Comparison

GateShell vs Clive

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

Head to head
About

GateShell

This app provides a secure and private SSH, Mosh, and SFTP client that runs entirely on-device. It offers advanced terminal features, server management dashboards, and file editing capabilities, all without relying on external servers or tracking user data.

Highlights
  • Zero-backend SSH, Mosh, and SFTP client
  • On-device credential management
  • Native Mosh with persistent sessions
  • Server management dashboards (Docker, DBs, etc.)
  • SFTP file transfer with background retry
  • Built-in code editor with syntax highlighting
  • AI coding agent integration
Features
Read full description

GateShell is an SSH, Mosh, and SFTP client, and a full server command center. Your servers, your keys, your device, nothing in between. No backend, no relays, no tracking. PRIVATE BY DESIGN • Zero backend. GateShell runs entirely on-device. There's no server to breach because there is no server. • Credentials live in the hardware-encrypted Apple Keychain, or on Secure Enclave keys that never leave your device, not even as an export. • No analytics, no telemetry. We don't know who you are or what you connect to. CONNECT, AND STAY CONNECTED • Native Mosh, with encrypted UDP and predictive local echo. Change networks, close the lid, come back hours later: your session is still there. • Jump hosts reach private servers through a bastion, with per-hop auth and host-key checks. • Import your ~/.ssh/config, or bulk-import servers from CSV. • SSH, Mosh, and Telnet, with automatic SSH fallback when UDP is blocked. SECURE CONNECTIONS • Verified host keys, pinned per server, with a warning the instant one changes. • Generate ed25519, P-256, RSA, or Secure Enclave hardware-backed keys, or import a PuTTY .ppk, including Argon2-encrypted ones. • Security Assistant scans for missing updates, exposed listeners, weak SSH policy, firewall gaps, and expiring certificates. Every finding shows its evidence, and guided fixes run allow-listed commands only after you approve them. • Face ID / Touch ID lock keeps your servers safe even if your device isn't. A REAL TERMINAL • Full XTerm-256 color terminal with fullscreen, scrollback search, and a customizable toolbar. • Two- and four-pane terminals with optional input broadcast. • 32 themes, bundled Nerd Fonts, custom font import, and named keyboard layouts. • Command snippets with ${VAR} prompts, run across many hosts at once. MANAGE THE WHOLE SERVER • 20+ built-in dashboards: Docker, PostgreSQL, MySQL, MongoDB, Redis, Nginx, Caddy, Traefik, Firewall, Cron, PM2, WireGuard, Fail2Ban and more. Each one shows the status and acts on it. • Fleet broadcasts one command to every server at once. • Live health monitoring with restart, logs, and failure alerts. • Install the optional open-source agent on your own server for metric history and push alerts when a service drops, a disk fills, or a cron job fails. It runs on your box, not ours. FILES & CODE • Upload and download over SFTP with progress tracking and background retry. • Show your servers in the Files app, and open remote files like local ones. • Built-in editor with syntax highlighting and find/replace for 13+ languages. • Git on the go: status, stage, commit, and review diffs. • App Preview opens your dev server right in the app, tunneled over your existing SSH connection. BRING YOUR OWN CODING AGENT • Start, resume, and interrupt Claude Code, Codex, or Gemini CLI in any project on your server, straight from the terminal. • It runs under your account, with your CLI. GateShell never proxies it and never sees your provider keys. AI THAT STAYS ON THE DEVICE • Describe what you want in plain English, and GateShell composes the command on-device via Apple Intelligence. • Long output gets an instant, structured summary with error and warning counts. • A multi-step agent proposes a plan and runs it, with your approval on every step. • Automatic secret redaction and a risk warning before dangerous commands run. AT A GLANCE • Home Screen and Lock Screen widgets for quick connect, server health, and your last session, plus a Live Activity that tracks the connection you're on. SYNC EVERYWHERE • iCloud syncs your servers, snippets, and known hosts across iPhone, iPad, and Mac, end-to-end encrypted. Free to start. Pro unlocks unlimited servers, SFTP, Mosh, port forwarding, the full dashboard suite, and more. On-device AI features require a device that supports Apple Intelligence. Terms of Use: https://gateshell.com/terms Privacy Policy: https://gateshell.com/privacy

