Shellter: SSH & SFTP Client
What is Shellter?
Free SSH, SFTP and FTP client that keeps accounts, syncing and telemetry off your phone.
Shellter is an SSH, SFTP and FTP client for iOS. It keeps data on the device, with no account, no syncing and no telemetry, and makes network connections only to servers the user enters. It includes an interactive terminal, file browsing over SFTP or FTP, host key pinning, and Keychain storage for passwords and private keys.
Pricing. Shellter is free, with no in-app purchases on the App Store.
Good for
- Connecting from an iPhone to servers you already run
- Transferring files over SFTP without a second login
- Running remote shell sessions from a phone
Screenshots
Why this app is in D tier
D tier follows from that score within this list. The full explanation, as data.
Shellter scores 53 out of 100: rating 72, rating count 40, App Store search rank 0, update recency 100. The four parts are averaged and D tier follows from that score within this list.
Description
Shellter is an SSH, SFTP and FTP client that keeps everything on your phone.
There is no account to create, nothing syncs, and the app sends no telemetry. It opens connections to the servers you type in, and makes no other network request. That is the whole product.
Read more
A REAL TERMINAL - An interactive shell rendered with xterm, not a toy console. It follows the keyboard, resizes the remote PTY when you rotate the phone, and keeps 10,000 lines of scrollback
FILES WITHOUT A SECOND LOGIN - Browse, upload, download, rename, delete and create folders over SFTP or FTP. Open the file browser from inside a live SSH session and it reuses that connection instead of opening another one. A download never silently overwrites a file you already have.
HOST KEYS, PINNED AND CHECKED - The server's host key is pinned the first time you connect and compared on every reconnect. If it does not match, the connection stops BEFORE authentication - your password is never sent to a server that failed the check.
WHERE YOUR SECRETS LIVE - Passwords and private keys go into the iOS Keychain, hardware-backed where supported, stored "this device only" so they cannot be restored onto another phone.
HONEST ABOUT PROTOCOLS - SSH and SFTP are verified by host-key pinning. FTPS is encrypted but does not verify the certificate. FTP is cleartext. Prefer SFTP.
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Questions about Shellter
Does Shellter require an account?
No. There is no account to create, nothing syncs, and the app sends no telemetry.
How does the app check that a server is the right one?
The server's host key is pinned the first time you connect and compared on every reconnect. If it does not match, the connection stops before authentication, so your password is not sent.
Which protocols are verified?
SSH and SFTP are verified by host key pinning. FTPS is encrypted but does not verify the certificate, and FTP is cleartext. The listing advises preferring SFTP.
Is Shellter free?
Yes. Shellter is free on the App Store, with no in-app purchases.
Is Shellter right for me?
Shellter is built for connecting from an iPhone to servers you already run, transferring files over SFTP without a second login, running remote shell sessions from a phone. It sits in the remote terminal access list on AppTierList.
Is Shellter worth it?
Shellter is D tier, ranked #14 of 17 remote terminal access apps with a score of 53 out of 100, from a 4.0 App Store rating across 1 ratings. 13 apps rank above it in the same list.
How does Shellter compare to Terminal#?
Shellter is D tier at 53; Terminal# is D tier at 60. Terminal# ranks higher. Shellter is free, with no in-app purchases, Terminal# is free to download, with in-app purchases.
How often is Shellter updated?
Shellter was last updated on 2026-09-15, 61 days ago.
Alternatives
Most similar
Top rated in Remote Terminal Access
Categories
All the facts
Ranking
- Lists
- Remote Terminal Access (D tier, #14) · SSH Client (D tier, #17) · File Transfer (D tier, #37)
- Tier
- D (Weak)
- Score
- 53 / 100
- Rank in list
- #14 of 17
- Ranking certainty
- early: few ratings or search ranks so far
Ratings
- App Store rating
- 4.0 out of 5, every App Store country
- Ratings
- 1
App
- Price
- Free download
- App Store category
- Developer Tools
- Current version
- (61 days ago)
- Size
- 22 MB
- Requires
- iOS 15.0 or later
- Age rating
- 4+
- Languages
- 1
- Runs on
- iPhone, iPad
Links
- Developer pages
- Website · Support · Privacy policy
- Maker
- not verified
- As data
- JSON · why it ranks here
App Store data read · ranking