termique vs Termius

On-device key derivation vs server-side key wrap. Termique derives your encryption key locally using PBKDF2 and the Web Crypto API. The master password never leaves your device, and the server stores only an AES-GCM ciphertext blob it cannot decode. Termius encrypts credentials too, but its architecture wraps the key on the server side, meaning the service provider holds material that could, under compulsion or breach, expose your credentials. For security-conscious teams connecting to production infrastructure, the difference between these two models is not academic. With Termique, a full backend compromise leaves an attacker with ciphertext they cannot decrypt without your master password.

Free tier: unlimited sessions and free SFTP vs a locked-down free plan. Both Termius and Termique cap the free tier at three saved hosts. Where they diverge is what else that free tier includes: Termius withholds SFTP entirely until you pay $10/month, and command audit logs and host sharing require the $20/month Teams plan on top of that. Termique's free tier includes SFTP and server monitoring on every plan, plus unlimited concurrent sessions and tunnels within your three hosts - there's no separate session cap stacked on top of the host limit. The upgrade to Pro removes the 3-host cap entirely and adds command audit logs, host sharing, and expanded AI usage, all for $5/month.

Pricing breakdown: $5/mo vs $10/mo, and what each actually includes. Termius Pro is $10/month per user and includes SFTP and most sync features. Command audit logs and host sharing require the Teams plan at $20/month or more per user. Termique gives you SFTP free on every plan, including free - Pro is $5/month and adds the AI assistant, command audit logs, and host sharing, with no higher tier that unlocks features withheld from Pro. For a five-person team that wants audit logs, Termius Teams costs $100/month; Termique Pro costs $25/month for the same capability. The gap widens with headcount.

Session-aware AI assistant vs autocomplete. Termique ships an AI assistant that is scoped to the active SSH session. It reads your terminal context - recent output, the current working directory, the host you are connected to - and suggests commands. You review the suggestion before anything executes; nothing runs automatically. The free tier includes a meaningful usage quota. Termius has since added AI-powered autocomplete, but it operates on command-line input rather than reasoning over your session's actual output and state. For developers who frequently need to recall flags, construct one-off find/grep pipelines, or troubleshoot unfamiliar services, a session-context-aware assistant is a deeper workflow improvement than input autocomplete.

Command audit logs at Pro vs Teams-only. Command audit logs record which commands were run in which session, by which user, on which host, with timestamps. In Termique, this feature is available at the Pro tier ($5/month). In Termius, it is a Teams-plan feature, which starts at $20/month per user. For small teams or individual developers who need an audit trail - for compliance, incident review, or simply tracking what was run on a shared host - the Termius pricing model makes this feature prohibitively expensive. Termique ships it at Pro as a first-class feature, not as an enterprise add-on.

Host sharing: Pro vs $20/month Teams. Sharing a host with a colleague in Termique requires Pro on your account - the recipient does not need a paid plan to receive the shared host. The share is end-to-end encrypted with the recipient's own key, so the API only ever holds ciphertext it cannot read. In Termius, host sharing is a Teams feature, putting it out of reach for individuals or small teams who are not on an organizational plan. For contractors, freelancers, or small teams that need to share server access without managing a full organizational account, Termique's approach is materially more practical.

Mobile: both iOS and Android, same E2EE model on your phone. Termius has a mature iOS and Android app with full SSH terminal support, SFTP, and synced host management - a real, long-standing advantage. Termique now ships both iOS and Android companion apps too, with host management, SSH terminal access, and the same on-device E2EE sync as the desktop. The difference isn't platform coverage anymore - it's what happens to your credentials once they're synced to a phone: Termius wraps the key server-side, Termique derives it on-device, on mobile the same as on desktop.

Native Tauri runtime vs Electron. Termius is built on Electron, which bundles a full Chromium rendering engine alongside the application. On a typical machine, Termius consumes 300–500 MB of RAM at idle. Termique uses Tauri, a Rust-based native runtime that delegates rendering to the OS WebView. Cold start time is under two seconds, and idle memory sits around 80 MB. For developers who keep their SSH client open all day alongside editors, browsers, and build tools, the memory difference is meaningful. Tauri also has a smaller attack surface than a bundled Chromium instance, which matters for an app that handles SSH credentials.