Comparison

Tessera vs Hourline

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

Head to head
About

Tessera

A fast, keyboard-first SSH, Mosh, and tmux terminal for iOS devices. It offers seamless session handoff between devices, robust tmux integration, and secure, private connections directly to your servers without any tracking.

Highlights
  • Keyboard-first SSH, Mosh, and tmux terminal
  • Seamless session handoff between devices
  • First-class tmux integration with auto-attach
  • Mosh for persistent connections across network changes
  • Hardware keyboard support with shortcuts and key legend
  • Configurable swipe pad for quick access
  • Remote file panel with native iOS sharing
Features
Read full description

Tessera is a fast, keyboard-first SSH, Mosh, and tmux terminal for iPhone and iPad. It connects directly to servers you own or control — no middleman, no account, no tracking. MOVE BETWEEN YOUR DEVICES • Hand off a live session: start on iPad, pick it up on iPhone, then double-tap to take back control. The session keeps running either way. • Your focused session appears in the App Switcher and Dock on your other devices. • Nearby Setup copies your hosts, keys, and preferences to a new device directly over the local network — you choose exactly what to copy, both devices confirm a matching code, and each grant needs Face ID. • Or don't sync at all: choose whether sessions follow you or stay on each device. STAY CONNECTED • First-class tmux integration: auto-attach on connect, so a dropped connection never loses your work. • Native tmux windows as tabs, with real panes. • Mosh keeps your session alive across Wi-Fi ↔ cellular roaming and sleep/wake — pick up exactly where you left off. • Session restore brings your saved hosts and layout back after relaunch. BUILT FOR TOUCH AND KEYBOARD • First-class hardware-keyboard support: shortcuts, a key legend (⌘ hold), and careful handling of modifier keys for real terminal work. • A configurable swipe pad puts arrows, Esc, Ctrl and your own macros in the thumb zone. • Mouse and trackpad support, including scrolling that works. • Find-in-terminal, themes, and adjustable fonts and appearance. • Optional on-device dictation straight into the terminal. FILES, PORTS, AND JUMP HOSTS • A remote file panel that tracks your shell's current directory, over SSH and mosh alike — with native iOS sharing to move files and images in and out. • Local port forwarding with a live tunnels overview. • Jump hosts for servers you can only reach through a bastion. PRIVATE BY DEFAULT • Tessera has no servers, no analytics, and collects no data. Connections go directly from your iOS devices to your machines. SECURITY YOU EXPECT • Keys are generated and stored in the iOS Keychain; Secure Enclave–backed keys never leave your device and can require Face ID to use. • Host-key verification with a persistent known-hosts store. • App lock with Face ID / passcode on launch, background return, and idle timeout. OPEN SOURCE • Tessera is free software (GPL-3.0). The full source code is available at github.com/bambouville/tessera. Tessera requires servers you provide — it is a client, not a hosting service. Mosh and tmux features require mosh/tmux installed on the server.

About

Hourline

Features
Read full description

Hourline puts a working-hours comparison on your home screen. Each city gets a strip of hours running from four hours back to eight hours ahead. Every column is the same moment in every city, so reading straight down tells you what time it is in each place — and whether anyone is awake. Color does the rest. Easily see working hours, early morning, evening, and night. Finding a window where three cities are all in daylight takes about a second. • Live clocks that tick continuously, to the second • Up to seven cities, in medium and large widget sizes • The current hour underlined in every city • A day marker when a city is on a different date than yours • Search any city or IANA time zone • Reorder cities — the first is home, and every offset is shown relative to it • Daylight saving and half-hour offsets handled correctly Built for the small, constant question: is it a reasonable hour to message or call someone right now? No account. No sign-in. No network requests at all. Your city list is stored on your device and is the only thing the app keeps.

Screenshots

Tessera4 screens
Hourline4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is update cadence: Tessera at every 4 days against Hourline's every 2 weeks. On price, ads, in-app purchases 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. Tessera sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Hourline sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Tessera ships an update every 4 days, Hourline every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on October 22, 2026 and October 16, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard1 real difference · 9 level
Tessera versus Hourline: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterTesseraHourline
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (2 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings2 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 4 days — betterEvery 2 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree—
DevicesiPhone, iPad — betteriPhone
Requires iOS17.016.4 — better
Further details — not scored
Size47 MB46 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperBambouville Inc.Jin Woo Park

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Tessera

One-time1
  • Unlimited Saved Hosts$9.99
1 purchases

Hourline

One-time1
  • Unlock Customizations$4.99

Questions

Is Tessera free?
Tessera is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Hourline free?
Hourline is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do Tessera or Hourline have ads?
Neither Tessera nor Hourline shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Tessera or Hourline?
Tessera ships an update every 4 days, and Hourline every 2 weeks. Most recently, Tessera was updated on October 22, 2026 and Hourline on October 16, 2026.

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