Comparison

CmdDeck vs OpenAB Remote

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

Head to head
About

CmdDeck

Features
Read full description

The fastest way to get from a symptom to the command that fixes it. Type "cannot connect to the network" into the search box. A diagnostic flow opens with ping, ipconfig, nslookup and tracert laid out in the order you actually run them. You don't need to remember the command name. ā–  New in 2.0: 1,510 commands, 120 flows A big expansion focused on Windows, PowerShell and Linux (RHEL and Ubuntu). Command explanations and troubleshooting flows are now available in 9 languages. ā–  Fully offline Every command lives on your device. Server rooms with no signal, air-gapped networks, a customer site with the Wi-Fi down. The moments you most need to look up networking are the moments the network is broken. Nothing is transmitted, ever. ā–  120 troubleshooting flows "PC is slow." "Mail not arriving." "Port already in use." "Clock drift." Enter the symptom and get an ordered set of steps, each with the command to run at that step. Less time guessing where the fault is. ā–  Search that forgives Type "ipconfog" and it suggests ipconfig. Search by alias, not just by name. Plain sentences like "how to check disk space" bring up the matching flow and commands. Filter chips narrow results to Linux, Windows, Cisco and the rest in one tap. ā–  Spotlight Swipe down on your home screen, type "netstat", jump straight to the entry without opening the app. ā–  What's inside Ā· 1,510 commands across 15 platforms (878 free, 632 Premium) Linux 398, PowerShell 263, Windows 157, Active Directory 97, Microsoft 365 78, Kubernetes 63, macOS 58, Git 58, Cloud 58, Cisco 53, SQL 50, Docker 49, FortiGate 46, Virtualization 42, Yamaha 40 Ā· 120 troubleshooting flows (2 free) Ā· Syntax and worked examples for every command Ā· Destructive commands clearly flagged Ā· The date the data was last verified, shown in Settings Ā· Optimized for both the inner and outer displays of iPhone Duo. ā–  Free Ā· Syntax, explanations and examples for 878 commands Ā· Premium commands still appear in search, with their name and summary Ā· 2 troubleshooting flows and up to 10 favorites ā–  Premium (one-time purchase) Ā· Syntax, explanations and examples for 632 more commands Ā· All 120 troubleshooting flows Ā· Unlimited favorites, iCloud sync, personal notes on any command, export Not a subscription. Buy once, that's it. If you already bought Premium, everything added in 2.0 is yours too. ā–  Privacy No account. No ads. No tracking. The developer receives none of your data. The app is offline, so there is nothing to send. ā–  Languages Interface, command explanations and troubleshooting flows: English, Japanese, Spanish, German, French, Portuguese, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Korean. ā–  Please note Content is reference material. Run commands at your own discretion and risk, ideally in a test environment and after taking backups. Built by an in-house IT engineer who wanted this on his own phone. Feedback is welcome from inside the app.

About

OpenAB Remote

Features
Read full description

OpenAB Remote turns your iPhone into a private push-to-talk remote and terminal client for OpenAB Connect. Pair with your Mac over the local network, dictate with on-device speech recognition, and send only terminal-safe text to the selected session. Import your own runtime connections from OpenAB Connect, browse live sessions, and attach directly over your own Tailscale network. Choose your speech engine: Apple's on-device recognition (no download), or optionally download Whisper (OpenAI, MIT) or SenseVoice (Alibaba FunASR) to run on this iPhone — SenseVoice is recommended for Mandarin, Cantonese, Japanese and Korean. • On-device push-to-talk transcription • Direct terminal session attach and resume • Remembered, encrypted nearby pairing • Explicit Auto-Enter permission • No account, analytics, advertising, or telemetry • Optional Whisper engine: download an open-source model once (MIT) and run it fully on-device • Fully offline Demo Mode for evaluation OpenAB Remote talks only to your Mac and infrastructure — plus, only if you choose the Whisper engine, a one-time model download from Hugging Face. Your speech, credentials, and terminal sessions are not sent to an OpenAB service.

Screenshots

CmdDeck4 screens
OpenAB Remote3 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: OpenAB Remote at none against CmdDeck's 1. OpenAB Remote also leads on update cadence (every 3 days vs monthly). CmdDeck's advantage is iOS requirement (16.0 vs 26.0). On price, ads and device support there is nothing between them.

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

CostPrice Ā· In-app purchases Ā· Ads Ā· Monetization

Both are free to download. CmdDeck sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. OpenAB Remote asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

CmdDeck ships an update monthly, OpenAB Remote every 3 days. The most recent releases landed on October 31, 2026 and October 25, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard3 real differences Ā· 3 level
CmdDeck versus OpenAB Remote: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterCmdDeckOpenAB Remote
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyMonthlyEvery 3 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS16.0 — better26.0
Further details — not scored
Size13 MB52 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperYoshihiko IshikawaJiayan Lin

In-app purchases

1 purchases

CmdDeck

One-time1
  • CmdDeck Premium$9.99
None

OpenAB Remote

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is CmdDeck free?
CmdDeck is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is OpenAB Remote free?
OpenAB Remote is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do CmdDeck or OpenAB Remote have ads?
Neither CmdDeck nor OpenAB Remote shows ads.
Which is updated more often, CmdDeck or OpenAB Remote?
CmdDeck ships an update monthly, and OpenAB Remote every 3 days. Most recently, CmdDeck was updated on October 31, 2026 and OpenAB Remote on October 25, 2026.

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