# Shelly vs shellin

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.

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.

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.

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.

## The numbers

| Metric | Shelly | shellin |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | [4.4 (273 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/shelly-ssh-client/id989642999/reviews) | **[5.0 (1 ratings)](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/shellin/id6760250186/reviews)** |
| Number of ratings | **273** | 1 |
| Positive reviews | 76.2% of reviews | — |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Ads | No | No |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | **Every 10 days** |
| Monetization | **Free with in-app purchases** | Subscription |
| Best chart rank | **#185** | — |
| Size | 11 MB | 14 MB |
| Requires iOS | **13.0** | 18.6 |
| Devices | **iPhone, iPad, iPod** | iPhone, iPad |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | [Touch Foo](https://appshunter.io/developer/331891508) | [Joonhyung Cho](https://appshunter.io/developer/1883466334) |

## What reviewers say

### Shelly

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/shelly-ssh-client/id989642999)

**Currently charting:** #185 Top Free · Developer Tools (US App Store)

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:** macOS Compatibility, Family Sharing, Vision Pro support

**In-app purchases (1)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Upgrade To Pro | $3.99 | one-time |

**What reviewers like**

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

**What reviewers complain about**

- 🐛 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

**Reported bugs**

- 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**

- 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

[App page](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/shellin/id6760250186)

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:** macOS Compatibility

**In-app purchases (2)**

| Purchase | Price | Billing |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Shellin Lite | $0.99 | per 7 days |
| Shellin Pro | $8.99 | per month |


## Frequently asked 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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*Compared by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/) from daily US App Store data. Review summaries are generated from verbatim App Store reviews.*