Secure Shellfish
Ranked 11 of 13 SSH clients by recommenders
People recommend it as an iOS SSH app that works well for running tmux and terminal coding tools on a remote server from a phone.
People recommend it as an iOS SSH app that works well for running tmux and terminal coding tools on a remote server from a phone.
6 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 6
- criticize it
- 0
- approval share
- 100%
Recommended in 4 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 6 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- Nobody criticizes itNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 4 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Works well with tmux
“Shellfish on iOS to ssh into a vps with tmux with Gemini-cli, lazygit and neovim worked quite well for me.”
Comment from 2 Jan 2026 in “Clicks Communicator” “I love that if iOS suspends it and I reopen it, it just does `tmux attach` on the last host automatically.”
Comment from 18 Feb 2026 in “Show HN: Echo, an iOS SSH+mosh client built on Ghostty” “Before, I used the shellfish terminal and tmux which also worked really good”
Comment from 13 Aug 2026 in “ChatGPT Desktop (Codex Desktop) for Linux” - Comment from 7 Jan 2026 in “Stop Doom Scrolling, Start Doom Coding: Build via the terminal from your phone”
Used for coding from a phone
“Shellfish on iOS to ssh into a vps with tmux with Gemini-cli, lazygit and neovim worked quite well for me.”
Comment from 2 Jan 2026 in “Clicks Communicator” “That, plus tailscale and Secure Shellfish on my iPhone and I can vibe code from anywhere.”
Comment from 8 Oct 2026 in “Ask HN: What do you run on a $5 VPS that's worth keeping online 24/7?” “It worked for me for finishing my app”
Comment from 6 Jan 2026 in “Stop Doom Scrolling, Start Doom Coding: Build via the terminal from your phone”
Other SSH clients people recommend
The four most recommended other SSH clients, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mosh | 61 | 10 | 86% | 12 | — | Approved |
| SSH | 57 | 17 | 77% | 12 | — | Approved |
| Termius | 33 | 16 | 67% | 8 | — | Approved |
| Moshi SSH and Mosh terminal for iOS | 16 | 2 | 89% | 8 | — | Approved |
| Secure ShellfishThis page | 6 | 0 | 100% | 4 | — | — |
What people said
7 of the 8 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“That, plus tailscale and Secure Shellfish on my iPhone and I can vibe code from anywhere.”
“Before, I used the shellfish terminal and tmux which also worked really good”
“I'm happy with ShellFish, $30 one-time (subscription option too).”
“I love that if iOS suspends it and I reopen it, it just does `tmux attach` on the last host automatically.”
“Shellfish is underrated. It has a very convenient tmux integration”
“It worked for me for finishing my app”
“Shellfish on iOS to ssh into a vps with tmux with Gemini-cli, lazygit and neovim worked quite well for me.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.