HerdrChat vs VelaTerm
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side ā with what reviewers say about each.
HerdrChat
Manage your coding agents remotely. Monitor conversations, respond to prompts, and send commands from your phone. Supports attaching images and offers a built-in demo for exploration.
- Monitor agent progress
- Respond to prompts
- Send slash commands
- Attach images to messages
- SSH connection with key/password
- Push notifications for agent status
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Your coding agents, away from your desk. HerdrChat is an SSH chat client for Claude Code, Codex and OMP sessions running on a computer you own. Check progress, read conversations and answer an agent without navigating a desktop terminal on a small screen. STAY ON TOP OF YOUR WORK See which conversations need your input, which agents are working and which are idle. Replies read like a document, with code and formatting, and each run of tool activity folds into one line ("Ran 3 commands Ā· edited 1 file") you can open. The chat header shows the model and effort level. Reply from the chat composer or use supported numbered choices when an agent asks for approval. Pin the chats you care about to the top, and mute notifications for the ones you don't. SLASH COMMANDS Type / to send Claude Code commands such as /model, /effort, /compact and /context. When a command opens a picker, it appears on your phone: choose a model or effort level and apply it for this session only or as your default. KNOW WHEN AN AGENT NEEDS YOU Turn on notifications and your computer tells you when an agent is waiting for you or has finished, with the chat's name and what the agent said. Tap one to open that chat. SEND A PICTURE Attach screenshots or photos to a message. They are copied to your computer over the same SSH connection and handed to the agent with your prompt. MADE FOR iPHONE AND iPAD On iPhone, move between your chats, hosts and settings. On iPad, keep the conversation list beside the selected chat, with a settings layout designed for the larger screen. Light and dark appearances are included. YOUR MACHINE, YOUR CONNECTION Connect over SSH using your own password or private key. Host-key fingerprints are pinned, and a changed host key stops the connection until you explicitly review it. Tailscale is recommended for reaching your computer privately. Credentials are kept in the device Keychain. Conversation caches stay on your device and can be cleared in Settings. HerdrChat has no account system, developer-operated chat server, advertising or analytics SDK. If you turn on notifications, they pass through a small HerdrChat relay that forwards them to Apple and keeps nothing. TRY THE BUILT-IN DEMO A short welcome on first launch walks through what your computer needs. The local Demo host is available without an account, server or purchase. Explore sample conversations, answer an approval prompt and send a sample message. Demo replies are simulated; nothing is sent to a computer or AI service. WHAT YOU NEED FOR REAL USE A computer you administer, reachable over SSH, with herdr and Claude Code, Codex or OMP installed and configured. Agent accounts and any provider charges are separate and are not supplied by HerdrChat. The agents and their commands run on your computer, not on your iPhone or iPad. HerdrChat does not include an AI subscription. Open source under Apache-2.0: github.com/cobanov/herdrchat
VelaTerm
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VelaTerm is a terminal manager built for working with AI coding agents. The VelaTerm mobile app connects to a computer that runs VelaTerm, so you can follow your sessions and continue your work away from your desk. CONNECT TO YOUR OWN HOST ⢠Connect over SSH with a password or an Ed25519 private key, or open a VelaTerm link. ⢠Confirm the host fingerprint before the first connection. VelaTerm asks again if the fingerprint changes. ⢠Passwords and private keys are stored in the iOS Keychain on your device. WORK WITH YOUR SESSIONS ⢠Browse the projects, groups and sessions on your host. ⢠See whether each coding agent is working, waiting for your input or finished. ⢠Read agent conversations and reply from your iPhone or iPad. ⢠Open project files and save them to your device. REQUIREMENTS VelaTerm must be installed on the computer you connect to. The desktop app is available at velaterm.com.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is update cadence: HerdrChat at every 4 days against VelaTerm's every 3 weeks. On price, ads, in-app purchases and device support there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price Ā· Rating Ā· Positive reviews Ā· Number of ratings Ā· Update frequency Ā· Ads Ā· In-app purchases Ā· Monetization Ā· Best chart rank Ā· Devices Ā· Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
HerdrChat ships an update every 4 days, VelaTerm every 3 weeks. The most recent releases landed on November 13, 2026 and November 12, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | HerdrChat | VelaTerm |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Positive reviews | 0.0% of reviews | ā |
| Update frequency | Every 4 days ā better | Every 3 weeks |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free | ā |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 17.0 | 17.0 |
| Further details ā not scored | ||
| Size | 51 MB | 11 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | AHMET MERT COBANOGLU | Vlinx Software, Inc. |
In-app purchases
HerdrChat
No in-app purchases
VelaTerm
No in-app purchases









