Comparison

TermLink vs BentoTerm

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

Head to head
About

TermLink

Features
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TermLink turns your iPhone into a compact SSH companion for AI coding, server checks, and remote file handoff. New in 2.0: Linkage Mode. Chat with bots powered by Claude Code (by Anthropic) running on your own Mac. Switch between Terminal Mode and Linkage Mode at any time from the header icon or Settings; switching never drops your SSH connections. Linkage Mode: - Create bots with different roles, send them photos and files (also from the share sheet), and download the files they make - Per-bot permissions on your Mac (folders, web, Bash commands, network); when Claude Code or a bot asks for more, nothing happens until you approve - Memory for each conversation, an activity log of what bots did on your Mac, and clearing or summarizing a conversation - Routines: requests that run at set times, with notifications for the results - Away from home: reach your Mac through your own iCloud (the same Apple Account), end-to-end encrypted - A Face ID vault for logins, cards and notes that stays on this iPhone; copied values clear after 60 seconds - Animated bot avatars that show when a bot is thinking or working - A demo mode that works without a Mac (fixed replies, nothing is sent) Getting started: 1. Install Claude Code on your Mac and log in with your own account (a Claude subscription is required). 2. Install the free TermLink for Mac (macOS 14 or later): https://keito-na.app/apps/term-link/mac/ 3. Choose Add iPhone in its menu, then tap Pair with Mac in Linkage Mode and scan the QR code. Pair on the same Wi-Fi; if both are signed in to iCloud with the same Apple Account, it then works away from home too. After you agree to the privacy explanation, your messages and attachments go to your Mac, where Claude Code writes the replies: over HTTPS to the Mac confirmed by its QR code, or away from home through your own iCloud, encrypted on your devices so neither Apple nor the developer can read them. No developer server sits in between, TermLink never sees your Claude login, and AI usage counts toward your own Claude plan. Your Mac's terminal: once paired with TermLink for Mac, Terminal Mode opens a tab with your Mac's shell whenever you're on the same Wi-Fi. No SSH or Remote Login setup needed (you can turn it off in Settings). Connect to your own SSH host with a password, an imported ed25519/ECDSA key, or a key generated in the app. Upload screenshots or photos over SCP, then pass the remote path to Codex, Claude Code, or another AI coding workflow without retyping it. The local workspace stays inside the iOS app sandbox. Built-in commands cover file navigation, JSON formatting, Base64 encode/decode, and JavaScriptCore-backed Node-compatible snippets. Key features: - SSH profile setup: password authentication (stored only in this device's Keychain), import of existing OpenSSH ed25519/ECDSA private keys, or in-app ed25519 key generation - Optional Face ID / Touch ID protection for private keys and saved passwords - SCP image upload and remote path handoff - Snippets for frequent SSH commands and AI prompts - Sandboxed local files and bundled command shims - Japanese IME support and app language switching - Adjustable terminal font size - Optional Pro themes, multiple tabs, multiple SSH profiles, multiple snippets, and remote path insertion - Pro also unlocks unlimited bots (up to three for free), bots asking other bots, and routines in Linkage Mode (the vault and other security features are free) RSA keys and passphrase-protected keys are not supported yet. Password authentication requires PasswordAuthentication to be enabled on the server. For real replies, Linkage Mode needs a Mac (macOS 14 or later) with TermLink for Mac and Claude Code logged in. Requires iOS 17 or later. TermLink is built as an SSH companion, a command-line learning tool, and an AI coding handoff surface. It is not a native package manager, an external code store, or a way to run downloaded native executables after review.

About

BentoTerm

Features
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Your agents run for forty minutes at a time. Watching one is a waste of you โ€” so you run several, and the problem becomes keeping track of them all. Bento Term is a terminal built for exactly that. A WHOLE TEAM, ONE SCREEN Every agent gets a pane, tinted by what it's doing: blue is working, amber is waiting for you, green is done and you haven't looked yet. You read the room instead of visiting each one. Parallel mode tiles everything; Focus mode gives one pane the whole screen with the rest in a sidebar. SAY IT, DON'T TYPE IT Hold on a pane and talk. Speaking is about three times faster than typing, and Bento reads the screen, so file names and technical words come out right โ€” mixed Chinese/English included. Slide up to send, down to cancel. LEAVE THE DESK, NOT THE WORK Everything runs in tmux on your machine โ€” your Mac, a Linux server, or WSL โ€” over plain SSH, with nothing installed on the other end. Quit the app, close the laptop: nothing stops. Attach from iPhone or iPad mid-run and answer from wherever you are. EVERY DAY - The file tree of every pane's working directory. Tap a printed path and it opens with syntax highlighting, even at :42. PDFs and images too. - Panes move like windows: split, drag, drop โ€” every move is a real tmux move. - Pick a folder, pick an agent, and Bento opens the panes and starts them. No shell needed. - Ten agents recognized out of the box โ€” Claude Code, Codex, Gemini CLI and more โ€” every profile editable, so a tool nobody has heard of yet is one profile away. BUILT LIKE A TERMINAL Native Swift, the same GPU renderer as Ghostty (libghostty), real tmux control mode (-CC). No accounts. Your terminal output never leaves your machines. Free and open source, Apache-2.0. Requires a machine you can ssh into with tmux installed. macOS, Linux and WSL all work.

Screenshots

TermLink4 screens
BentoTerm4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: BentoTerm at none against TermLink's 1. On price, ads, device support and iOS requirement there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price ยท Rating ยท Positive reviews ยท Number of ratings ยท Update frequency ยท Ads ยท In-app purchases ยท Monetization ยท Best chart rank ยท Devices ยท Requires iOS

CostPrice ยท In-app purchases ยท Ads ยท Monetization

Both are free to download. TermLink sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. BentoTerm asks for nothing beyond the download.

Scorecard1 real difference ยท 5 level
TermLink versus BentoTerm: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterTermLinkBentoTerm
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyEvery 6 daysโ€”
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo โ€” better
DevicesiPhoneiPhone, iPad โ€” better
Requires iOS17.017.0
Further details โ€” not scored
Size21 MB42 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperKenichi NagamatsuChi On Ho

In-app purchases

1 purchases

TermLink

One-time1
  • TermLink Pro$4.99
None

BentoTerm

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is TermLink free?
TermLink is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is BentoTerm free?
BentoTerm is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do TermLink or BentoTerm have ads?
Neither TermLink nor BentoTerm shows ads.

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