The best SSH app for iPad: Blink, Termius and Git tools compared

The best SSH app for iPad for most people who spend real time in a terminal is Blink Shell. It pairs mosh with deep keyboard remapping and solid key handling. If you would rather start free and keep the same hosts on iPhone, Android and desktop, Termius is the easier pick. As of November 2026, Blink costs $19.99 a year after a two-week trial, and Termius has a free tier with sync on paid plans.

App	Best for	Price	Platforms
Blink Shell	Keyboard-heavy work and mosh	2-week trial, then $19.99/year	iPhone, iPad
Termius	One host list across devices	Free tier; sync on paid plans	iOS, Android, desktop
Prompt 3 (Panic)	A clean, simple SSH client	Paid; check the App Store	iPhone, iPad, Mac
a-Shell and iSH	A local shell with no server	Free	iPhone, iPad
Working Copy	Git repositories on iPad	Freemium	iPhone, iPad
GitHub	Issues, pull requests and reviews	Free	iOS, Android

Quick picks

• Best overall: Blink Shell, for mosh, key handling and keyboard control.
• Best free: Termius, whose free tier covers basic SSH and SFTP.
• Best for mosh: Blink Shell, which says sessions survive sleep and network changes.
• Best for sync across devices: Termius, because it also runs on Android and desktop.
• Best local shell: a-Shell for quick scripts, iSH if you want a small Linux userland.

You can browse more tools like these in our Developer Tools category.

The best SSH app for iPad, app by app

An iPad makes a good remote terminal once you attach a keyboard. The differences between apps show up in four places: how well a session survives the iPad going to sleep, how keys are stored, how much control you get over the keyboard, and whether your hosts follow you to other devices.

1. Blink Shell: best for keyboard users and mosh

Blink Shell is an open-source terminal built for iPhone and iPad, and its code is public on GitHub. It is the app to choose if you treat the iPad as a laptop and want sessions that do not drop every time you close the cover.

Price and platforms: a two-week free trial, then $19.99 per year (as of November 2026), on iPhone and iPad. Details are on the official Blink site.

What stands out:

• Mosh built in. Blink says its mosh sessions keep running through device sleep and changes of network, such as moving from home Wi-Fi to a phone hotspot.
• Key handling. It supports Ed25519, ECDSA and RSA keys, ssh-agent, ProxyCommand and local port forwarding with -L. It is built on the libssh and libssh2 libraries.
• Keyboard remapping. You can turn Caps Lock into Esc or make Cmd act as Ctrl, which matters for vim and tmux users on Apple keyboards.
• Files and SFTP. SFTP connects to the Files app, so remote folders can sit next to iCloud Drive.
• Local tools. It ships with vim, curl, scp, sftp, tar, ping and dig for quick jobs that need no server.
• External display. On an iPad Pro it can drive a 4K monitor, and it can also be shown on an Apple TV.
• Sync. Blink offers syncing between devices, though it stays inside Apple hardware.

Blink Code is the other reason developers pick it. It connects to VS Code for the web, GitHub Codespaces, GitPod or a VS Code server you host yourself, which gives you a full editor next to the terminal.

Watch out for: the interface leans on commands and config files rather than menus, which takes some learning. It is a subscription after the trial, and there is no Android or Windows version if you switch devices.

2. Termius: best for syncing across devices

Termius is the best-known cross-platform SSH client, with SSH, SFTP and mosh in one app. Its main appeal is that the same host list and keys can follow you from iPad to iPhone, Android, Mac, Windows and Linux.

Price and platforms: a free tier for basic connections, with sync and team features on paid subscription plans. Plan names and prices change, so check the Termius pricing page before you subscribe. It runs on iOS, Android and desktop.

What stands out:

• Menu-driven setup. Hosts, groups and keys are managed through forms, which is friendlier than editing a config file.
• SFTP in the app. You can browse and move remote files without a second tool.
• Mosh support. Termius lists mosh alongside SSH, which helps on flaky connections.
• Wide reach. It is the only app here that covers Android and every major desktop system.

Watch out for: sync, the feature most people choose Termius for, sits behind a subscription. We could not confirm its current keyboard remapping options or how its mosh sessions behave after long sleeps, so test both on the free tier with your own keyboard before paying.

