Comparison

Pier Shell vs AI Usage Limits

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

Head to head
About

Pier Shell

Features
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No separate account required Pier works with your existing iCloud account to keep supported data synchronized across your Apple devices. There’s no Pier registration, username, or password to manage. Pier is a native SSH and SFTP client built for developers who want a simple, fast way to access their servers from iPhone and Mac. Add your hosts once and keep them synced privately through iCloud. Connect to production, staging, personal servers, Raspberry Pis, and more without rebuilding your setup on every device. Pier is designed to feel at home on Apple platforms, with a clean native interface, fast terminal performance, and secure key handling.

About

AI Usage Limits

Features
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See how much of your AI allowance you have used, and when it resets, without opening a single dashboard. Every provider hides your remaining quota somewhere different. AI Usage Limits puts them on one screen β€” and on your Home Screen and Lock Screen. SUPPORTED SERVICES β€’ Claude β€” session (5-hour) and weekly windows β€’ ChatGPT / Codex β€” rate-limit windows β€’ Grok β€” credit usage β€’ Cursor β€” plan usage β€’ OpenRouter β€” credit limit and balance WIDGETS β€’ All Providers β€” everything you have connected, at a glance β€’ Single Provider β€” one service in full detail, with reset times β€’ Home Screen and Lock Screen sizes, including inline and circular β€’ Every widget shows when it last updated, and flags stale figures rather than passing them off as current TRY IT FIRST Not ready to connect an account? Turn on sample data during setup or in Settings and the app fills itself β€” dashboard and widgets β€” with made-up figures so you can see exactly what you would get. BUILT TO BE BORING ABOUT YOUR DATA β€’ No account, no server, no analytics, no ads, no tracking β€’ You sign in on each provider's own page in Safari β€” the app never sees your password β€’ Credentials are stored in your device Keychain and sent only to the provider they belong to β€’ The app asks for the narrowest access it can. Its Claude token can read your usage and cannot send prompts or spend your allowance β€’ "Delete all data" removes every credential, cached figure and preference from your device β€’ About β†’ Privacy & connections lists exactly what each service is asked for FREE AND OPEN SOURCE No ads, no subscription, no paid tier. The whole app is on GitHub β€” read exactly what it does and what it sends. PLEASE NOTE This is an independent app and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Anthropic, OpenAI, xAI, Anysphere or OpenRouter. Except for OpenRouter, it reads usage endpoints those companies have not documented, so a service can change and temporarily stop reporting. Figures are indicative β€” your provider's own dashboard is authoritative, and you should not rely on this app for billing decisions.

Screenshots

Pier Shell4 screens
AI Usage Limits4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is device support: Pier Shell at 3 against AI Usage Limits's 1. AI Usage Limits's advantage is iOS requirement (17.0 vs 26.5). On price, update cadence, ads and in-app purchases there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price Β· Rating Β· Positive reviews Β· Number of ratings Β· Update frequency Β· Ads Β· In-app purchases Β· Monetization Β· Best chart rank Β· Devices Β· Requires iOS

CostPrice Β· In-app purchases Β· Ads Β· Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly every 8 days. The most recent releases landed on September 28, 2026 and October 7, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard2 real differences Β· 4 level
Pier Shell versus AI Usage Limits: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterPier ShellAI Usage Limits
PriceFreeFree
Update frequencyEvery 8 daysEvery 8 days
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
DevicesiPhone, iPad, Mac β€” betteriPhone
Requires iOS26.517.0 β€” better
Further details β€” not scored
Size12 MB2 MB
Age rating4+12+
DeveloperMuhamad Nur AsyraafGeorgios Stavropoulos

In-app purchases

None

Pier Shell

No in-app purchases

None

AI Usage Limits

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Pier Shell free?
Pier Shell is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is AI Usage Limits free?
AI Usage Limits is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Pier Shell or AI Usage Limits have ads?
Neither Pier Shell nor AI Usage Limits shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Pier Shell or AI Usage Limits?
Pier Shell ships an update every 8 days, and AI Usage Limits every 8 days. Most recently, Pier Shell was updated on September 28, 2026 and AI Usage Limits on October 7, 2026.

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