Comparison

Refactual vs Drover

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

Head to head
About

Refactual

An AI-powered workspace designed for modern software development, accessible on mobile. It offers real-time chat, code refactoring tools, codebase analysis, and document parsing. Seamlessly sync your work between web and mobile platforms.

Highlights
  • Real-time AI chat with streaming replies
  • Code refactoring and pull request tracking
  • Codebase modernization reports
  • Parsed document library with sharing
  • Web and mobile work synchronization
  • Model picker for AI tasks
  • Change alerts from monitored sources
Features
Read full description

Refactual is your AI workspace for modern software work — now on your phone. Chat is the everyday flagship: ask anything and watch answers stream in live. Paste code, ask about an error, get cited images and sources, and pick the model that fits the task. Your conversations sync with refactual.com, so you can start on the web and continue on mobile. The app brings the rest of your Refactual work with you: • Chat — streaming AI replies, a model picker, web search, and rich cited media. • Refactor — kick off and track code-refactor jobs, then open the pull request. • Repos — read your codebase modernization reports: score, hotspots, ROI, and a step-by-step remediation plan. • Parser — view structured output from your parsed PDFs and documents. • Documents — your parsed document library, with sharing. • Code — browse and copy the code snippets from your sessions. • Monitor — get change alerts from the pages and sources you watch. • Account — your plan and shared team credit balance at a glance. Your Refactual account and work sync across web and mobile. The app is free to download and use with your Refactual account. Built for developers and teams modernizing real codebases. Sign in and pick up right where you left off. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.refactual.com/terms Privacy Policy: https://www.refactual.com/privacy

About

Drover

Supervise AI coding agents running on your computer directly from your phone. View sessions as a chat, interact with prompts via buttons, and receive notifications when agents need your input. Connects directly via SSH with no intermediary servers.

Highlights
  • Supervise AI coding agents
  • View sessions as chat
  • Interact with prompts via buttons
  • Receive agent status notifications
  • Direct SSH connection
  • Voice dictation
  • Attach photos to agents
Features
Read full description

Drover is a mobile client for the AI coding agents you run under Herdr on your own computer. It turns them into something you can supervise from your phone. It is not a mobile terminal. Drover speaks the agent's language: it renders a running session as a readable chat, turns permission prompts into buttons you can tap, and tells you the moment an agent is waiting on you. NO SERVER IN BETWEEN Drover connects straight from your device to your own machine over SSH. There is no service in the middle. Your transcripts, your commands and your code go to your machine — the developer of this app cannot see them. The voice assistant is an experimental, opt-in exception: it sends to Google, not to the developer, after you accept its disclosure. WHAT YOU CAN DO • See every agent and its status at a glance — waiting for you, working, done • Read the session as a chat, with Markdown, syntax-highlighted code and diffs • Answer an agent's permission prompt by tapping a button instead of typing into a raw terminal pane • Send follow-up instructions, cycle the agent's mode, or dictate by voice • Talk to an agent hands-free with the experimental voice assistant — launch it, send it a message, or answer its question, and hear back what's happening • Attach a photo from your camera or library for the agent to look at • Get a notification the moment an agent is blocked and needs you • Switch between several machines, or watch them all in one list TRY IT WITH NO SETUP Tap "Try the demo" on the first screen. It runs a scripted session entirely on your device, with no host and no connection, so you can see how Drover works before setting anything up. WHAT YOU NEED Drover is a client for a machine you already own. To use it for real you need a computer running Herdr (herdr.dev) with your coding agents in it, SSH access to that machine with key-based authentication, and Herdr 0.8.0 or newer. PRIVACY Dictation runs entirely on your device — Drover will not fa The experimental voice assistant is different: it asks for your consent before first use, and while a voice session is running your speech transcripts, agent context and message drafts are sent to Google's Gemini. Notifications carry a fixed message and never any of your t key is stored in the iOS Keychain and never leaves your device. Drover is an independent project. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by the Herdr project, Anthropic, OpenAI, or GitHu certified by any of them.

Screenshots

Refactual4 screens
Drover4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Drover at none against Refactual's 5. On price, review sentiment, update cadence and ads 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. Refactual sells 5 in-app purchases, starting at $6.99 per month. Drover asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Refactual ships an update every 4 days, Drover every 5 days. The most recent releases landed on September 24, 2026 and September 23, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences · 8 level
Refactual versus Drover: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterRefactualDrover
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (2 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews100.0% of reviews
Number of ratings2 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 4 days — betterEvery 5 days
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree — better
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPod
Requires iOS16.015.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size15 MB37 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperSean WebbKEISUKE NISHITANI

Customer experience

Refactual

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews1 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

Drover

Written reviews2 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

5 purchases

Refactual

Subscriptions1
  • Refactual Plus$6.991 Month
One-time4
  • $10 of credits$10.00
  • $25 of credits$25.00
  • $50 of credits$50.00
Show 1 more
  • $125 of credits$100.00
None

Drover

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Refactual free?
Refactual is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Drover free?
Drover is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Refactual or Drover have ads?
Neither Refactual nor Drover shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Refactual or Drover?
Refactual ships an update every 4 days, and Drover every 5 days. Most recently, Refactual was updated on September 24, 2026 and Drover on September 23, 2026.

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