Comparison

Glassy Desk vs SSHBorg

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

Head to head
About

Glassy Desk

Control your Mac remotely from your iPhone or iPad using fast, direct connections. Supports standard VNC or the encrypted Glassy Stream protocol for smooth, low-latency access. Offers flexible connection options and natural touch or trackpad controls.

Highlights
  • Direct remote access to Mac
  • VNC and Glassy Stream support
  • Automatic Mac discovery
  • On-screen and hardware keyboard support
  • Direct touch or trackpad mode
  • Private iCloud sync for settings
Features
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Reach your Mac from your iPhone, iPad, or iPhone Duo. Check on a headless Mac mini, the Mac Studio in the closet, or your build machine, and keep an eye on long builds, renders, and AI agents without getting up. Check on your Mac for free. Go Pro for unlimited sessions with a monthly or yearly plan, or pay once with Lifetime. No account to create. TWO WAYS TO CONNECT • Standard VNC uses the Screen Sharing built into macOS. Nothing to download on the Mac. • Fast Connection uses the free Glassy Desk for Mac app: up to 4K at 60 FPS, hardware H.264 video that adapts to your network, and an encrypted link straight to your Mac. MADE FOR HEADLESS MACS • Wake a sleeping Mac with Wake-on-LAN, then connect • Reconnect automatically after short network drops • Reach your Mac from outside your home or office through a VPN such as Tailscale • Pick which display to show when the Mac has more than one WATCH YOUR MAC WHILE YOU WORK • Keep a session in Picture in Picture while you use other apps • Connect in one tap with Siri, Shortcuts, and the Quick Connect and My Macs widgets • Show the Mac on an external display and use your device as the controller REAL KEYS AND A REAL POINTER • Direct touch or trackpad mode, with tap, drag, right-click, scroll, and pinch to zoom • Command, Option, Control, arrow, and function keys, plus common shortcuts, from the on-screen or a hardware keyboard • Apple Pencil as a precise pointer, with hover and double-tap or squeeze actions • Paste text from your device onto the Mac FILES BOTH WAYS Send files and photos to the Mac's Downloads folder, and bring files selected in the Mac's Finder into the Files app. (Fast Connection) MADE FOR IPHONE DUO Layouts adapt as you fold and unfold. Stand it up half-folded and the lower half becomes a trackpad, with an optional keyboard and special keys. PRIVATE BY DESIGN • No cloud relay: connections go straight to the computer you choose • Curtain Mode covers the Mac's screen and blocks its local keyboard and mouse while you work remotely (Fast Connection) • Lock Glassy Desk with Face ID, Touch ID, or your passcode, and hide remote screens in the app switcher • Saved Macs sync through your private iCloud database, and passwords are stored encrypted COMPATIBILITY Standard VNC is designed and tested with macOS Screen Sharing and Remote Management; other standards-based VNC servers may work. Fast Connection requires Glassy Desk for Mac on macOS 14 or later, on Apple silicon or Intel. Connecting from outside your network requires a VPN or other route to the Mac. EULA: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

About

SSHBorg

Features
Read full description

SSHBorg is a powerful SSH and SFTP client for iPhone and iPad. Manage your servers securely with key authentication, encrypted storage, and Face ID or Touch ID lock. FEATURES • Full SSH Terminal — Interactive terminal with VT100/xterm emulation, full UTF-8 support, and multiple concurrent sessions. • SFTP File Manager — Browse, upload, download, rename, and delete files and folders on your servers. • SSH Key Auth — Generate Ed25519, ECDSA, and RSA keys directly on your device, or import your own. No passwords needed. • Jump Host Support — Connect through one or more bastion hosts with transparent tunnelling. Full SSH agent forwarding. • Port Forwarding — Reach services that are only visible from the server, with local (-L) forwards. • Extra Key Bar — Ctrl, Esc, Tab, arrows and function keys above the keyboard, with layouts you can build yourself. • App Lock — Protect access to your servers with Face ID, Touch ID or your device passcode. Configurable timeout. • Backup — Export and import your hosts, groups and settings as a single file. Passwords and keys are never included. • Multilingual — Available in English, Italian, French, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Ukrainian, Russian, Chinese, and Japanese. • Dark & Light Theme — Follows the system theme or lets you choose. • Multiple Sessions — Keep several SSH and SFTP sessions open at once and switch between them instantly. GOOD TO KNOW iOS closes network connections while an app is in the background. When you come back, SSHBorg reconnects your sessions automatically. PRIVACY FIRST, BY DESIGN SSHBorg never collects your data. Everything stays on your device — your credentials, your keys, your connections. • No ads • No tracking • No cloud • Open source — GPL v3 • No tracking or advertising SDKs • Keys and passwords can be encrypted with the device's secure hardware sshborg.com

Screenshots

Glassy Desk4 screens
SSHBorg4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is in-app purchases: SSHBorg at none against Glassy Desk's 3. SSHBorg also leads on iOS requirement (16.0 vs 26.0). Glassy Desk's advantage is update cadence (weekly vs every 2 weeks). On price, ads 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. Glassy Desk sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $1.99 per month. SSHBorg asks for nothing beyond the download.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Glassy Desk ships an update weekly, SSHBorg every 2 weeks. Both last shipped on October 29, 2026.

Scorecard3 real differences · 7 level
Glassy Desk versus SSHBorg: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterGlassy DeskSSHBorg
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.0 (2 ratings) — better—
Positive reviews50.0% of reviews—
Number of ratings2 — better—
Update frequencyWeekly — betterEvery 2 weeks
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesNo — better
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases—
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad
Requires iOS26.016.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size54 MB18 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperFernando BunnSerena Traversi

In-app purchases

3 purchases

Glassy Desk

Subscriptions2
  • Glassy Desk Pro Monthly$1.991 Month
  • Glassy Desk Pro Yearly$19.991 Year
One-time1
  • Glassy Desk Pro Lifetime$29.99
None

SSHBorg

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Glassy Desk free?
Glassy Desk is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is SSHBorg free?
SSHBorg is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Glassy Desk or SSHBorg have ads?
Neither Glassy Desk nor SSHBorg shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Glassy Desk or SSHBorg?
Glassy Desk ships an update weekly, and SSHBorg every 2 weeks. Most recently, Glassy Desk was updated on October 29, 2026 and SSHBorg on October 29, 2026.

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