Connecting to a server you already own, from a device you already own, over a protocol that turned thirty this year, is not obviously a thing that should cost $120 a year. A lot of people arrive at this question annoyed, and the annoyance is reasonable.
Here is the honest state of it.
Why so many of them are subscriptions
Because sync is a service. The moment an app keeps your hosts and keys in step across devices, someone has to run servers, keep them patched, and answer for them when they break. That is a recurring cost, and a recurring price is a fair way to cover it.
The catch is that you may not want the service. If your hosts live in your head or
in ~/.ssh/config, you are paying a subscription for infrastructure you are not
using — and, increasingly, for features like SFTP that have nothing to do with
sync but sit behind the same paywall.
So the useful question is not "which app is cheapest." It is "which apps don't need a service in the middle at all."
The options, honestly
| App | What it costs | What you get for free | Catch |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tessera | $9.99 once | every feature; one saved host | iPhone and iPad only; no Files-app mounting |
| Secure ShellFish | lifetime unlock, or monthly | a usable terminal | pro features are the paid tier |
| Prompt 3 | yearly, with a lifetime tier | limited free mode | the lifetime tier is the expensive one |
| WebSSH | small one-time purchase | most of the app | interface is dated |
| Easy SSH | free | everything | fewer features than the rest |
| Termius | $10/user/mo | a basic terminal | SFTP and sync are paid |
| Blink Shell | $19.99/yr | 2-week trial | subscription, despite GPL source |
What "free" means in Tessera
This is the part worth being precise about, because "free tier" usually means "crippled."
Tessera's free app has every feature in it: native tmux control mode, mosh, port forwarding, jump hosts, key generation and import, host-key verification, the file panel, Handoff between devices, Nearby Setup, the agent center, themes, custom shortcuts. Nothing is disabled and nothing expires.
What the free app limits is quantity — you can keep one saved host. The one-time $9.99 purchase lifts that limit permanently. There is no second tier above it and no renewal.
If you only ever SSH to one box, the free app is not a trial. It is the app.
What you give up by avoiding a subscription
Also worth being straight about:
- Cross-device sync. Tessera has no account, so nothing syncs through a cloud. What it has instead is Nearby Setup: your hosts, keys and preferences copy directly between your devices over the local network, both ends confirming a matching code, every grant behind Face ID. That covers moving to a new iPad. It does not continuously mirror two devices.
- Team features. Shared vaults, shared credentials and audit logs need a service and an identity system. If you need those, Termius is the right purchase and the subscription is buying something real.
- A Mac app. Tessera is iPhone and iPad. Prompt 3 and Secure ShellFish will serve you better if you want one app across all your Apple hardware.
How to move off a subscription client
- Get your keys out. Export from your current app, or generate fresh ones —
ssh-keygen -t ed25519on the server side, or generate in Tessera and install the public key. Fresh keys are the better hygiene anyway. - Write the hosts down once. Hostname, port, user, key, and a jump host if you use one.
- Turn on tmux. Whatever client you land on,
tmuxis what makes a mobile terminal tolerable — your work keeps running when iOS suspends the app. See keeping a session alive. - Cancel after you've reconnected, not before.
Questions
Is there a genuinely free SSH client for iPad?
Yes. Tessera is free on the App Store with every feature included and no time limit; it caps you at one saved host until a one-time $9.99 purchase. Easy SSH is free outright with a smaller feature set. Most other clients described as "free" are free tiers with capabilities held back for a subscription.
What is the cheapest SSH client for iPhone with no recurring cost?
WebSSH is a small one-time purchase and Tessera is $9.99 once. Secure ShellFish sells a lifetime unlock at a higher price but includes Mac and Files-app integration.
Does Tessera charge for SFTP or port forwarding?
No. Port forwarding, jump hosts, tmux, mosh, keys and the file panel are all in the free app. The only thing the $9.99 unlocks is keeping more than one saved host. Tessera does not mount servers in the Files app at all — that is Secure ShellFish's speciality.
Do I need an account to use Tessera?
No. There is no account, no sign-in, and no bambouville server in the path. Connections go straight from your device to hosts you control, and the app collects no analytics or telemetry.
Why is Termius so expensive?
Termius is priced per user per month because it is built for teams — shared vaults, shared credentials, sync, audit. If you are one person with a handful of servers, you are paying for infrastructure you may not need. If you are five engineers sharing production access, it is doing something no account-free app can.