GateShell vs 8Terminal

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

8Terminal is an SSH client for iPhone and iPad that needs no account. Your hosts, keys and passwords live in an encrypted vault on your device — there is nothing to sign up for and no server of ours in between. TERMINAL • Native SSH, built in — not a wrapper around another client • GPU-accelerated terminal with a key row for Esc, Ctrl, Alt, Tab, arrows, Shift-Tab, Home, End, Page Up/Down and F1–F12 • Hardware keyboard on iPad: Esc, Tab, Ctrl keys, Cmd+T, Cmd+W and Cmd+1–9 • Several sessions at once, with a Live Activity that shows when a coding agent is waiting — and Return, Ctrl-C and Reconnect buttons • Reconnects when you come back, and reattaches your tmux or zellij session • Paste a screenshot straight into the terminal; its location data is removed first • Find in the terminal, and open https links after you confirm • Send a saved password into a prompt with Face ID — it never touches the clipboard HOSTS AND KEYS • Password, key and two-factor keyboard-interactive sign-in; Ed25519, ECDSA and RSA keys in OpenSSH and PuTTY formats • Generate a key on the phone and install it on a host in one step • OpenSSH certificates from your CA • A key kept in the Secure Enclave, used with Face ID for every sign-in • Agent forwarding that asks you before every signature • Chains of up to four jump hosts, and environment variables per host • Unknown host keys ask first; a changed host key blocks the connection • Post-quantum key exchange (mlkem768x25519-sha256) with servers that offer it SFTP AND TUNNELS • Browse, upload and download over the connection you already opened • Folders, permissions, Quick Look and Share, keep both or replace • An interrupted transfer resumes where it stopped • Local, remote and dynamic (SOCKS5) port forwarding WIDGETS AND SHORTCUTS • A Home Screen widget with your recent hosts • Shortcuts to connect to a host, run a snippet (after you review it) or start a tunnel ENCRYPTED VAULT, ON YOUR TERMS • Argon2id and XChaCha20-Poly1305; unlock with Face ID or your master password • Several vaults if you keep work and home apart • Back up to your own iCloud Drive or Google Drive, or export one file — free • Import hosts from MobaXterm, PuTTY, Tabby and your OpenSSH config; export and import readable JSON without secrets AI ASSISTANT, YOUR KEY • Bring your own OpenAI, Anthropic, OpenRouter or compatible key; it stays on this device • By default you choose what it reads, and a command it suggests runs only after you approve it, exactly once • Optional Auto mode, off until you turn it on: give it a goal and it runs read-only checks on your Linux server by itself, without touching your terminal, and asks before anything that changes the server • In Auto mode what those checks print is sent to your AI provider. Your passwords, keys and vault are never sent, and you agree before the first run • Stop ends a run at once 8TERMINAL PRO — $5.99 ONCE • End-to-end encrypted vault sync between your iPhone, iPad and Mac, through your own cloud • Link a new device with a verification code • One purchase covers every device on your Apple Account and your Family Sharing group. No subscription. Everything else in 8Terminal is free, on every device, with no time limit. PRIVACY No account, no tracking, no analytics. Crash reports stay off until you turn them on, and never contain hostnames, usernames, terminal output or anything from your vault. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/