SSH client

Waycar vs Secure ShellFish

Secure ShellFish is an SSH and SFTP client for Apple devices with Files app, tmux and agent notification hooks. Waycar is an agent console for coding agents in tmux or herdr.

Facts checked October 18, 2026. See the sources.

Get WaycarSide by side

The short version

Pick Waycar if

Your phone time goes to coding agents that run in tmux or herdr on your own machine.
You want one list of agents sorted by who needs you, and a push when one is Blocked or Done.
You want Allow and Cancel in a chat view for Claude Code, Codex, omp, pi or opencode agents you start in Waycar.
You want mosh, with SSH as the fallback, and no account.

Pick Secure ShellFish if

You want a general SSH and SFTP client, and agents are one use among many.
You want your server's folders in the Files app and in Finder, with other apps editing files in place.
You want widgets, Shortcuts actions and a Mac app next to the iPhone app.
You want a one-time Lifetime Pro Unlock at $29.99 instead of a subscription.

Side by side

Waycar and Secure ShellFish compared on 23 points
Point of comparison	Waycar	Secure ShellFish
How it connects
Where the agent runs	Your own Mac or Linux machine, in herdr or tmux	Your own server or Mac, reached over SSH
Account needed	None. Optional iCloud Keychain sync between devices	No account documented. iCloud Keychain syncs servers
How your phone reaches the session	Direct mosh or SSH to your machine. No session relay	Direct SSH. Alerts and widgets relay via maker and Apple
mosh	Yes, in the free tier, with SSH fallback	Not documented
Agent keeps running when your phone drops	Yes. Waycar starts agents inside herdr or tmux	Yes, with tmux turned on per server
What your machine needs	OpenSSH, herdr 0.7.5+/tmux 3.2+, opt. mosh-server. No Node	SSH server. Optional Shell Integration and tmux
Watching and steering agents
Agents it works with	23 launch from the app; any CLI runs in a shell	Claude Code, Codex CLI, OpenCode hooks; any CLI runs
Agent status list	Yes. herdr: every agent it knows. tmux: 5 agents	Not documented
Push alerts when blocked or done	Yes, Blocked or Done, encrypted. On tmux: 5 agents	Yes, alerts from Claude Code, Codex CLI, OpenCode hooks
Answer a blocked agent from the phone	Yes. Allow or Cancel in Chat Mode (tmux: hooks), or type	Partial: alert, then answer in the terminal
Chat view of the agent	Yes, Chat Mode for 5 agents you start in Waycar	Not documented
Full terminal	Yes, a native terminal into the agent or a shell	Yes, a native SSH terminal
Lock Screen Live Activity	Yes, Lock Screen and Dynamic Island	Yes (Pro), follows active terminal, incl. agent questions
Send images and files to the agent	Yes, up to 10 per message; files up to 64 MiB	Yes, paste uploads the file and can insert its path
Voice input	Yes, on-device dictation (iOS 26 or later)	Yes, long-tap Paste to dictate prompts
Usage and rate limits	Partial: limits via CodexBar; Claude on a Mac not read	Not documented
Resume a closed agent	Yes, Closed Sessions are kept for 30 days	Partial: pick tmux sessions. Agent resume not documented
Platforms, price and fit
iPhone and iPad app	Yes, iPhone and iPad, iOS 18 or later	Yes, iPhone and iPad, iOS 17.4 or later
Android app	No. An Android app is coming soon	Not documented. Only Apple platforms are listed
Desktop or web client	No native app. iPad app on M-series Macs (macOS 26)	Yes, a Mac app. No web client documented
Source code	Closed source app. Host plugin is Apache-2.0	No public source repo found
Price	Free: 10 Launches per 30 days. Pro $5/mo or $40/yr	Free with ads. Pro $2.99/mo, $14.99/yr or $29.99 (US)
General SSH tools (SFTP, port forwarding, any server)	No. Your machine must run herdr or tmux	Yes: SSH, SFTP, Files app, jump hosts

Yes Partial No Not documented: the maker's own pages say nothing either way, so we claim nothing.

What Secure ShellFish is

Secure ShellFish is an SSH and SFTP client for iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple Vision, with a watch app too. One developer makes it. It works with any OpenSSH-compatible server. You open shell sessions from your phone, and your server’s folders show up in the Files app and in Finder.

It also has help for coding agents. Its help pages describe notification hooks for Claude Code, Codex CLI and OpenCode. A Live Activity can show questions from the agent, on Pro. It is free to download with ads, and Pro is a subscription or a one-time unlock.

How it reaches your agent

Your phone connects straight to your server over SSH. The agent runs on that server, not on the phone. We did not find a Secure ShellFish account in its docs. Your servers sync between your devices through iCloud Keychain.

Two features use the maker’s server. The notify and widget commands send a payload through it and through Apple push. Its privacy page says that payload is encrypted with a key known only to the command and your app.

On the machine, SSH is enough to open a terminal. Shell Integration is an optional install. It adds the agent hooks and the widget command. tmux is optional and is turned on per server.

We found no mention of mosh in its docs, so we make no claim about it.

