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Guide ยท Last verified July 2026

8 Best Mobile Terminal & Coding-Agent Apps (2026)

In 2026, mobile terminals went from SSH on a small screen to control your machines and your coding agents.

This ranked guide uses the criteria reviewers actually use: Mosh/reconnect resilience, multiplexer support, agent awareness, project/file capabilities, pricing transparency, platform coverage, and dev-server preview.

PocketShell is our product and is listed first with that disclosure, so judge it against the same rubric. Every entry below includes genuine praise and a real limitation.

PocketShell combines a project file tree, code editor, git status and diffs, terminal tabs, and live dev-server preview in one mobile workspace connected to your own machine. To preview a dev server, expose a port with one command, then preview with hot reload on your phone - no tunnel service, traffic goes P2P.

How we compared

We used publicly documented product features, pricing pages, docs, source links listed below, and our own testing of PocketShell's host agent and mobile workflows.

Sources

Written and tested by Yash Agarwal, the developer of PocketShell. PocketShell is our product; that conflict is disclosed throughout this guide.

Methodology and corrections

Security wording here is scoped deliberately: authenticated P2P/TURN WebRTC traffic is end-to-end encrypted with DTLS. Terminal and agent traffic can use a server-readable WSS/TLS fallback while WebRTC is unavailable; file signaling has a documented key-exchange fallback. Read the security architecture for the exact paths.

Ranked list

The 8 apps

1. PocketShell

Our product

PocketShell is the only VS Code-like project workspace on mobile: file tree, editor, git diffs, terminal tabs, and P2P dev-server preview. It adds host-authoritative terminal resume; QR P2P pairing in about 2 minutes with no SSH keys or port forwarding; Claude Code plus Codex session browse/resume-into-terminal and completion push; live monitoring, alerts, and widgets; iOS and Android; and a host agent open source under Apache-2.0 on macOS/Linux/Windows.

Pricing is Free, Pro at $4.99/mo or $39.99/yr, and Lifetime at $99.99.

Limitations
Agent control is resume-into-terminal, not an in-app chat composer. Dev-server preview needs one-time `pocketshell expose <port>` on the host.

2. Termius

Termius is best for protocol breadth: SSH/SFTP/Mosh/Telnet/Serial, desktop apps, teams, and SOC2. Its pricing lists Pro at $10/mo for SFTP/sync.

Limitations
SFTP/sync costs $10/mo, there is no agent awareness, tmux workarounds are their own documented path, hosts need to be reachable, and account creation is forced.

3. Blink Shell

Blink Shell is the best pure Mosh terminal on iOS, with GPLv3 core, code-server bridge, and pricing around $19.99/yr.

Limitations
iOS-only, with no agent UI and no monitoring.

4. Moshi

Moshi has the best native agent-monitoring polish: kanban inbox, chat view over live terminal, Live Activities, Watch approvals, diff viewer, browser preview, iOS plus Android, generous free tier, and pricing at $7.99/mo, $69.99/yr, or $199 lifetime.

Limitations
You assemble reachability with SSH/Mosh/tmux/keys or Tailscale, the file browser is read-only, there is no editor/git UI, and Pro gates diff viewer plus preview.

5. Happy

Happy is the best free option for pure Claude Code/Codex steering: MIT open source, E2E-encrypted relay, self-hostable, and voice.

Limitations
Not a terminal, no files or monitoring, and the relay is in the data path at about 300ms.

6. Omnara

Omnara is the best agent command center for dashboards, Apple Watch, sessions that survive laptop sleep through cloud migration, Claude Code plus Codex, free 10 sessions/mo, and $9/mo paid tier.

Limitations
Hosted mode stores transcripts server-side, not E2E; there is no terminal/files/monitoring; previews use a cloudflared tunnel and are cloud-relayed.

7. ServerCat

ServerCat combines SSH with server monitoring and container management on iOS.

Limitations
No agent features, and no Android version was verified.

8. xTerminal

xTerminal is an SSH client with a built-in editor.

Limitations
Light entry: it does not match the verified agent, monitoring, or P2P projectspace surface above.

Honorable mention: Tailscale SSH

Tailscale SSH is useful plumbing, not a terminal. It pairs with any client above when reachability is the missing layer.

Comparison summary

Side by side

AppMosh/reconnectTmuxAgent awarenessProject/filesPricingPlatformsPreview
PocketShellHost-authoritative resumeTerminal tabsClaude Code + Codex browse/resume + pushFile tree, editor, git diffsFree / $4.99mo / $39.99yr / $99.99iOS, Android; host macOS/Linux/WindowsP2P after `pocketshell expose <port>`
TermiusSSH/Mosh strengthWorkaround pathNoSFTP Pro$10/mo ProMobile, desktop, webNo dedicated preview
Blink ShellBest pure Mosh on iOSTerminal workflowNocode-server bridgeAround $19.99/yriOS/iPadOScode-server bridge
MoshiSSH/Mosh/Tailscale basedtmux plus moshi-hookNative agent monitoringRead-only file browserFree / $7.99mo / $69.99yr / $199iOS, AndroidPro-gated browser preview
HappyRelay pathAgent-onlyClaude Code + CodexNo filesFreeAgent controllerNo
OmnaraCloud migration persistenceAgent command centerClaude Code + CodexNo terminal/filesFree 10 sessions/mo / $9moDashboards + Watchcloudflared tunnel
ServerCatSSH appSSH workflowNo agent featuresServer monitoring/container managementLight entryiOSNo agent features
xTerminalSSH clientSSH workflowLight entryBuilt-in editorLight entryMobile SSH clientLight entry

scroll the table horizontally

FAQ

Questions people ask

What's the best free option?

Happy for agent-only, Moshi free tier for SSH terminal, and PocketShell Free for 2 hosts with projectspace.

Best for Claude Code specifically?

Use Anthropic Remote Control for first-party control of an already-running Claude Code session, Happy for a free dedicated agent controller, Moshi for native agent-monitoring polish, and PocketShell when you want Claude Code plus a real terminal, files, git, preview, monitoring, and Codex history too.

Best one-time purchase?

The one-time options are PocketShell Lifetime at $99.99 and Moshi Lifetime at $199; Blink Shell is a yearly Blink+ purchase rather than a true lifetime option.

Do any work without SSH keys?

PocketShell uses QR P2P pairing, Happy uses QR pairing, and everything else in this list needs SSH/keys or another reachability layer.
Try PocketShell

Put your hosts on your phone.

Install the host agent, scan the QR, and pair a machine you own. The host agent is open source under Apache-2.0.

Download on theApp StoreGet it onGoogle Play
Install on macOS/Linux
curl -fsSL https://pocketshell.app/install.sh | bash
Host agent source
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