Shepherd vs Pockterm
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Shepherd
This app provides a fast and secure SSH client for accessing servers directly from your mobile device. It offers features like saved connections, custom command shortcuts, and extensive theming options for a personalized experience.
- Fast SSH client
- Save server connections
- Custom command shortcuts
- Extensive terminal themes
- Face ID protected keys
- Multiple simultaneous sessions
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Mochi is the place to control your AI coding agents from your iPhone. The agents run in herdr on your server. Mochi shows what each one is doing and takes you to it when it needs you. CONTROL YOUR AGENTS WITH HERDR • Live Activity on the lock screen: which agents are working and which are waiting for you • A notification when an agent is blocked or done, even when Mochi is closed • Tap it to open that agent's pane and answer from the chat input • Swipe to switch herdr tabs A REAL TERMINAL UNDERNEATH Mochi is a fast, beautiful SSH client built on the Ghostty terminal engine — a real terminal emulator in your pocket, not a toy. SSH INTO ANY SERVER Save your connections and jump into any of them in a tap. Password and key auth, custom ports, works great over Tailscale. FIRE COMMANDS IN ONE TAP Build your own shortcut groups: tmux prefixes, Ctrl combos, slash commands, whole snippets with Enter. The keyboard toolbar puts esc, tab, ctrl and ⌘ right above the keys — no more fighting the mobile keyboard. MAKE IT YOURS 500+ built-in terminal themes with search and light/dark filters. Real monospace fonts (JetBrains Mono and more), adjustable size, pinch to zoom in session. LOCK KEYS BEHIND FACE ID Private keys live in the iOS Keychain. Flip one switch and every use of a key requires Face ID. BUILT FOR ENGINEERS • Ghostty-powered terminal emulation — fast, correct, modern • Multiple simultaneous sessions • Native iOS design that feels at home on iOS 26 • No accounts, no tracking — your servers are your business
Pockterm
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Pockterm is a native SSH and SFTP client built for iPhone. Free and open source. CONNECT - SSH into your servers with passwords or Ed25519/RSA keys - Trusted host-key verification warns you if a server's key ever changes - Multiple live sessions; minimize one and pick it back up from the tab bar BIG SCREEN - Plug in video glasses like VITURE, or a monitor or TV, and the terminal fills that screen - Your phone keeps the keyboard and key bar, and shows the session's files where the terminal was - Its own text size for the glasses, a Paste button, and PgUp/PgDn through the scrollback MANAGE - Organize hosts into groups - Save reusable command snippets - Generate and store SSH keys in the iOS Keychain - Set up local and remote port forwards TRANSFER - Browse, upload, and download files over SFTP - Upload from Files, iCloud Drive or your photo library, several files at once AI ASSISTANT (optional) - Ask an AI assistant about terminal output and get suggested commands - Bring your own API key: Anthropic, OpenAI, OpenRouter, or Hugging Face - Off by default; you're told which provider receives data before anything is sent PRIVACY - No account, no Pockterm servers, no tracking or analytics - Credentials and keys live in the iOS Keychain - Your connection data stays on your device OPEN SOURCE - The full source is on GitHub under the Apache 2.0 licence: github.com/jhancock1975/pockterm
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is iOS requirement: Shepherd at 16.0 against Pockterm's 18.0. On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases 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
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Shepherd ships an update weekly, Pockterm every 9 days. The most recent releases landed on October 31, 2026 and November 2, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Shepherd | Pockterm |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (3 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 3 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Weekly — better | Every 9 days |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad — better | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 16.0 — better | 18.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 61 MB | 13 MB |
| Age rating | +4 | 4+ |
| Developer | Egor Kolesnikov | John Hancock |
In-app purchases
Shepherd
No in-app purchases
Pockterm
No in-app purchases









