Comparison

Conduit vs Headmin!

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

Head to head
About

Conduit

Connect to your servers, workstations, and development environments from your iPhone using SSH, Mosh, and SFTP. Offers local credential storage, hardware security key support, and tmux integration without requiring an account or subscription.

Highlights
  • SSH terminal sessions
  • Password, private key, and hardware security key authentication
  • SFTP file browsing and export
  • Saved machine profiles with tags
  • Local credential storage
  • Tabbed terminal workspace
Features
Read full description

Conduit is a local-first SSH, Mosh, and SFTP client for iPhone. It is built for people who need to reach real machines from a phone without creating an account, syncing credentials through a service, or paying a subscription just to open a shell. Use Conduit to connect to your own servers, workstations, homelab machines, VPS instances, and development environments from a mobile terminal. Features: • SSH terminal sessions • Password, private key, and hardware security key (FIDO2) authentication • Hardware security key auth over NFC, tested with YubiKey • SSH agent forwarding to reach further hosts from a machine you connect to • Per-host tmux integration with auto attach/create, start directories, prefix key selection, action shortcuts, and scrollback mode. • Experimental Mosh roaming for unreliable mobile networks • SFTP file browsing and export • Saved machine profiles with tags and search • Local credential and trusted host key storage • Trusted host key prompts and key management • Optional app lock with device authentication • Tabbed terminal workspace • Mobile-friendly modifier, navigation, and function keys • Fullscreen terminal mode • Built-in terminal themes With SSH agent forwarding, a host you connect to can use your key to authenticate onward to other machines, without copying private keys to the server. Forwarded hardware keys stay protected: every onward signature still requires your PIN and a physical tap. Conduit does not require a Conduit account and does not use a Conduit sync service. Saved connection profiles, credentials, and trusted host keys are stored on your device using platform secure storage. Conduit is free and open-source software licensed under the Apache License 2.0. Source code is available at github.com/gwitko/Conduit. Mosh requires mosh-server on the remote host and reachable UDP ports. Predictive echo is marked as experimental. You can support the project here: https://ko-fi.com/gwitko

About

Headmin!

Features
Read full description

Headmin is a native admin console for Headscale, the open-source, self-hosted control server for Tailscale-based networks. Point it at your own server and manage your entire tailnet from your phone — no dashboard tab required. CONNECT TO YOUR OWN SERVER Enter your Headscale URL and API key once. Your credentials are validated and then stored securely on-device, in your phone's Keychain or Keystore — never on our servers, because we don't have any. Headmin talks directly to your Headscale instance. USERS List, create, rename and delete users in seconds. NODES See every device on your network at a glance: online status, IP addresses and tags. Rename a node, move it to a different user, expire its key, or remove it entirely. Generate pre-auth keys with custom expiry, reusable or single-use, tagged for your ACLs. ROUTES View every subnet route and exit node your devices advertise, and approve or disable them individually. ACL POLICIES Edit rules, groups, tag owners and hosts through a visual editor, or drop into a raw HuJSON view for full control. BUILT FOR SELF-HOSTERS Headmin has no backend of its own and no account system — it's a thin, secure client for the server you already run. Your data stays between your phone and your infrastructure. Requires an existing Headscale server and an API key (generate one with `headscale apikeys create`).

Screenshots

Conduit4 screens
Headmin!4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is iOS requirement: Conduit at 13.0 against Headmin!'s 15.1. 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

Scorecard1 real difference · 8 level
Conduit versus Headmin!: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterConduitHeadmin!
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (2 ratings) — better—
Number of ratings2 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 2 days—
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree—
DevicesiPhone, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS13.0 — better15.1
Further details — not scored
Size26 MB19 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperGrzegorz WitkowskiMendel Fuchs

In-app purchases

None

Conduit

No in-app purchases

None

Headmin!

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Conduit free?
Conduit is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Headmin! free?
Headmin! is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Conduit or Headmin! have ads?
Neither Conduit nor Headmin! shows ads.

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