Comparison

Shelly vs Terminal & SSH

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

Head to head
About

Shelly

A powerful and user-friendly SSH client for mobile devices. It offers robust terminal emulation, gesture controls, and customizable keyboard shortcuts for efficient remote server management. Supports key-based authentication and iCloud sync.

Highlights
  • Hardware accelerated text rendering
  • Robust terminal emulation
  • Gesture control for navigation
  • Customizable keyboard toolbar
  • Key file authentication
  • iCloud sync support
  • Terminal color themes
Features
Read full description

SSH client designed for usability and performance. RELIABLE AND FAST • Hardware accelerated text rendering. • Robust terminal emulation based on the PuTTY engine. • Works great with programs such as 'screen' and 'irssi'. CONTROL WITH GESTURES • Default gestures optimized for irssi. Just swipe to switch channels or to scroll up and down. • Fully customizable. Any keypress or action can be attached to any gesture. EASY CONNECTING • Save user credentials and configure a remote command such as ‘screen -rd’ to connect with one tap. • 3D touch support. Connect directly from the iOS home screen. CUSTOMIZABLE KEYBOARD • Easily bind custom actions to buttons on the keyboard toolbar. • Works with custom iOS keyboards such as SwiftKey. OPEN LINKS AND SELECT TEXT • Familiar iOS text selection experience. Long-press on text to show the selection controls. • Copy and paste text. • Select a URL to easily open it in the web browser. OTHER FEATURES • iCloud sync support. • Terminal color themes. Choose your favorite from the several themes included or make your own. • Key file authentication support. Import an existing private key, or create a new key and export the public key. • Host key verification and management. • Agent forwarding (OpenSSH servers only). • Keep connections alive while the app is in the background. • Connection history with optional realtime location data. • Plenty of other configuration options. Please note that some features require a paid upgrade. You can try all features for free for a limited time.

About

Terminal & SSH

Access and manage Linux or IoT devices securely from your mobile device. Offers SSH, SFTP, and a suite of network tools for command-line administration and file transfer. Includes a code editor and snippet manager for efficient workflow.

Highlights
  • SSH connection with key authentication
  • SFTP file transfer
  • Network tools (ping, ifconfig, etc.)
  • Local text editor with syntax highlighting
  • Command snippets
  • Code editor
  • Terminal theme customization
Features
Read full description

Terminal & SSH is a complete command line and server administration solution that provides secure access to Linux or IoT devices and helps you quickly resolve issues from a mobile device. SSH Features: • SSH connection with password or key authentication: DSA, RSA, ECDSA, Ed25519 (OpenSSH format). • Emulation: XTERM-COLOR256 / XTERM / VT100 • Connection settings are securely stored in the Keychain. • Unlimited server list. • Local text editor with syntax highlighting for more than 30 programming languages. • Snippets (saving commands for quick access). • Special keys Esc, Tab, Ctrl, /,:, -,!, |, $, *, F1-F12 SFTP features: • Upload files from your device to your server. • Download files from your server to your device. • Create / rename / delete files and directories. • Edit text files. Network tools: • ifconfig, ping, whois, host, nc (netcat), nslookup, telnet, dig, curl And: • Authentication to the application via Touch ID / Face ID. • Work with Git. • Code editor for: Swift, Kotlin, Java, Python, HTML and more. • Run code on Python • Customize the terminal theme. • Adjust the font size. Terms of Use: https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula

Screenshots

Shelly4 screens
Terminal & SSH4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is ads: Shelly at none against Terminal & SSH's shown. Shelly also leads on chart position (#197 vs unranked). Terminal & SSH's advantage is update cadence (every 2 weeks vs every 2 months) and review sentiment (85% vs 76%). On price, rating, ratings volume and in-app purchases 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. Shelly sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and Terminal & SSH sells 5 in-app purchases, starting at $4.99 per month. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