What Waycar adds to Secure ShellFish

Waycar is not a general SSH client. It is a console for coding agents that run in tmux or herdr on your own machines. Secure ShellFish also sends alerts and has a Live Activity, so the gap is not there. The real differences:

One list, sorted by who needs you. The Console shows agents from all your machines as Blocked, Done, Working or Idle. We did not find an agent status list in Secure ShellFish’s docs.
Chat Mode for five agents. Start Claude Code, Codex, omp, pi or opencode in Waycar with Chat Mode on, and it opens as a chat. When one asks for permission, you tap Allow or Cancel. We did not find a chat view or approve buttons in Secure ShellFish’s docs. Its docs do not say how you answer; the terminal is the way we know of.
mosh, with SSH as the fallback. Waycar’s mosh keeps going while the app is open and catches up after dead zones. We found no mention of mosh in Secure ShellFish’s docs.
Closed Sessions. Bring back an agent you quit by mistake, for 30 days. We did not find the same in Secure ShellFish’s docs.

Waycar has no account. Your sessions go straight from your phone to your machine over mosh or SSH, with no Waycar server in the path of your sessions. Waycar has an optional push relay. Your machine encrypts each notification first, so the relay cannot read what it says. For Live Activities it does see how many agents are in each status.

Where Secure ShellFish is better

Secure ShellFish wins on these:

Any server. It opens any SSH or SFTP server. Waycar needs herdr or tmux on the machine and cannot open a plain SSH server with neither.
Files. Server folders appear in the Files app and in Finder, and other apps can edit files in place. Waycar has no SFTP file browser and no port forwarding. It uses SFTP to upload the files you attach and to preview files an agent mentions.
A Mac app and more. It runs on Mac, Apple Vision and a watch, and its widgets can be driven from any server with one shell command. Waycar has no desktop or web client.
tmux built in. It has a session picker with thumbnails, and Handoff of a tmux session between your Apple devices.
Automation. Shortcuts actions include Run Command, Upload and Download.
Price. The Lifetime Pro Unlock is $29.99 once. Waycar Pro is billed monthly or yearly.

On the rows we share, it matches Waycar: full terminal, alerts, Live Activity, voice input and pasted files.

What each costs

Secure ShellFish is free to download, and the free version shows ads at the bottom of the terminal. Pro features such as upload through the Files app, unlimited servers, offline folders and Live Activity need Pro. On the US App Store listing (checked 2026-10-18) Pro is $2.99 a month, $14.99 a year or $29.99 once. The one-time unlock covers iPhone, iPad and Mac.

Waycar is free for up to 10 Launches in any rolling 30 days, with every feature included. A Launch is starting a new agent or shell from Waycar, resuming a closed agent, or starting an agent by typing its command in a Waycar shell. Opening and watching agents that already run never counts. Waycar Pro removes the limit for $5 a month or $40 a year (US).

Can you use both?

Yes. Keep Secure ShellFish for files, widgets and general servers. Use Waycar for the agents on your machine. Both can open SSH sessions to the same machine, and tmux is the common ground (see tmux on iPhone and checking an agent remotely).

Questions people ask

Does Secure ShellFish support mosh?

We found no mention of mosh anywhere on its site, including the help pages and the privacy page, so we do not claim either way. Waycar runs agent terminals over mosh and falls back to SSH on its own. It needs mosh-server on your machine, and mosh has no predictive local echo in Waycar.

Does Secure ShellFish work with Claude Code?

Yes. You can run claude in its terminal like any command. Its help pages also describe notification hooks for Claude Code, Codex CLI and OpenCode. You install them from Shell Integration, and the agent then alerts you when it needs input or finishes a task.

Can Secure ShellFish notify me when Claude Code or Codex finishes?

Yes, after you install the hooks from Shell Integration on the server. Pro users can also turn on a Live Activity for questions from the agent. Waycar sends a push when an agent is Blocked or Done, and it adds a Console and Chat Mode.

Is Secure ShellFish a subscription or a one-time purchase?

Both. The US App Store lists a Monthly subscription at $2.99, an Annual subscription at $14.99 and a Lifetime Pro Unlock at $29.99. The free version shows ads at the bottom of the terminal. Waycar Pro is $5 a month or $40 a year (US).

Does Secure ShellFish keep a session alive on iPhone?

It has built-in tmux support, turned on per server. A Location Persistence setting keeps the SSH connection running in the background. It uses location access, which stays on the device. Waycar keeps its terminal for about 20 seconds after you leave, then re-attaches on its own while the agent keeps running in herdr or tmux.

Sources and how we checked

We checked the sources listed below on October 18, 2026. A row says "Not documented" when those pages are silent. Products change. If something here is out of date, email support@waycar.dev and we will fix it.

Product names are trademarks of their owners. Waycar is an independent app from OTREVA, LLC. It is not affiliated with or endorsed by Secure ShellFish.

Try Waycar on your own machine

Waycar is free for up to 10 Launches in any rolling 30 days. Waycar Pro removes the limit. See pricing for what counts as a Launch.

Get WaycarWhat is Waycar?