#1in Terminal Emulation

a-Shell

S Tier

Best in class

4.62.1K ratings

12dsince update

Freeto download

Developer Tools
category

Productivity
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17+age rating

7languages

Made for iPhone

Made for iPad

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What is a-Shell?

Local Unix terminal emulator for iOS with Unix commands, Python, C and C++ compilers, TeX and file transfer tools.

A-Shell is a local terminal emulator for iOS and iPadOS that runs most Unix commands on the device. It includes programming languages such as Python, Lua, Perl, JavaScript, C and C++, along with a TeX engine and network utilities such as ping, whois and nslookup. It supports multiple windows and can be controlled from Shortcuts.

Pricing. A-Shell is free, with no in-app purchases on the App Store.

Good for

Editing and processing text files with vim, sed, awk and grep
Compiling C or C++ programs to WebAssembly and running them
Working in several shell windows with different commands and directories

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Why this app is in S tier

91/100The average of 4 parts, with no weights

Rating92

Ratings73

App Store search rank97

Update recency100

S tier follows from that score within this list. The full explanation, as data.

Description

a-Shell is a complete local terminal emulator, allowing to run most Unix commands on your iOS device. You can transfer files using scp and curl, edit them with vim and ed, process them using grep, awk and sed. You can work with git repositories using lg2.
Most commands are compiled for iOS native Arm64 format, making them fast and well integrated with the BSD Unix that powers iOS/iPadOS.

a-Shell includes Python, Lua, Perl, JavaScript, C, C++ for programming and TeX (texlive 2025, with Tikz and LuaTeX) for text processing.

There are also multiple network utilities: nslookup, ping, whois, ifconfig... Type help for help, help -l to get the full list of commands.

a-Shell can be controlled from Shortcuts: run commands in order, process files in a-Shell, get the results as text or files, transfer files to other apps...

a-shell uses iOS 13+ “multiple windows” ability, so you can run multiple shells at the same time, with different commands, in different directories. You can edit a file in one window with vim and process it in the other with python.

Compile your C or C++ programs to webAssembly using clang or clang++, and execute the resulting binary. A complete webAssembly SDK is included (WASI-libc).

a-Shell is the complete version. If you need a smaller app, and you don't need a C compiler, a TeX engine, or numpy and matplotlib, there is a-Shell mini.

Compare

a-Shell

S tier

Termiux

A tier

iSH Shell

C tier

a-Shell mini

C tier

ViSH

F tier

Top Terminal Emulation

a-ShellS tier4.6 ★View 2

TermiuxA tier4.4 ★View 3

iSH ShellC tier4.7 ★View 4

a-Shell miniC tier4.3 ★View 5

ViSHF tier3.0 ★View 6

Terminal Emulator appF tier1.9 ★View

Questions about a-Shell

Does a-Shell support ssh?

The subtitle mentions ssh, but the description does not describe ssh usage. It describes file transfer with scp and curl.

Does it include a C compiler?

Yes. The description says C and C++ are included, and that clang or clang++ can compile programs to WebAssembly, with a WebAssembly SDK (WASI-libc) included.

Is there a smaller version of the app?

Yes, a-Shell mini. The description says it is for users who do not need a C compiler, a TeX engine, or numpy and matplotlib.

Is a-Shell free?

Yes. a-Shell is free on the App Store, with no in-app purchases.

Is a-Shell right for me?

a-Shell is built for editing and processing text files with vim, sed, awk and grep, compiling C or C++ programs to webassembly and running them, working in several shell windows with different commands and directories. It sits in the terminal emulation list on AppTierList.

Is a-Shell worth it?

a-Shell is S tier, ranked #1 of 7 terminal emulation apps with a score of 91 out of 100, from a 4.6 App Store rating across 2,083 ratings. That is the top of its list.

How does a-Shell compare to Termiux?

a-Shell is S tier at 91; Termiux is A tier at 84. a-Shell ranks higher. a-Shell is free, with no in-app purchases, Termiux is free to download, with in-app purchases.