On the App Store both sit at effectively the same score — 4.4 for Shelly against 4.3 for Terminal & SSH. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 273 and 105 respectively. Written reviews are what separate them: 76% of Shelly's written reviews are positive against 85% of Terminal & SSH's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Shelly ships an update every 2 months, Terminal & SSH every 2 weeks. The most recent releases landed on September 30, 2026 and September 27, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 7 level
Shelly versus Terminal & SSH: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterShellyTerminal & SSH
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.4 (273 ratings) — better4.3 (105 ratings)
Positive reviews76.2% of reviews84.8% of reviews — better
Number of ratings273 — better105
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 2 weeks — better
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
Best chart rank#197 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS13.012.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size11 MB74 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperTouch FooPavlo Kravchenko

Customer experience

Shelly

All ratings273 ratings
Positive83.5%
Neutral4.4%
Negative12.1%
Written reviews353 reviews
Positive76.2%
Neutral8.8%
Negative15.0%

Terminal & SSH

All ratings105 ratings
Positive84.8%
Neutral4.8%
Negative10.5%
Written reviews79 reviews
Positive84.8%
Neutral5.1%
Negative10.1%

User reviews

Shelly

From 273 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Lightweight and fast
  • 👍 Customizable keyboard and gestures
  • 🔒 Supports SSH key authentication
  • 💡 Useful shortcuts and toolbar
  • 👍 Reliable background connections

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Occasional connection drops when switching apps
  • 🐛 Toolbar issues with hardware keyboard
  • 🐛 Garbled display with some terminal programs
  • 🐛 Lack of support for newer SSH key formats
  • 🐛 Inconsistent behavior with password managers

Terminal & SSH

From 105 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 👍 Easy to use
  • 🚀 Fast and efficient
  • 🆓 Free of charge
  • 🚫 No ads
  • 💻 Great for remote server management

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Frequent crashes
  • ⚠️ Not working on older iOS versions
  • 🖱️ UI needs improvement
  • ⌨️ Bluetooth keyboard arrow keys not working
  • 🔄 App crashes on loading

Bugs and requests

Shelly

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Saved profiles get overwritten unexpectedly
  • Toolbar persists even with auto-hide enabled
  • Cursor movement issues with hardware keyboard
  • Inability to copy/paste with Magic Keyboard

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add support for port forwarding
  • Implement Mosh protocol support
  • Allow customization of default font
  • Provide option for multiple app instances
  • Add ability to remap hardware keyboard keys

Terminal & SSH

Reported bugs

14 issues
  • App crashes after showing logo on iOS 12.2
  • Crashes on iPad Air with iOS 12.3.1
  • Crashes frequently (Chinese review)
  • Crashes on loading
  • App crashes on loading starting today
Show 9 more
  • Crashes immediately under iOS 15.3
  • Crashes when selecting default theme
  • Cannot keep app in background, requires reconnection
  • Bluetooth keyboard arrow keys not transmitting
  • App crashes on startup
  • App stopped working on iPad after a few days
  • Crashes on iPad Pro 1st Gen (13.4.1)
  • Arrow key presses on MFi keyboard don't transmit
  • App does not start

Requested features

8 requests
  • Keepalive features for long builds
  • Physical arrow keys for Bluetooth keyboards
  • Support for Chinese input in terminal
  • UI improvements for common keys on toolbar
  • Ability to touch and drag back through commands
Show 3 more
  • Swipe up through history
  • Dark mode
  • More clear explanation of connection purchases

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Shelly

One-time1
  • Upgrade To Pro$3.99
5 purchases

Terminal & SSH

Subscriptions2
  • Remove ads$4.991 Month
  • Remove ads$9.993 Months
One-time3
  • Five connections$1.99
  • Twenty connections$4.99
  • Infinity connections$9.99

Questions

Is Shelly free?
Shelly is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is Terminal & SSH free?
Terminal & SSH is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Shelly or Terminal & SSH?
Shelly is rated higher. Shelly averages 4.4 out of 5 from 273 ratings, while Terminal & SSH averages 4.3 from 105 ratings.
Do Shelly or Terminal & SSH have ads?
Terminal & SSH shows ads; Shelly does not.
Which is updated more often, Shelly or Terminal & SSH?
Shelly ships an update every 2 months, and Terminal & SSH every 2 weeks. Most recently, Shelly was updated on September 30, 2026 and Terminal & SSH on September 27, 2026.

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