Comparison

Shelly vs shellin

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

shellin

Access and control your Mac terminal from your iPhone or iPad. Monitor AI coding agents, run commands, and stay connected to your workflow remotely via an encrypted peer-to-peer connection.

Highlights
  • View Mac terminal live on iPhone/iPad
  • Monitor AI coding agents remotely
  • Real-time interaction with keyboard input
  • Connect without SSH setup
  • End-to-end encrypted peer-to-peer session
Features
Read full description

shellin lets you view and interact with your Mac terminal from iPhone or iPad. Run the shellin CLI on your Mac, open the iOS app, and your terminal appears live over an encrypted peer-to-peer connection. Whether you are running Claude Code, Codex, OpenCode, Gemini CLI, or a long command in Terminal, shellin helps you stay connected when you step away from your desk. Check progress, approve actions, and send commands right from your phone or tablet. An active shellin subscription is required to connect to your Mac from the iOS app. Why shellin  • View your Mac terminal live from iPhone or iPad  • Monitor AI coding agents while you are away  • Interact in real time with keyboard input and terminal output  • Connect without SSH setup, port forwarding, or firewall changes  • End-to-end encrypted peer-to-peer session  How it works  1. Install the shellin app on iPhone or iPad  2. Choose and activate a shellin subscription in the app  3. Install the shellin CLI on your Mac  4. Sign in with a one-time key  5. Run shellin in the terminal you want to access  6. Open the app and connect to your live session  shellin is built for people who want lightweight remote access to an existing Mac terminal session, especially when monitoring AI-assisted workflows on the go. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula Privacy Policy: https://shellin.dev/privacy

Screenshots

Shelly4 screens
shellin4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: shellin at 5.0 against Shelly's 4.4. shellin also leads on update cadence (every 10 days vs every 2 months). Shelly's advantage is monetization model (free with in-app purchases vs subscription) and ratings volume (273 vs 1). On price, ads, in-app purchases 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. Shelly sells 1 one-off in-app purchase and shellin sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per 7 days. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

shellin holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.4. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Shelly has 273 ratings behind it against 1, so its average is the more settled of the two.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Shelly ships an update every 2 months, shellin every 10 days. The most recent releases landed on September 24, 2026 and September 21, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard6 real differences · 5 level
Shelly versus shellin: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterShellyshellin
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.4 (273 ratings)5.0 (1 ratings) — better
Positive reviews76.2% of reviews—
Number of ratings273 — better1
Update frequencyEvery 2 monthsEvery 10 days — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchases — betterSubscription
Best chart rank#185 — better—
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS13.0 — better18.6
Further details — not scored
Size11 MB14 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperTouch FooJoonhyung Cho

Customer experience

Shelly

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

shellin

All ratings1 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

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

shellin

Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.

In-app purchases

1 purchases

Shelly

One-time1
  • Upgrade To Pro$3.99
2 purchases

shellin

Subscriptions2
  • Shellin Lite7 Days trial$0.997 Days
  • Shellin Pro$8.991 Month

Questions

Is Shelly free?
Shelly is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is shellin free?
shellin is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Shelly or shellin?
shellin is rated higher. Shelly averages 4.4 out of 5 from 273 ratings, while shellin averages 5.0 from 1 ratings.
Do Shelly or shellin have ads?
Neither Shelly nor shellin shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Shelly or shellin?
Shelly ships an update every 2 months, and shellin every 10 days. Most recently, Shelly was updated on September 24, 2026 and shellin on September 21, 2026.

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