About

Clive

Features
Read full description

Clive is an SSH and Mosh terminal for iPhone and iPad that keeps your place on the server. Phones are hostile to terminals. You switch apps to copy a code, the screen locks, you walk out of Wi‑Fi, and the connection is gone with your output and the job you were watching. Clive keeps the session on the server and brings you straight back to it. WHY SESSIONS THAT SURVIVE CHANGE EVERYTHING • Walk away. Start a coding agent, a build or a training run, pocket the phone, and check on it from the train. • Nothing is lost. Mosh rides out locks, app switches and network changes without reconnecting. tmux keeps your shell and scrollback alive on the server, so even a session you closed days ago is still there. • Pick up where you left off. Clive lists the sessions it left on each server. Tap one to resume it, or end the ones you are done with. • No tricks. No keep-alive hacks and no battery drain. The right protocols, used properly, with automatic reconnect when the network returns. MADE FOR AGENTIC CODING • Claude Code, Codex and any other terminal agent run as they do on your desktop, in full colour. • A keyboard built for the terminal: Esc, Tab, Ctrl, arrows and a joystick-style key bar, plus full hardware-keyboard support. • Several connections at once, even to the same server. A REAL TERMINAL • xterm-256color with true colour, so TUIs, games and editors look as they should. • Ten themes, or let Clive match its own chrome to the colours of the program on screen. (Themes and custom fonts are Clive Pro) • Adjustable scrollback and two-finger scrolling that reaches the program itself. YOUR FILES, RIGHT THERE • A built-in SFTP browser with a code editor, syntax highlighting and Markdown rendering. (Clive Pro) • Rename, create folders, delete, or jump straight to a path. Save-conflict warnings keep your draft when the remote file has changed. • Type "open" and a path at any prompt and the file opens in Clive. YOUR KEYS, PROTECTED • Verify each new server's fingerprint; a changed host key blocks the connection until you replace the trust yourself. • Generate Ed25519 keys on the device or import your own. Private keys and passwords stay in the Keychain, behind Face ID if you choose. • Optional iCloud sync shares hosts and eligible secrets through your own iCloud Keychain. Secure Enclave keys never leave their device. CALM BY DESIGN • No account, no ads, no tracking. Your traffic goes only to the servers you add. • One app for iPhone and iPad, with a side-by-side layout on wide screens. CLIVE PRO Clive Pro is a one-time purchase that adds themes, custom fonts, the SFTP browser and the file viewer and editor, after a seven-day full-access trial. Everything else is free: the terminal, SSH, Mosh, tmux, hosts, keys and iCloud sync. No subscription. Pull out your phone. Your session is right where you left it.

Screenshots

GateShell4 screens
Clive4 screens

Verdict

The call

GateShell and Clive are too close to call on the numbers: across 6 compared parameters — price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases among them — neither pulls far enough ahead to decide it. What separates them is feature set and interface, not measurable difference.

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. GateShell sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month and Clive sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

GateShell ships an update every 5 weeks, Clive every 4 weeks. Both last shipped on October 24, 2026.

ScorecardNo meaningful differences
GateShell versus Clive: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterGateShellClive
PriceFreeFree
Rating5.0 (1 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews100.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings1 — better—
Update frequencyEvery 5 weeksEvery 4 weeks — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFreemium—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Mac — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS17.017.0
Further details — not scored
Size52 MB34 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperHEFTY INNOVATIONSPhilip Orange

In-app purchases

2 purchases

GateShell

Subscriptions2
  • GateShell Pro Monthly$0.991 Month
  • GateShell Pro Yearly$9.991 Year
1 purchases

Clive

One-time1
  • Clive Pro$14.99

Questions

Is GateShell free?
GateShell is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Clive free?
Clive is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Do GateShell or Clive have ads?
Neither GateShell nor Clive shows ads.
Which is updated more often, GateShell or Clive?
GateShell ships an update every 5 weeks, and Clive every 4 weeks. Most recently, GateShell was updated on October 24, 2026 and Clive on October 24, 2026.

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