3. Prompt 3 by Panic: a polished alternative

Prompt 3 comes from Panic, the studio behind Transmit and Nova. It appears in most iPad terminal roundups as the clean, Mac-like choice for people who want a tidy SSH client without much configuration.

Price and platforms: paid, on iPhone, iPad and Mac. We could not confirm the current price, so check the App Store listing.

Watch out for: if mosh, agent forwarding or advanced key types are central to your work, confirm support before buying.

Others worth a look

SecureCRT, La Terminal and xTerminal also appear in roundups. SecureCRT suits people who already use it on desktop at work. The other two are smaller options worth a try if the main picks do not suit you.

Local shells: a-Shell and iSH

A local shell is not an SSH client. It runs commands on the iPad itself, which is handy offline or when you just need to unzip a file, run a script or test a regex.

• a-Shell is free and open source. It provides common Unix commands plus scripting languages such as Python, Lua and JavaScript, compiled to run natively on iPadOS.
• iSH is also free and open source. It emulates an x86 Alpine Linux environment, so you can install packages with apk, though emulation makes it slower than a-Shell.

If Python is your main need, Pythonista 3 gives you a full editor and console. Our guide on how to run Python on iPhone covers that setup, and it works the same on iPad.

Git on iPad

An SSH client lets you run Git on a server, but many people want their repositories on the iPad itself. That is where a dedicated Git client and the official GitHub app come in.

Working Copy: a full Git client

Working Copy is a Git client for iPhone and iPad. You can clone a repository, edit files, commit and push without a desk. It also exposes repositories to the Files app, so other editors can open and save files inside them.

Price and platforms: freemium, on iPhone and iPad. We could not confirm what the free tier includes in November 2026, so check the App Store listing for which features need the paid unlock.

Watch out for: it is a Git client with a built-in editor, not a full IDE. For building or testing code you still need a server, which is where Blink or Termius comes back in.

GitHub: issues and code review

The official GitHub app is free and covers notifications, issues and pull request reviews. It is not for editing code, but it pairs well with Working Copy. Review and merge in GitHub, then pull the changes locally.

Price and platforms: free, on iOS and Android.

Watch out for: the app cannot clone or edit repositories, so it does not replace a Git client.

Editing in the browser or through Blink Code

For heavier work, GitHub Codespaces runs a full VS Code environment in the cloud. Blink Code can open Codespaces, GitPod or your own VS Code server, so you get an editor and terminal in one app. A practical setup looks like this:

1. Use Working Copy for quick edits and commits on the go.
2. Use the GitHub app to triage issues and review pull requests.
3. Use Blink Code or Codespaces when you need to build, run tests or refactor across many files.

Keys, keyboards and iPad features: what to check

Whichever app you choose, a few checks will save frustration later.

• Keys. Generate an Ed25519 key in the app where you can, and only add the public half to your servers. Prefer keys over passwords on anything exposed to the internet.
• Agent forwarding. If you hop between servers, check that ssh-agent support works. Blink documents it.
• Tunnels. Port forwarding lets you reach a web dashboard or database that is only open on the server.
• Keyboard. Map Caps Lock to Esc or Ctrl before you get used to the defaults, and confirm that Cmd shortcuts do not clash with shell keys.
• Multitasking. Try the app in Split View and Stage Manager with your browser open. Window resizing and multiple sessions behave differently between apps.
• Sync security. Before you sync private keys through any vendor, read how the data is encrypted and whether you can opt out.

How we chose

We looked for apps that run well on iPad with a hardware keyboard and keep sessions alive. We weighed key support, SFTP and Files integration, sync, and whether the price is fair for the features. Most pages that rank for the best SSH app for iPad are written by companies selling a competing client, so we relied on official documentation and pricing pages. Prices and features were checked on 10 and 11 November 2026 where official pages were available. Where we could not confirm a detail, we say so.

Our pick

• If you live in the terminal: pick Blink Shell. Mosh, key remapping and Blink Code make it the best SSH app for iPad for daily work, and the trial lets you check it first.
• If you use Android or Windows too: pick Termius, start on the free tier, and pay only if you need sync.
• If you just need a shell on the iPad itself: install a-Shell, and add iSH if you need Linux packages.
• If you write code: add Working Copy for Git and the GitHub app for reviews, with Codespaces for heavier jobs.