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QuickTUI vs Blink Shell

QuickTUI and Blink Shell both help you work with terminals or AI agents from your phone, but they start from different places. This page explains how they differ.

What Blink Shell is

Blink Shell is a professional terminal for iOS and iPadOS built around Mosh and SSH, with local Unix tools and Blink Code, a front end for VS Code on the web. It's open source (GPL-3.0) and popular with iPad users who work with a hardware keyboard, and it recently added a Prompt Mode with voice input for composing long instructions for AI agents.

What QuickTUI is

QuickTUI is a native iPhone, iPad, and Android (Preview) app that connects to the QuickTUI server on your computer, so you can attach to the sessions already running there and run and supervise any CLI agent from your phone. What sets it apart:

A real terminal on your existing sessions

Attaches directly to the tmux and Herdr sessions on your computer. No wrapper changes how you launch agents, and your desktop and your phone share the same session.

Agent status at a glance

With Herdr, the Session Manager shows whether each agent is idle, working, waiting for input, or done, so you can see which one needs you.

Setup and pairing in one step

The setup wizard installs the server over SSH once and pairs automatically. After that, you never manage SSH on your phone.

End-to-end encrypted, direct by default

Everything between your phone and your computer is end-to-end encrypted. Away from your network, connect through a VPN, a tunnel, or the optional QuickTUI Cloud relay without opening SSH to the internet.

Built for working on a phone

The Agent Wizard includes launch settings for 19 popular agents, and the Command Palette has more than 500 commands. You also get stackable Shortcuts Bars, an Input Bar with file and image attachments, a file manager, and port forwarding with a built-in browser.

A one-time purchase

On iOS, QuickTUI is free for one computer, and Pro is a one-time purchase ($39.99 USD) for unlimited computers, with no subscription. The Android preview includes every feature for free.

Side by side

Interface

QuickTUI: A full terminal and a chat view, plus a Session Manager, Agent Wizard, file manager and port forwardingBlink Shell: A professional terminal with a prompt-composing mode

How it connects

QuickTUI: The app connects to the QuickTUI server on your computer, directly on your network or through a VPN, a tunnel or the optional QuickTUI Cloud relay. The setup wizard installs the server once over SSHBlink Shell: Direct SSH or Mosh from iPad or iPhone to your servers, with full ssh_config support

Vendor cloud in the path

QuickTUI: Direct to your computer by default; through the QuickTUI Cloud relay, only end-to-end encrypted data is forwardedBlink Shell: Terminal traffic doesn't go through Blink

tmux / Herdr

QuickTUI: Native tmux and Herdr support, with Luvus available when enabled manually; with Herdr, each agent's status is shownBlink Shell: No native tmux integration; sessions persist through Mosh

Agents

QuickTUI: Any CLI agent that runs in a terminal; the Agent Wizard includes launch settings for 19 popular agentsBlink Shell: Any CLI agent

Platforms

QuickTUI: iPhone, iPad and Android (Preview)Blink Shell: iOS and iPadOS

Pricing

QuickTUI: Free for one computer; Pro is a one-time purchase ($39.99 on the US App Store) for unlimited computers; the QuickTUI Cloud relay includes free monthly traffic, with a subscription for regular use; the Android (Preview) app is free during the previewBlink Shell: Two-week free trial, then $19.99 a year; GPL-3.0 open source

China App Store

QuickTUI: YesBlink Shell: Yes

QuickTUI is free to download from the App Store; see the install guide to set it up.

Information about Blink Shell is based on its website and App Store listing as of September 2026. Check Blink Shell's site for the latest details.