTermBridgeRootDeck
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (1 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings1 — better—
Update frequencyWeeklyWeekly
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, Mac — better
Requires iOS16.4 — better17.0
Further details — not scored
Size53 MB14 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperClovinyxEvgenii Lav

In-app purchases

3 purchases

TermBridge

Subscriptions2
  • TermBridge Pro$3.991 Month
  • TermBridge Pro$29.991 Year
One-time1
  • TermBridge Pro Lifetime$79.99
None

RootDeck

No in-app purchases

Questions

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

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