GateShell vs 42 Editor
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
- 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
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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
42 Editor
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42 Editor is a code and text editor for iPhone and iPad. It opens the files you already have, in the Files app, iCloud Drive, Working Copy, Dropbox or any other file provider, and saves your changes back to the same file. There is nothing to sign in to and nothing is uploaded. Sometimes the file that needs fixing is a config file, a script or a spreadsheet export, and the only device to hand is a phone. 42 Editor is made for those moments. EDIT IN PLACE • Open a file or a whole folder from any provider in the Files app. Your changes go back to the original. • Opened folders are remembered: create, rename, duplicate and delete files and folders inside them. • Recent files reopen with one tap. • Open in 42 Editor from the Files app and the share sheet. SYNTAX HIGHLIGHTING FOR 29 LANGUAGES Python, Swift, JavaScript, TypeScript, C, C++, Objective-C, C#, Java, Kotlin, Go, Rust, PHP, Ruby, Dart, Lua, R, JSON, YAML, TOML, INI, XML, HTML, CSS, Markdown, Shell, SQL, Makefile and Dockerfile, in light and dark. Line numbers with the current line marked, and long lines that wrap or scroll sideways. A KEYBOARD ROW FOR CODE Tab and outdent, a comment toggle, cursor keys, undo and redo, and the brackets and symbols the iOS keyboard hides. Auto-indent, optional closing of brackets and quotes, and tabs or spaces at 2, 4 or 8 wide. FIND, REPLACE AND FORMAT • Find and Replace, Go to Line, toggle comment, and indent or outdent a selection. • Format or minify JSON, keeping the order of the keys. • Markdown and HTML preview, a tap away. CSV AND TSV AS A TABLE A grid with a pinned header row. Edit cell by cell; add, duplicate or delete rows and columns; sort, filter and undo. The raw text is one tap away. CAREFUL SAVING 42 Editor keeps each file's text encoding (UTF-8, UTF-16 or Windows-1252), its line endings and its final newline. It autosaves two seconds after you stop typing, and if another app changed the file in the meantime it stops and asks which version to keep. iPHONE AND iPAD System, light or dark appearance, font size from 9 to 32 pt, and ⌘S to save on a hardware keyboard. PRIVATE No account, no ads and no analytics. Your files stay on your device and in the providers you choose. 42 Editor is an editor, not a place to run code: it doesn't compile or run anything.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: 42 Editor at none against GateShell's 2. On price, ads, device support and iOS requirement 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. GateShell sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per month. 42 Editor asks for nothing beyond the download.
| Parameter | GateShell | 42 Editor |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 5.0 (1 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 100.0% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 1 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 5 weeks | — |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Freemium | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, Mac — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 17.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 52 MB | 1 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | HEFTY INNOVATIONS | Mohammed Shehada |
In-app purchases
GateShell
- GateShell Pro Monthly$0.991 Month
- GateShell Pro Yearly$9.991 Year
42 Editor
No in-app purchases









