Shelly vs ShellCast
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
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.
- Hardware accelerated text rendering
- Robust terminal emulation
- Gesture control for navigation
- Customizable keyboard toolbar
- Key file authentication
- iCloud sync support
- Terminal color themes
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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.
ShellCast
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ShellCast lets you control any terminal or long-running CLI process from your devices. Guide your AI agents remotely and get nudged when they need your attention. No complex setup; just pair once and stay connected from anywhere—batteries included.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: ShellCast at none against Shelly's 1. ShellCast also leads on update cadence (every 10 days vs every 2 months). Shelly's advantage is iOS requirement (13.0 vs 18.0). 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
Both are free to download. Shelly sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. ShellCast asks for nothing beyond the download.
Shelly ships an update every 2 months, ShellCast every 10 days. The most recent releases landed on September 27, 2026 and September 11, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Shelly | ShellCast |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.4 (273 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 76.2% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 273 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Every 10 days — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone, iPad |
| Requires iOS | 13.0 — better | 18.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 11 MB | 14 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Touch Foo | Neurox Inc. |
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
ShellCast
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Shelly
- Upgrade To Pro$3.99
ShellCast
No in-app purchases









