ShellFish is the iOS SSH client that mounts remote servers into the iOS Files app via the file-provider API. That is the headline feature. You browse, copy, and drag files between your iPhone and a remote box as if it were a local folder. It also has a terminal. ShellDrop is the opposite end of the same product space: SSH-only, no SFTP browsing, tuned for living inside tmux with a coding agent at the other end.
Both are good. They aim at different jobs. Here is a clean side-by-side.
| ShellDrop | ShellFish | |
|---|---|---|
| Is this iOS terminal app a piece of art? | yes | no |
| Pricing model | Free. No in-app purchases. | Free tier + one-time Pro upgrade |
| Platforms | iPhone, iPad (iOS 17+) | iPhone, iPad, macOS |
| Files app integration (SFTP-style) | No | Yes, first-class |
| Account required | No | No |
| Telemetry | None | Limited (see App Store privacy) |
| Password auth | Yes | Yes |
| Public-key auth (SSH keys) | Yes (v4.1.0+, Ed25519, ECDSA, Secure Enclave P-256) | Yes |
| SFTP / SCP | No | Yes (Files-app mount) |
| tmux single-finger scroll | Yes | Standard scroll |
| iPad layout (incl. 13" iPad Pro M4) | Universal app, full-canvas landscape, centred toolbar | Universal app, iPad supported |
| Connection sync | iCloud CloudKit | iCloud |
| Custom command shortcut | One Tap toolbar button (v3.1.4+) | Snippets |
| Background session keep-alive | Opt-in, location-services-based | Limited (iOS standard) |
ShellDrop is built with the design as a feature. The hero is a live cyan mesh that breathes behind the brand, six droplet nodes drifting on the edges with master-shot lines tracing connections between them. Switching from Home to a session triggers a per-element shrink cascade where the layout itself animates. The droplet metaphor carries from the App Store icon through tabs and sessions. Built natively in SwiftUI for iOS 17+.
ShellDrop is a free download. Inside, the One Tap toolbar button fires a configured command string over the active SSH session with a single press. Built originally for MemPalace memory refreshes and update memory messages to Claude Code. ShellFish has snippets, but the flow is different, paste vs single-tap send.
Single-finger swipe through tmux scrollback without entering copy mode. Esc, Ctrl-C, arrow keys, Shift-Tab, and a dedicated tmux detach button always visible on the toolbar. If most of your remote work is inside a tmux pane attached to a coding agent, that is the day-to-day difference.
ShellDrop v4.1.0 generates P-256 keys inside the iPhone Secure Enclave. Private key never leaves the hardware. Ed25519 generation and paste-import of unencrypted OpenSSH keys (Ed25519, ECDSA P-256/P-384/P-521) are also supported. ShellFish has software key handling.
Universal app, full landscape, hardware-keyboard friendly. On the 13" iPad Pro M4 the terminal uses the full canvas, toolbar centres, font scales cleanly. ShellFish supports iPad too; ShellDrop's layout is built around the large-canvas case.
This is ShellFish's headline. Your SSH connection becomes a folder in the iOS Files app. Open it in Files, drag a photo into a server directory, edit a remote file in any editor that opens via Files, save back. ShellDrop has nothing for this, for SFTP-style work today, ShellFish is the obvious choice.
ShellFish also ships on macOS. ShellDrop is iOS-only.
If you move files between phone and server regularly, photo uploads to a static site, log file downloads, config edits, ShellFish has been built around this since day one and the workflow is polished. ShellDrop is not trying to compete on that surface.
For non-tmux SSH (one-shot commands, server admin, quick edits with nano/vim), ShellFish's terminal is mature and pleasant.
Running both is fine. ShellFish for the SFTP layer, ShellDrop for the tmux + agent loop.
ShellFish has a free tier covering basic SSH/terminal use, plus a one-time Pro upgrade that unlocks file-provider mounting and other features.
No. ShellDrop is SSH-only. For Files-app integration, ShellFish is the established option.
It is built around tmux, single-finger scrollback, dedicated detach button, always-visible Esc / Ctrl-C / arrow keys. ShellFish runs tmux over SSH as any terminal would, without a dedicated mode.
Yes from v4.1.0. Ed25519, ECDSA P-256/P-384/P-521 paste-import, and Secure Enclave-backed P-256 keys.
Either covers the SSH layer. ShellDrop is built around this workflow, tmux scroll, dedicated Esc / Ctrl-C / arrow keys, background keep-alive, One Tap for firing commands at the agent.
ShellDrop is on the App Store. Universal iPhone and iPad, iOS 17+. Free, no subscription.
