Nuclr.dev VS ShellDrop.sh

Nuclr.dev's answer

Most AI coding tools give you either a terminal or an editor.

Nuclr Commander gives you the whole workbench: Claude Code, Codex, Pi and OpenCode run side by side in one window, next to a full keyboard-first file manager with panels for your SSH servers, S3, Google Cloud, Docker, Git and SQL databases.

Your keys stay yours. Agents reach those servers and databases through Commander, so the passwords and keys behind them are never shown to the agent, and actions can wait for your approval with the full command shown first.

Agents work as a team. They can message each other, so one writes the code and another reviews it, and you can watch, prompt or stop them from your phone.

Free to download, no account needed, on macOS, Linux and Windows.

ShellDrop.sh's answer:

Shell Drop is built around one job: steering AI coding agents that run in tmux on a Mac mini or a server, from your phone. Tmux is first class (auto-attach, swipe to scroll and switch, tab names synced), you can talk your prompts in with Voice Drop, paste screenshots and attach files straight to the agent, and keep SSH keys in the Secure Enclave. It also supports the iPhone Duo, with two sessions side by side when it is open.

Nuclr.dev's answer

Nuclr Commander is a native desktop app for macOS, Linux and Windows, with a plugin architecture at its core: file systems, remote servers, cloud storage, viewers and AI agents are all plugins that load into the same panels. Plugins are cryptographically signed and verified before they load. The AI side works with Claude Code, Codex, Pi and OpenCode, and connects agents to your servers and databases through the Model Context Protocol (MCP).

ShellDrop.sh's answer:

A native Swift and SwiftUI app. The terminal runs on SwiftTerm, connections use Apple's SwiftNIO SSH, keys can be generated in the iPhone's Secure Enclave, and settings sync through iCloud. The website runs on Cloudflare Pages.

Nuclr.dev's answer

If you use AI coding agents: instead of one agent per terminal tab, or one vendor's app, you get Claude Code, Codex, Pi and OpenCode side by side, with your own Claude or ChatGPT plan or a local model. Each turn's changes open in a diff viewer, and agents can hand work to each other - one writes, another reviews.

If you use a dual-pane file manager: you keep the keyboard-first, two-pane way of working from Norton, Total Commander and FAR, on macOS, Linux and Windows alike - plus panels for SSH/SFTP, S3, Google Cloud, Docker, Git and SQL databases, a built-in terminal and quick view for almost any file.

If you do both: this is the only place they live together. Your agents can work with the same servers and databases you browse, through Commander, without ever being shown the passwords and keys behind them - and anything they do can wait for your approval.

Free to download, no account needed.

ShellDrop.sh's answer:

Most iOS SSH clients are built for sysadmins and sell features through a subscription. Shell Drop is free, with no subscription and no account, and every feature is aimed at people running Claude Code, Codex and other agents in a terminal: voice prompts, one-tap commands, image and file upload to the agent, and tmux that just works on a phone.

Nuclr.dev's answer

Developers who work with AI coding agents every day and want them out of scattered terminal tabs - especially people running more than one agent, or more than one vendor's agent, on the same project.

It suits full-stack and backend developers, DevOps engineers and sysadmins in particular: people whose work spans code, files, SSH servers, cloud storage, containers and databases, and who want their agents to reach all of that without handing over their keys.

It also has a second home with keyboard-first file manager fans - longtime users of Norton Commander, Total Commander, FAR or Midnight Commander - who want that way of working on macOS, Linux and Windows alike.

ShellDrop.sh's answer:

AI agent operators: developers and builders who leave Claude Code, Codex or other coding agents running in tmux on a Mac mini, a VPS or a home server, and want to check on them, answer them and steer them from an iPhone, iPad or iPhone Duo.

Nuclr.dev's answer

Nuclr Commander is built by one developer. It started in February 2026 as a modern take on the dual-pane file managers I grew up with - Norton Commander, then FAR and Total Commander - because I wanted a file commander I could extend easily, built for how developers work in 2026 rather than in the 1990s. So from the first version, almost everything is a plugin: archives, SSH servers, S3, Docker, Git, databases and viewers all plug into the same panels.

Version 1.0 shipped in July 2026. By then most of my own work happened alongside AI coding agents, and I was juggling them in a pile of terminal tabs while switching to other apps for files, servers and databases. With a commander that was easy to extend, the agents could simply move in: Claude Code, Codex, Pi and OpenCode side by side, working with the same files, servers and clouds, without ever being shown my keys.

It's still the same idea it started with: one keyboard-first window for everything a developer touches - and easy to extend for whatever comes next.

ShellDrop.sh's answer:

Daniel Bilsborough built Shell Drop in Melbourne to run his own coding agents. They live in tmux on a Mac mini, and he wanted to steer them from his phone without fighting a terminal app made for a different job. The first version shipped on the App Store in March 2026, and it has been updated steadily since, including iPhone Duo support.

Nuclr.dev's answer

Nuclr Commander is used by developers from all walks of life - from backend and full-stack engineers to DevOps, sysadmins and longtime fans of Norton and Total Commander. As more development happens alongside AI coding agents, it's drawing more and more developers who want their agents, files and servers in one window.

It's free to download and doesn't require an account.